One of most important books in Western music. Detailed explanation of principles of diatonic harmonic theory. New 1971 translation by Philip Gossett of 1722 edition. Many musical examples.
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Text: English, French (translation)
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An especially imporant work in the history of music theory,
By
This review is from: Treatise on Harmony (Dover Books on Music) (Paperback)
The importance of this work in the history of music would be hard to overestimate. While later music theorists and analysts, such as Schenker, find this emphasis on chords to be destructive to the horizontal considerations that make a great work hold together, this work has influence so many people that even those that do not even know his name but talk about root position chords and their inversions are invoking his concepts without realizing the source.
No, this is not a textbook for students. It is a treatise that explains in depth aspects of music that Rameau felt important and that he felt were essential for him to impart to other musicians. Composers of all stripes have consulted this work as have performers. Rameau has great authority because he was also a significant (if not great) composer. The translation is quite good and easy to read. The concepts are not hard, but it helps to understand aspects of Baroque music such as figured bass and the types of pieces that were important in that era. Some grounding in species counterpoint would also make things easier, but is not absolutely necessary. This book is really something all serious musicians need to know. You can take from it what you want for your own musical practice, but it really is not possible to consider yourself musically informed without knowing this work directly.
44 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
recommended,
By A Customer
This review is from: Treatise on Harmony (Dover Books on Music) (Paperback)
Jean-Phillipe Rameau is, of course, the most esteemed French composer of the late Baroque period (comparable in stature only to J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel). He is also quite possibly the most influential music theorist ever to have lived. His theory of root progression profoundly altered Western-European-derived music, for the better and for the worse (as his contemporary detractors warned it would--by greatly simplifying the study of harmony such that it could be easily abused). But Rameau's works have rarely been made available in English translation. This is book that belongs on every music theorist's, composer's, and music teacher's shelf. (I impatiently await further volumes of Rameau's works in English translation.)Also recommended: "Pentatonic Scales for the Jazz-Rock Keyboardist" by Jeff Burns
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Tonal Harmony Classic,
This review is from: Treatise on Harmony (Dover Books on Music) (Paperback)
This treatise constitutes a touchstone document in the theory of European art music, especially, that from ca. 1600-1850. It is a great tool, not only for historians of the music and music theory of the 17th- and 18th- centuries, but also, for historians of science interested in acoustics. Definite recommendation!
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58
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- A History of 'Consonance' and 'Dissonance' by J. Tenney on 7 pages
- Bach's Works for Solo Violin: Style, Structure, Performance by Joel Lester on 5 pages
- Bach's Works for Solo Violin: Style, Structure, Performance by Joel Lester on 5 pages
- Harmonic Function in Chromatic Music: A Renewed Dualist Theory and an Account of Its Precedents by Daniel Harrison on 4 pages
- Music Analysis in the Nineteenth Century: Volume 1, Fugue, Form and Style (Cambridge Readings in the Literature of Music) by Ian Bent in Front Matter, page 26, and page 37
See all 58 books citing this book
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