Carl Dahlhaus was without doubt the premier musicologist of the postwar
generation, a giant whose recent death was mourned the world over.
Translated here for the first time, this fundamental work on the
development of tonality shows his complete mastery of the theory of
harmony. In it Dahlhaus explains the modern concepts of harmony and
tonality, reviewing in the process the important theories of Rameau,
Sechter, Ftis, Riemann, and Schenker. He contrasts the familiar premises
of chordal composition with the lesser known precepts of intervallic
composition, the basis for polyphonic music in the late Middle Ages and
Renaissance. Numerous quotations from theoretical treatises document how
early music was driven forward not by progressions of chords but by
simple progressions of intervals.
Exactly when did composers transform intervallic composition into
chordal composition? Modality into tonality? Dahlhaus provides extensive
analyses of motets by Josquin, frottole by Cara and Tromboncino, and
madrigals by Monteverdi to demonstrate how, and to what degree, such
questions can be answered. In his bold speculations, in his magisterial
summaries, in his command of eight centuries of music and writings on
music, and in his deep understanding of European history and culture,
Carl Dahlhaus sets a standard that will seldom be equalled.
Originally published in 1990.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand
technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from
the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions
preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting
them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the
Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich
scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by
Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
