A Theory of Harmony

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In this introduction to natural-base music theory, Ernst Levy presents the essentials of a comprehensive, consistent theory of harmony developed from tone structure. A Theory of Harmony is a highly original explanation of the harmonic language of the last few centuries, showing the way toward an understanding of diverse styles of music. Basic harmony texts exist, but none supply help to students seeking threads of logic in the field. In a text abundantly illustrated with musical examples, Levy makes clear the few principles that illuminate the natural forces in harmony. He shows that general principles can be successfully extracted from the wealth of examples. This book actually provides a theory of harmony.

One of the major musical minds of the twentieth century, Ernst Levy was born in Basel, Switzerland, in 1895. His musical career spanned more than seven decades, from his first public piano performance at age six. A naturalized U.S. citizen, he lived here from 1941 to 1966, teaching at the New England Conservatory, the University of Chicago, Bennington College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Brooklyn College. After his retirement Levy returned to Switzerland, where he continued to compose until his death in 1981. He was an enormously productive composer, with hundreds of works to his credit, including symphonies, string quartets, songs in English, French, and German, and music for solo instruments and small ensembles. His piano recordings, particularly of the last Beethoven sonatas and the Liszt sonata, have become collectors' items. He thought of himself as a successor to Reimann, immediately, and Rameau, more remotely.

Siegmund Levarie is Professor Emeritus of Music, City University of New York. He has published seven books on various aspects of music, and two of them were co-authored with Ernst Levy.

Ernst Levy-composer, pianist, teacher, philosopher-set down his ideas on harmony in the winter of 1940-41 in a lengthy manuscript in French entitled Connaissance harmonique: Essai sur la structure musi cale du son. The war interfered with publication. About ten years later, when we were colleagues on the faculty of the University of Chicago, he translated the manuscript into English, using the occasion to tighten and revise the text. After one negotiation with a publisher, pursued with little energy and less success, Ernst Levy (in a manner characteristic of him) did nothing more for the manuscript than to circulate a few mimeo graphed copies to a small group of friends. After his death in 1981, the efforts of one of these friends, who (like all who had read the manuscript) believed in its lasting significance, led to the present publication.

I was asked to prepare the manuscript for the printer because of my long-standing acquaintance with Ernst Levy's thoughts and his manner of expressing them. In the course of our friendship of more than three dec ades, we wrote two books together and collaborated on various other smaller projects. I had, moreover, frequently discussed various aspects of his theory with him. A welcome participant in many of these discus sions was the composer Hugo Kauder, whose friendship Ernst Levy cherished and whose judgment he respected. It was Hugo Kauder who, in my presence, persuaded the author to replace the original term modale by determinant, the only change I have felt free to introduce in this edi tion. Hugo Kauder's copy, now in my possession, also contains a multi tude of valuable comments written in the margins and shared with Ernst Levy who (as I personally witnessed) gratefully accepted them. For this reason, I have decided to place all these comments in a special appendix where, without interrupting the flow of the original, they will add an extra dimension to some of the ideas. In the main body of the book, all places thus commented upon are marked by a small asterisk.

Underlying the present essay are the contents of a book written in French in the winter 1940-41. The book, entitled Connaissance Har monique, had been the result of years of studies and investigations in har monic theory as a specialized application and development of Hans Kay ser's theories. The book was never published.

Only small sections of this essay are outright translations. Much mat ter had to be condensed; whole stretches not sufficiently essential to warrant inclusion in a rather short essay had to be suppressed. In many cases, the methods of approach had to be changed to fit another language and the different modes of thinking it entails. Finally-ten years passing by not without bringing about changes-the author has found it neces sary in a few minor instances to correct earlier views.

In this essay the author endeavors to present the essentials of a com prehensive, consistent theory of harmony developed from tone struc ture. The underlying philosophical hypothesis consists in a belief in the psycho-physical reality of tone, whereby the musical fact becomes a symbol of a physical-acoustical fact, and vice versa. It would indeed seem difficult to discover any other basis for a harmonic theory claiming to be universal.

One test of the validity of such a claim lies, of course, in the possibility of its universal application; it is a test against the monuments of music, hence historical. Another test would be directed toward the future, to ward artistic creation; this is the concern of the teacher of composition. Of both tests, nothing will be found here save a few illustrative examples. This essay is solely concerned with the making of tools.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages