# Emergence and Dissipation of Tonality & Functional Harmony



## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist

When I listen to High Renaissance (even as early as Josquin) thru early Baroque music, I hear gestures that gradually hint more and more (over time) at what would become the established hierarchical tonal relationships that define functional harmony and tonality in the Common Practice Period (for a very literal example, think of the gradual strengthening and consolidation of cadential figures over the course of early music). While we are taught to examine these gestures contrapuntally, it is quite obvious (to me at least) that - using a retrospective lens - they are quite closely related to the emergence tonality and CPT harmony, which leads me to believe that the development of contrapuntal practices and harmonic practices are MUCH more closely aligned & overlapping - both historically and theoretically (by necessity, that is) - than is commonly assumed or taught.

A similar observation can be made about the expansion and/or dissipation (whichever term you prefer) of tonality in late Romantic / early Modern music (think Sibelius, Shostakovich, minimalism, etc.).

Are there any musical texts that examine the entire history of classical music through the lens of discussing the evolution of tonality? Not just covering CPT, but as broad a range of musical history as possible.


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## Nate Miller

Schoenberg wrote a book Structural Functions of Harmony, and then there is Hindemith's Craft of Musical Composition 

if you haven't read either of those, I think you might enjoy them. They aren't really a historical survey, but musically both books look at harmony in the greater scheme of things.


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## Bwv 1080

Dont know any books that cover the whole topic, but I agree with your premise - harmony was not separate from counterpoint until late in the 19th century.


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## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist

If you have ever taken a stab at writing 16th century counterpoint, even with no (conscious) regard towards vertical harmony, you will notice that merely following the rules leads you towards triadic harmonies, functional motifs, and proto-tonality. Yet there seems to be such an artificial divide in pedagogy between the "horizontal" composition of early music and the "vertical" harmonies in CPT. This obviously exaggerated dichotomy seems to have stifled discourse around the historical emergence of CPT theoretical concepts.

It is a given, a priori, that the practices harmony and counterpoint are closely linked, in any musical practice which admits non-monophonic music.


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## mikeh375

BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist said:


> If you have ever taken a stab at writing 16th century counterpoint, even with no (conscious) regard towards vertical harmony, you will notice that merely following the rules leads you towards triadic harmonies, functional motifs, and proto-tonality. Yet there seems to be such an artificial divide in pedagogy between the "horizontal" composition of early music and the "vertical" harmonies in CPT. This obviously exaggerated dichotomy seems to have stifled discourse around the historical emergence of CPT theoretical concepts.
> 
> It is a given, a priori, that the practices harmony and counterpoint are closely linked, in any musical practice which admits non-monophonic music.


My avatar gives away that I studied 16thC counterpoint and I agree with you. The pursuit of consonance and the resolving of dissonance with it inevitably gave rise to vertical preferences and procedures. I also agree that counterpoint and harmony are inextricably bound in functional settings, one feeds the other.


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## Makimokus

Hey! Nice post and question. I also love those transitional periods in the development of tonality. I think they yield some of the most beautiful music ever written. The only book I know that takes a historicist approach to the study of harmony is Diether de la Motte's Harmonielehre. I confess it has been in my reading list for a long time, and your post just gave me the push I needed to begin reading it! I've found this link with the book online: http://www.kholopov.ru/arc/motte-harmlehre.pdf (I don't know if there is any English translation available).
Regards


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