Heinrich Schenker's Conception of Harmony: 163 (Eastman Studies in Music, 163)

523 Pages·2020·16.825 MB·English

by  Robert W Wason, Matthew Brown

What makes the compositions of Handel, Bach, Haydn, Mozart, C
Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, and Brahms stand o
out as great works of art? Heinrich Schenker (1868–1935) set out to
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answer this question in a series of treatises, beginning with a strikingly
original work with the deceptive title Harmonielehre (roughly: Treatise ce
on Harmony, 1906). in
e Heinrich
Whereas other treatises of the period associated harmony with
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the abstract principles governing chords and chord progressions,
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Schenker’s treated it as the conceptual glue that allowed the individual ic
i
elements of a work (melodies, motives, chords, counterpoint, etc.) to o Schenker’s
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work together locally and globally. Yet this book, though renowned
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and much cited, has never been studied systematically and in
close detail. S
oc Conception
Heinrich Schenker’s Conception of Harmony approaches Schenker’s
1906 treatise as a synthesis of ancient ideas and very new ones. It h
f
translates, for the first time, two preparatory essays for Harmonielehre
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and describes his later views of harmony and the ways in which they Hn of
influenced and also were ignored by the 1954 abridged edition and
a
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translation, entitled simply Harmony. Though problematic, Harmony
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was the first published translation of a major work by Schenker,
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inaugurating the study of his writings in postwar America and Britain, Harmony
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where they continue to be highly influential. s
o

ROBERT W. WASON is professor emeritus of music theory and n
affiliate faculty in jazz and contemporary media at the Eastman
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School of Music.
MATTHEW BROWN is professor of music theory at the Eastman
School of Music.
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Cover image: Evelyn De Morgan, Cadmus N
and Harmonia, 1877. © akg-images
a ROBERT W. WASON
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668 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620-2731, USA O MATTHEW BROWN
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
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www.urpress.com
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Contents
Abbreviations vii
Preface xi
Note on Online Material xxvii
Part I. Harmonielehre
1 The Eclectic Intellectual Methodology of Schenker’s
Theory of Harmony (1906) 1
2 The Music-Theoretical Content of Schenker’s Theory of
Harmony (1906) and the Status of Harmony in His Later Work 83
Part II. Harmonielehre: The Past
3 Schenker’s Theory of Harmony (1906) in Historical Perspective:
The Theory of Harmony from the Ancient Greeks to the Early
Nineteenth Century 177
4 Sources of Schenker’s Intellectual Methodology in 1906:
The Conflict between the Human and Natural Sciences in
Schenker’s Education, Music Theory in the Later Nineteenth
Century, and His Reaction to Both 246
Part III. Harmonielehre: The Future
5 A “New Edition” for a New Audience and an “American Version”
for a New Country: Problems of Editing and Translating
Harmonielehre (1906) 311
vi contents
❧
6 The Twilight of the Masters: Schenker’s Reinterpretation of the
Classical Concept of Harmony 376
Appendix A: “The Path to Likeness.” OC/83, 2–43 397
Introduction and Translation by Robert W. Wason
Appendix B: “[Foundations of Tonal Systems.]”
OC/31, 360–417 425
Introduction and Translation by Robert W. Wason
Bibliography 455
Index 477
Abbreviations
Archives
AW Arthur Waldeck papers related to Heinrich Schenker
MP.0008.01; The New School Archives and Special Collections.
The New School, New York, New York. Sources are cited in the
form AW/box number, folder number.
FS Felix Salzer Papers, JPB 07-1, New York Public Library. Sources
are cited in the form FS/box number, folder number.
OC Oster Collection: Papers of Heinrich Schenker, New York Public
Library. *ZB-2237 [Microfilm]. Sources are cited in the form
OC/file number, folder number (if applicable), item number[s].
OJ Oswald Jonas Memorial Collection, University of California,
Riverside. MS 067. Sources are cited in the form OJ/box
number, folder number, document number[s] (if applicable).
SDO Schenker Documents Online (Schenkerdocumentsonline.org).
Sources are cited in the form SDO: archival location; description
and date; transcriber; translator.
