David Kopps book develops a model of chromatic chord relations in nineteenth-century music by composers such as Schubert, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann and Brahms. The emphasis is on explaining chromatic third relations and the pivotal role they play in theory and practice. The book traces conceptions of harmonic system and of chromatic third relations from Rameau through nineteenth-century theorists such as Marx, Hauptmann and Riemann, to the seminal twentieth-century theorists Schenker and Schoenberg and on to the present day. Drawing on tenets of nineteenth-century harmonic theory, contemporary transformation theory and the authors own approach, the book presents a clear and elegant means for characterizing commonly acknowledged but loosely defined elements of chromatic harmony, and integrates them as fully fledged entities into a chromatically based conception of harmonic system. The historical and theoretical argument is supplemented by plentiful analytic examples.

Integrates aspects of nineteenth-century theory with contemporary methods in an interesting way
Wide range of approach - historical, analytical, theoretical
Clearly and accessibly presented

Table of Contents

Foreword Ian Bent
Acknowledgements
1. Common-tone tonality
2. Three examples of functional chromatic mediant relations in Schubert
3. Key harmonic systems and notions of third relations from Rameau to Hauptmann
4. Hugo Riemann
5. Twentieth-century theory and chromatic third relations
6. Riemanns legacy and transformation theories
7. A chromatic transformation system
8. Chromatic mediant relations in musical contexts
9. Five analyses
Bibliography
Index
Compositions cited.