The term functional harmony derives from Hugo Riemann and his textbooks on harmony in the late 19th century, with roots back to Jean-Philippe Rameau's theoretical works amongst others. His main idea was to create a comprehensive theoretical basis for understanding the principles of harmonic relationships typical for the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods. His work had huge impact, especially where German influence was strong. A good example in this regard are the textbooks by Hermann Grabner[1][2]
Riemann's basic theories have since been adopted, refined and elaborated upon by many authors of textbooks in harmony, arranging and composition. Functional harmony is being taught as a basic discipline in music theory all over the western world, but different terms / labels are used. In the English and American tradition one could find the term Common Practice Harmony, (stemming from Walter Piston[3]) Tonal harmony (as used by Allen Forte[4]), or Traditional harmony (as used by Gordon Delamont[5]. Vincent Persichetti[6] (which refers to the 19th century harmonic repertoire as "chords evolving around the tonic pillars" (tonic, subdominant, dominant)).
See also
References
- ^ Hermann Grabner, Die Funktionstheorie Hugo Riemanns und ihre Bedeutung für die praktische Analyse (Munich 1923)
- ^ Hermann Grabner, Handbuch der funktionellen Harmonielehre (Berlin 1944) ISBN 3-7649-2112-9
- ^ Walter Piston, Harmony (New York 1962) ISBN 0-393-95480-3
- ^ Allen Forte: Tonal Harmony in Concept and Practice (New York 1965)
- ^ Gordon Delamont, Modern Harmonic Technique (New York 1965)
- ^ Vincent Persichetti, Twentieth Century Harmony (New York 1961)
Riemann, Hugo: Vereinfachte Harmonielehre, oder die Lehre von den tonalen Funktionen der Akkorde 1893. ASIN: B0017UOATO
Rehding, Alexander: Hugo Riemann and the Birth of Modern Musical Thought (New Perspectives in Music History and Criticism). Cambridge University Press (2003). ISBN 0521820731
Schoenberg, Arnold: Structural Functions of Harmony. W.W.Norton & Co. (1954, 1969) ISBN 0393004783, 0393020894
External links
- Example of Music theory course description from Juilliard: Principles of harmony
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