Schenker’s Main Works
Titles of Schenker’s main works appear here in chronological order of his
writing of the originals, translations following immediately regardless of
publication date. The biography and correspondence also appear here. See
the full bibliography at the end for additional works by Schenker, also in
chronological order. All other books and articles cited appear in the full bib-
liography in alphabetical order.
viii abbreviations
❧
GEIST “Der Geist der musikalischen Technik,” Musikalisches
Wochenblatt 26 (1895), 245–46, 257–59, 273–74, 285–86,
297–98, 309–10, 325–26. Reprint in Hellmut Federhofer,
Heinrich Schenker als Essayist und Kritiker: Gesammelte Aufsätze,
Rescensionen und kleinere Berichte aus den Jahren 1891–1901.
Hildesheim: Olms, 1990, 135–54.
SPIRIT “The Spirit of Musical Technique.” Translated by William
Pastille. Theoria 3 (1988), 86–104; revised translation by Pastille
in Nicholas Cook, The Schenker Project, 319–32. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2007.
WEG “Der Weg zum Gleichniss.” Titled but unfinished and
unpublished essay in Schenker’s hand (written ca. 1904–5);
handwritten MS only. OC/83, 2–43.
PATH “The Path to Likeness.” Translation of “Der Weg zum
Gleichniss,” Appendix A.
[DTS] Untitled, unpublished, and incomplete essay in Schenker’s hand
(written ca. 1904–5), generally known as “Das Tonsystem.”
OC/31, 360–417. Fair copy in Schenker’s hand (360–87) and
typescript (388–417).
[FTS] “[Foundations of Tonal Systems].” Translation of [Das
Tonsystem], Appendix B.
EBO Ein Beitrag zur Ornamentik. Vienna: Universal Edition, 1903,
rev. 1908.
CSO “A Contribution to the Study of Ornamentation.” Edited and
translated by Hedi Siegel. The Music Forum 4, edited by Felix
Salzer. New York: Columbia University Press, 1976, 1–139.
NdK “Über den Niedergang der Kompositionskunst: eine technisch-
kritische Untersuchung” (ca. 1904–5). OC/31, 28–153.
Untitled, undated typescript that is all but certain to be the work
bearing the title given here, to which Schenker referred several
times.
DAC “The Decline of the Art of Composition: A Technical-Critical
Study.” Translation of NdK by William Drabkin, with
introduction. Music Analysis 24 (2005), 3–129.
abbreviations ix
❧
HL Harmonielehre. Neue musikalische Theorien und Phantasien
1. Stuttgart and Berlin: Cotta Verlag; distributed in Vienna by
Universal Edition, 1906.
HA Harmony. Abridged edition with introduction by Oswald Jonas,
translated by Elisabeth Mann Borgese. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press; Toronto: University of Toronto Press;
London: Cambridge University Press, 1954. Paperback reprint,
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1974, 1980; now available through
University of Chicago Press.
CPF J. S. Bach, Chromatische Phantasie und Fuge. Edited by Heinrich
Schenker. Vienna: Universal Edition, 1910.
CFF J. S. Bach’s Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue: Critical Edition with
Commentary. Edited and translated by Hedi Siegel. New York:
Longman, 1984.
KP1 Kontrapunkt I. Neue musikalische Theorien und Phantasien 2.1.
Stuttgart and Berlin: Cotta Verlag, 1910.
CP1 Counterpoint: A Translation of Kontrapunkt by Heinrich Schenker;
Volume II of New Musical Theories and Phantasies; Book I: Cantus
Firmus and Two-Voice Counterpoint. Translated by John Rothgeb
and Jürgen Thym. Edited by John Rothgeb. New York: Schirmer,
1987. Corrected edition, Ann Arbor, MI: Musicalia Press, 2001.
TW Der Tonwille, vols. 1–10. Vienna: A. Guttman, 1921–24.
WT The Will of the Tone. 2 vols. Edited by William Drabkin.
Translated by Ian Bent, William Drabkin, Joseph Dubiel,
Timothy Jackson, Joseph Lubben, William Renwick, and Robert
Snarrenberg. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, 2005.
KP2 Kontrapunkt II. Neue musikalische Theorien und Phantasien 2.2.
Vienna: Universal Edition, 1922.
CP2 Counterpoint: A Translation of Kontrapunkt by Heinrich
Schenker; Volume II of New Musical Theories and Phantasies;
Book II: Counterpoint in Three and More Voices; Bridges to Free
Composition. Translated by John Rothgeb and Jürgen Thym.
