Audacious Euphony: Chromatic Harmony and the Triad's Second Nature (Oxford Studies in Music Theory)
"The culmination of twenty years of thinking about the tonally evasive music of the 19th century, this book is a stunning achievement.  The writing is vivid and engaging, the musical close readings are rich and compelling in their detail, and at every turn there is something new to learn about music and musical materials we had thought we already knew well." --Joseph N. Straus, Distinguished Professor, CUNY Graduate Center; Former President, Society for Music Theory"For sheer virtuosity in theory making and theory-based analysis,Audacious Euphonydeserves the highest praise. It lights up as never before the universe of triads domesticated in nineteenth-century chromatic music. Were Richard Cohn not already a household name among music theorists, this book would change that." --Kofi Agawu, Professor of Music, Princeton University; Author ofMusic as Discourse: Semiotic Adventures in Romantic Music"Audacious Euphonysynthesizes and extends the influential neo-Riemannian approach to chromatic tonality that Richard Cohn's earlier theoretical work helped develop. Lucid and engagingly written, this book is indispensable reading for music theorists and indeed for anyone deeply interested in 19th-century chromatic harmony." --Fred Lerdahl, Fritz Reiner Professor of Music, Columbia University"This book is a major contribution to the field of music theory, but Cohn targets not only music theorists but also music historians, conductors, performers, and any interestedmusic listener with a modest level of music-theory training...A companion website presents longer scores, analytical animations, and audio files. Highly recommended." --Choice"Audacious Euphony, as the definitive account of one of the most important recent theoretic systems for nineteenth century music, is above all an argument for the essential independence of the logic of chromatic harmony. As such, it will frame the continuing debate about nineteenth-century chromaticism and be an essential reference point for the non-integrationist perspective. It is also necessary reading for anyone interested in nineteenth-century music, reflecting a comprehensive picture of nineteenth-century composers' use of harmony that penetrates deeply into the repertoire. It will become an indispensible source for future research." --Music Theory Online"An important contribution to the field of music theory in general. While many of the essential concepts and analytical tools have been developed in previous scholarship, this book successfully unifies and expands upon these diverse ideas, providing the reader with a theoretically rigorous and historically informed approach to understanding the complex harmonic innovations of the long nineteenth century." --Music Research Forum