Customer Reviews

Harmonic Function in Chromatic Music: A Renewed Dualist Theory and an Account of Its Precedents

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This is a brilliant work. Harrison analyzes music from a basis informed by the work of Hugo Riemann. Riemann's ideas went into eclipse during the 20th century (obscured by those of Schenker), but there is an impressive body of scholars who are rediscovering his work. As I have found Schenkerian analysis to be part of the picture, but not all of it, I welcome non-Schenkerian perspectives. Harrison constructs a powerful set of ideas concerning the identities of the various degrees of the scale; when various of these are highlighted by a composer in the course of a piece, different aspects of the tonal space are "lit up". Though this perspective is not unique to Riemann or Harrison, I find (as a practicing musician and composer) Harrison's way of seeing it quite persuasive. He also does not advocate a "one-size-fits-all" approach to analysis, but in Chapter 4 recognizes that different pieces call for different foci. Since Schenkerian work can seem a bit Procrustean at times, I find this a welcome change. This is one of the most exciting works on musical analysis I have ever come across.

This is a beautifully clear explanation of many of the concepts of duelist thought. Be sure to read Riemann first in order to really understand Harrison. I personally feel that the duelist concept comes closer to the core of music than Schenker does particularly in the context of late Romantic music, which is the main focus of this book.