Edited by John Rothgeb. New York: Schirmer, 1987. Corrected
edition, Ann Arbor, MI: Musicalia Press, 2001.
x abbreviations
❧
MW Das Meisterwerk in der Musik, vols. 1–3. Munich: Drei Masken
Verlag, 1925, 1926, 1930.
MM The Masterwork in Music. 3 vols. Edited by William Drabkin.
Translated by Ian Bent, Alfred Clayton, William Drabkin,
Richard Kramer, Derrick Puffett, John Rothgeb, and Hedi
Siegel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, 1996,
1999; New York: Dover, 2014.
FT Fünf Urlinie-Tafeln / Five Analyses in Sketchform. Printed in
Vienna, but supported by the David Mannes Music School,
New York, 1932.
FGA Five Graphic Analyses. Photo-reprint of Fünf Urlinie-Tafeln
/ Five analyses in sketchform (without Schenker’s Foreword).
Introduction and glossary of English terms by Felix Salzer. New
York: Dover, 1969.
DfS Der freie Satz. Neue musikalische Theorien und Phantasien 3.
Vienna: Universal Edition, 1935.
FC Free Composition (Der freie Satz). Edited and translated by Ernst
Oster. New York: Longman, 1979; Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon
Press, 2001.
Other Primary Sources
Biography
HS Federhofer, Hellmut. Heinrich Schenker nach Tagebüchern und
Briefen in der Oswald Jonas Memorial Collection, University of
California, Riverside. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 1985.
Correspondence
SC Heinrich Schenker: Selected Correspondence. Edited by Ian Bent,
David Bretherton, and William Drabkin. Woodbridge: Boydell
& Brewer, 2014.
Preface
Heinrich Schenker (1868–1935) is generally regarded as the leading music
theorist of the twentieth century. He was born of German-speaking, Jewish
parentage in Wisniowczyk, Galicia, a small town in a Polish-, Ukrainian-,
and German-speaking province that was part of Poland for four hundred
years before its annexation by the Habsburgs in 1772.1 During the first half
of the nineteenth century, that annexation produced the Germanized culture
in which Schenker grew up; but the uprisings of 1848 unleashed a nation-
alistic fervor that led to a resurgence of Polish language and culture, to the
extent that Schenker declared Polish his native language in the first seven
out of his ten semester registrations at the University of Vienna.2 Surely
one reason for his declaration is that between the ages of eight and sixteen,
Schenker, two years younger than his cohort, was educated at three differ-
ent Gymnasien in which the Polish language and its culture were dominant.3
After graduating from the Brzezany (English, “Berezhany”) Gymnasium in
the spring of 1884, he moved in the fall to Vienna, the cultural center and
capital of what was by that time the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to study
law at the university (1884–88) and music at the conservatory (1887–90).4
Although Schenker took his Dr. juris at the university in 1890 and stayed
in Vienna for the rest of his life, he never practiced law; instead, he devoted
1. Wisniowczyk, Galicia (Polish, “Galicja”; German, “Galizien”) is now in the
Ukraine, on the border of Poland.
2. See Rothfarb, “Henryk Szenker” for a full account of Schenker’s early education.
This opening passage and continuing discussion in chapter 2 are based on Rothfarb’s
ground-breaking archival research.
3. Rothfarb, “Henryk Szenker,” 24.
4. With government support, the Conservatory of the Society of Friends of Music
became the k. k. Academy for Music and the Performing Arts in 1909. After World
War I it was renamed the “State Academy,” becoming the “Hochschule” in 1970. It
took its present name, the University for Music and the Performing Arts, Vienna, in
1998. We refer to it throughout simply as the “conservatory.”
xii preface
❧
himself entirely to music, working in the 1890s as a composer, music critic,
and piano accompanist, and, starting a decade or so later, as a music editor
and teacher of piano and theory. It is for his extraordinarily productive career
as editor and music theorist that Schenker is remembered today.5
Though this project has grown considerably, it began as a book about a
book—or, more accurately, a book about two interrelated books. Our first—
Harmonielehre (“Theory of Harmony” and hereafter HL, when referring to
the published German text)—is Schenker’s first major work about music
theory and his link with the most important music-theoretical genre of the
past, the history of which we begin to explore in part I and will develop
in greater depth in chapter 3 in part II.6 Our second book is one entitled
Harmony (hereafter, HA), the only English translation of Schenker’s HL pres-
ently available.7
Schenker was surely aware of the status of harmony as he deliberated over
which of his music-theoretical works to publish first (see HL, “Vorwort”).
