The webern in mozart: Systems of chromatic harmony and their twelve-tone content

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Toward the end of his 2012 book, Audacious Euphony, Richard Cohn asks, "how does music that is heard to be organized by diatonic tonality [as in the age of Mozart] become music that is heard to be organized in some other way [as in the age of Webern]"? In the present article, a theory different from Cohn's is offered as answer. The theory's three sub-theories, harmonic hierarchy, within-key chromaticism, and "solar" key distance, lead to a distinction between four types of harmonic systems: The strictly diatonic, the first- and second-order chromatic, and the restricted twelve-tone system. As its name implies, the latter harmonic system allows for twelve-tone levels, though under a restriction (termed Principle of Diatonic Fusion) that holds "the Webern in Mozart" in check.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)173-192
Number of pages20
JournalMusic Theory Spectrum
Volume42
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Chromatic harmony
  • Harmonic hierarchy
  • Neo-Riemannian theory
  • Richard Cohn
  • Schenker
  • Solar key distance
  • Within-key chromaticism

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The webern in mozart: Systems of chromatic harmony and their twelve-tone content'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this