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Twentieth-Century Harmony: Creative Aspects and Practice
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Here for the first time is an orderly presentation of the harmonic procedures to be found in music of the first half of the twentieth-century. The author examines the nature of intervals in various contexts, discusses the modes and other scales employed in modern music, describes the formation and uses of chords by thirds, by fourths, and by seconds, of added-note chords a
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Hardcover, 288 pages
Published
February 17th 1961
by W. W. Norton & Company
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As a amateur Composer myself I find modern compositional techniques to be a mess. Writing music that no one listens to, contrary to the current contemporary approach of "dumbing down" and endless copy and paste hooks and refrains.
This book explains quite thoroughly: modern harmony of a variety of composers eg. Schoenberg, Prokofiev, Hindemith,etc. The technicalities are coherent and engaging enough for a post theory grade 8 student and I highly recommend it to musicians who are well versed in S ...more
This book explains quite thoroughly: modern harmony of a variety of composers eg. Schoenberg, Prokofiev, Hindemith,etc. The technicalities are coherent and engaging enough for a post theory grade 8 student and I highly recommend it to musicians who are well versed in S ...more
A classic, and for good reason. Persichetti's book is about contemporary harmony in its many forms. The book goes in depth on subjects that other harmony books don't even touch on. This is a book for the serious modern day composer. Not for everyone, but those who are looking to expand their musical palettes would do well to study the insight that is contained within.
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This is the only book (of which I'm aware) about 20th century compositional technique that explains its subject in a clear and concise way. Subjects such as quartal harmony which usually receive passing mention (if that) are given thorough exposition.
The last few chapters seem perfunctory, addressing the usual tacked-on subjects of pedal points, suspensions, chromatic alterations, etc. and can really be skimmed for a few insights.
It is, however, in need of a new edition with accompanying audio. ...more
The last few chapters seem perfunctory, addressing the usual tacked-on subjects of pedal points, suspensions, chromatic alterations, etc. and can really be skimmed for a few insights.
It is, however, in need of a new edition with accompanying audio. ...more
In a simple, concise manner, Persichetti lays out the most characteristic elements of the harmonic practice of a really interesting era. His language is very descriptive and his organization walks you through the microscopic and precise use of intervals and their sonorous characters, up to complex harmonic configurations such as atonalty, pandiatonalism and polytonality.
This book is very comfortable to read. It combines musical illustrations with simple explanations of the elements illustrated. ...more
This book is very comfortable to read. It combines musical illustrations with simple explanations of the elements illustrated. ...more
I'll be coming back to this for years to come. Full of extremely straightforward explanations of terrifyingly complicated concepts. Once I graduate I'm gonna go back and do a few more of the exercises, hopefully make something based off a few of the ideas here.
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Fantastic book, in depth explanations, clear explanations, read it twice in a row because I was fascinated by his approach to harmony. Though a warning, it’s a book for the advanced music theoreticus, if you’re new or intermediate in music theory I would advice to stay away from this book for a few more months.
Indispensable
Lots of stuff to absorb. Now, onto the exercises.
fantastic use as a guide when exploring harmony
A classic. Would recommend this as a foundational book to anyone interested in harmony.
I worked through a lot of this book in music school. It's the kind of book that one needs to spend time with and revisit now and then. I have it on my re-read list, for sure.
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a fun encyclopedia of compositional techniques and tips presented by a philly OG; thusly the perfect book.
Great book.
Didn't finish this but want to come back to it! Read about half
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