Should it be the first volume of his theory of counterpoint, the theory of a
compositional technique that certainly took historical precedence and was,
even at this early point in his career, more fundamental to his conception
of tonal music? Or should it be HL? The overlap in content between the
two books shows that he must have been thinking about (and very likely
writing) both books at the same time. Though he claims to have decided to
publish HL first principally for pedagogical reasons—in order “not to delay
the necessary reforms” he describes—Schenker certainly knew that pub-
lishing a treatise on harmony would place his music-theoretical ideas in a
long tradition of a subject regarded, particularly in the nineteenth century,
5. For a fuller biographical sketch in English, see Cook, The Schenker Project, 15–28.
See Federhofer, HS, 1–47 for the most complete biography to date, and 5–7 for
more details on Schenker’s conservatory study.
6. Throughout the present work, “Theory of Harmony,” in capitals, refers specifi-
cally to Schenker’s theory, and represents an English translation of the German title
of Schenker’s book, though the theory itself is to be found as well in other ancillary
documents covered in detail in chapter 1. Meanwhile, “theory of harmony” refers to
the general meaning of the phrase.
7. Schenker, HA. First appearing when the original text was forty-eight years old and
Schenker studies were brand new in America, it was published in one edition only,
though that edition was taken over for a time by MIT Press before it returned to
University of Chicago Press. Neither the translation nor its sparse critical apparatus
have been revised or updated since, and its critical reception has been checkered at
best.
preface xiii
❧
as the “science” (Wissenschaft) of music.8 Such a text would also provide a
forum for discussing one of his most original ideas: the theory of essential
harmonies (Stufen), or what he would eventually regard as harmonies “pro-
longed” contrapuntally—phenomena of great musical importance largely
unrecognized by theorists of the past. At the same time, the need to reform
music theory and music theory pedagogy was equally pressing, and Schen-
ker was hardly alone in calling for it.9 Publishing HL as soon as possible
would allow him not only to denounce recent speculative works on the
theory of harmony and propose a coherent alternative, but also to criticize
the moribund pedagogues of the day and replace their textbooks rich in
artificially constructed examples with an up-to-date volume illustrated by
examples from significant tonal compositions. In short, a book on har-
mony that had to do with real music.
In describing Schenker’s motivations for writing HL, it is important to
stress that this is by no means the only text relevant to his early Theory of
Harmony; on the contrary, crucial insights can also be found in a cluster of at
least seven other documents from the period 1895–1910. Of the published
works, Kontrapunkt 1 (hereafter KP1 when referring to the published Ger-
man text) contains much that is relevant to the discussion of HL and thus will
be cited in this book with some frequency. Mention will likewise be made of
Ein Beitrag zur Ornamentik (hereafter EBO when referring to the published
German text) and Schenker’s edition of J. S. Bach, Chromatische Phanta-
sie und Fuge (hereafter CPF when referring to the published German text).
And, though wide-ranging and not particularly technical, Schenker’s earli-
est essay touching on music theory—“Der Geist der musikalischen Technik”
(GEIST)—forecasts the unusual direction his Theory of Harmony would
take, and had a clear and important impact on the opening of HL.10 Of the
works unpublished during Schenker’s lifetime, three stand out as particu-
larly significant. An unpublished essay by Schenker entitled “Der Weg zum
Gleichniss” (hereafter, WEG) links, if somewhat distantly, with GEIST, and
bears on issues brought up at the very beginning of HL, engaging repetition
and motives; these prove to be essential in understanding Schenker’s personal
8. As regards the delays, see Schenker, HL, VI–VII and 223–35; HA, xxvi and 175–
82. On the translation of Wissenschaft, see chapter 4 below.
9. See, for example, the Harmonielehren by Rudolf Louis and Ludwig Thuille, and
by Arnold Schoenberg.
10. See Cook, The Schenker Project, 319–32.