Harmony of the 20th Century

be', surely one of the most famous and highly regarded is

TWENTIETH CENTURY HARMONY

by VINCENT PERSICHETTI

also "Contemporary Harmony: Romanticism Through the Twelve-Tone Row" by Ludmilla Ulehla.

Thank you both for the reports; since I think not much money is circulating in everyone's pockets these days, could you describe to me the strengths and in what ways it has been useful to you?

Just to better target the investment...

Regarding Persichetti, I'll give you a couple of links, the 1st with the index, the 2nd with a sort of summary.

http://www.questia.com/library/book/twentieth-century-harmony-creative-aspects-and-practice-by-vincent-persichetti.jsp

http://thereelscore.com/PortfolioStuff/PDFFiles/PersichettiNotes.pdf

As far as I'm concerned, it didn't blow me away, but it's not that I've studied it very deeply and besides, those who know their stuff appreciate it a lot (it is, after all, widely used in American universities).

As for the other volume, I wouldn't know how to tell you.

Thanks AleGozzo:) ... I got lost along the way DrJellyfish

Aspirante wrote:

Does anyone know of specific texts that deal with the teaching of twentieth-century harmony?

Aparte from recommendations, I think a good deal of analysis can help ... contact with great masterpieces is always an opportunity to learn a lot.

In my opinion, the 20th century is too vast and in several cases it might not make sense to speak of harmony since the engine of composition is something else, just think of spectralism....

... clearly, harmony is still alive as a field, but it is not representative of all 20th-century music...

Xenakis wrote:

In my opinion, the 20th century is too vast and in several cases it might not make sense to speak of harmony since the engine of composition is something else, just think of spectralism....

How strange ... I consider spectralism precisely as a striking example of harmonic thought!

From a certain point of view, I agree with RedScharlach, but don't you find that the engine is purely timbral? Of course, in the end it develops harmony; everything that is vertical is harmony. But if you get there through "other" procedures, I don't think a harmony manual can help... so much so that the techniques used by spectralists work within the "dimension" of sound.

What do you say in this regard?

In this regard, I say that the beauty of spectralism is precisely that it demonstrates that harmony is timbre...

Red

Reading the tail of this topic, Messiaen came to mind; in the end, his spectrum is that of the pf and essentially, apart from some initial experimentation, he gave himself to modality.

What is the balance between timbre, harmony, and mode...?...you will say, Messiaen!...but at a technical level, who has priority or is at the top of the "pyramid"?

I would say that the texts by Persichetti and Ulehla deal with 20th-century Harmony, but also contain important, very current teachings that are used in modal jazz.

Thanks to you too, Modale

I take this opportunity to remind you that my text "Armonia funzionale" deals with modes in their use within tonal, modal, and chromatic modal harmony. I consider it a completion of the texts by Persichetti and Ulehla.

http://www.pianoconc...tica-cromatica/

http://www.pianoconcerto.it/forum/index.php?/topic/2966-solo-piano-performance-to-elena-depiro/