A Theory of Harmony

Barraga, Fr. Seraph (Franz Joseph). "Musik ist Wissenschaft; ihre Ausübung in jedem Sinne: Kunst." Eine Inaugural-Dissertation.

€ 1,500.00

Only edition.

The composer Barraga (1825-99) served as choir master and music teacher in Munich (cf. RISM). His doctrine followed the mathematical system of harmony established by Georg Joseph Vogler (1749-1814), a composer of the Mannheim school and a diligent reformer of baroque organs. Barraga's theory describes harmonical and metrical knowledge as the grammar of musical rhetoric, while the necessary prerequisite for the representation of beauty is logic, paired with sentiment. Harmonical and metrical relations are to be expressed by a system of signs similar to the Roman numeral analysis anticipated by Vogler, of which Barraga provides numerous examples in the text and on the plates. For the author, music is to be conceived as a living "mathematica integra", as attested by Mozart in particular. Perhaps surprisingly, Barraga does not mention Johann Sebastian Bach.

Very light foxing; wrappers slightly creased. A clean copy on large paper.