Return to Riemann: Tonal Function and Chromatic Music

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Such a gem!
Thank you for your tasteful posts Sunny!

I find it astounding that individuals continue to publish books like this, especially considering that the author himself, Hugo Riemann, later acknowledged his significant mistakes in trying to work on new theory of tonal function. Riemann was a professor at one of the largest universities, and before even evaluating his new ideas, he failed to consult any of his colleagues. He believed that the existing structure of musical harmony was antiquated, so he assumed he could improve upon something that was already straightforward. In reality, he only complicated the analysis by creating his own clichés and seeking a language with his own terminology. When confronted by his esteemed friends and colleagues from the same university, he struggled to defend his work. One colleague remarked, "I was unable to analyze the composer Brahms using your concepts." Others criticized him more coherently, stating: "If you intended to reformulate a 'new theory of tonal function,' you should have employed a new method rather than relying on established concepts from the past, such as Roman numerals, which have been utilized since the Baroque period, along with the traditional numbers associated with them. In other words, you contributed nothing new; you merely rehashed old ideas and attempted to present them in your own way, complicating matters further. The theory of tonal function should not be, and cannot be, a difficult subject for music students. Riemann invented the so-called 'sub-fifth,' which had always existed, albeit under a different name.

Ultimately, after being called out by his best friends and facing growing criticism from others, including newspaper reviewers who deemed his work the most nonsensical undertaking in the history of music, Riemann abandoned his project and apologized to his peers. He took the precaution of withdrawing all copies from circulation to prevent further sales. However, decades after his death, a misguided individual, who only had access to this book that Riemann himself recognized as one of his greatest errors, fell into the hands of a 15-year-old German student named 'Hans Joachim Koellreutter'. Koellreutter studied Riemann's flawed and abandoned methodology and eventually became a teacher, misguidedly believing in this flawed system. Despite being advised to cease teaching material that had long been discredited in music, he was expelled from every school in Germany where he attempted to teach. His conviction was so strong that he even tried to teach in Japan, but the Japanese were already well-versed in traditional harmony, which is not the only viable approach.

After failing in Japan, Koellreutter attempted to teach his failed system in the United States. Thankfully, due to the extraordinary efforts of Arnold Schoenberg, he was dismissed and largely ignored. He eventually moved to South America, where he managed to promote Riemann's misguided theories in Brazil, where he spent the remainder of his long life. There, he caused considerable confusion, questioning and criticizing other musicians, labeling them as backward. His music, even in Brazil, was unsuccessful, and fortunately, he had very few students who followed Riemann's flawed methodology.

In Brazil today, unfortunately, there are few musicians who adhere to what we refer to as 'functional harmony,' a concept attributed to Riemann. However, his expressions often lack depth, and his music has not achieved significant success; they are so imbecile that they still publish new books, thinking they have the competence to reformulate Hugo Riemann's theory, which is already considered wrong, and they can barely sell their books.

With my training, I feel a responsibility to guide new music students. I recommend the most accessible books for learning harmony and the true 'theory of tonal function.' These are undoubtedly foundational texts that encompass the empirical knowledge upon which the harmony of music is built, spanning from the earliest human compositions to contemporary genres such as Hollywood soundtracks, rock, metal, bossa nova, and jazz. In essence, the principles of harmony remain consistent across all forms of music.

Recommended Books:

Paul Hindemith - Traditional Harmony
Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne - Tonal Harmony
Arnold Schoenberg - Theory of Harmony (This is at the top of the list of great musicians)

For jazz enthusiasts, I highly recommend:
Stanislav Borisov - Harmonic Exercises for Jazz Piano which provides essential practice material.

For those who enjoy rock but may lack the time or patience for extensive study:
Christopher Doll - Hearing Harmony: Toward a Tonal Theory for the Rock Era.

And for those willing to explore further:
Vincent Persichetti - Twentieth-Century Harmony: Creative Aspects and Practice.

By the way, Hugo Riemann was an exceptional educator and musicologist, having published numerous other remarkable works. He is highly esteemed, including by me, especially because he acknowledged and apologized for this particular trash work "Hugo Riemann's Theory of Harmony" that has never succeeded and likely never will.

It is worth remembering that Riemann throughout his life only published a single book with this attempt to reformulate the harmony of music, however, on the web, we see several volumes of which he is not the author.