
A Theory of Harmony
With A New Introduction by Paul Wilkinson
- 132 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
The classic work on Levy's theory of negative harmony.
Ernst Levy was a visionary Swiss pianist, composer, and teacher who developed an approach to music theory that has come to be known as "negative harmony." Levy's theories have had a wide influence, from young British performer/composer Jacob Collier to jazz musicians like Steve Coleman. His posthumous text, A Theory of Harmony, summarizes his innovative ideas. A Theory of Harmony is a highly original explanation of the harmonic language of the modern era, illuminating the approaches of diverse styles of music. By breaking through age-old conceptions, Levy was able to reorient the way we experience musical harmony.
British composer/music pedagogue Paul Wilkinson has written a new introduction that offers multiple points of entry to Levy's work to make this text more accessible for a new generation of students, performers, and theorists. He relates Levy's work to innovations in improvisation, jazz, twentieth-century classical music, and the theoretical writings of a wide range of musical mavericks, including Harry Partch, Hugo Riemann, and David Lewin. Wilkinson shows how A Theory of Harmony continues to inspire original musical expression across multiple musical genres.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- New Introduction
- Editor’s Preface to the First Edition
- Pitch Designations
- Foreword to the First Edition
- 1. Tone Structure
- 2. Polarity
- 3. The Triad
- 4. Consonance-Dissonance
- 5. The Natural Seventh
- 6. Temperament
- 7. Tonal Functions of Intervals
- 8. Tonal Functions of Triads
- 9. Tonal Functions of Nontriadic and Compound Chords
- Summary
- Appendices
- Back Cover