Schoenberg and the Radical Economies of Harmonielehre

This article examines Schoenberg’s Harmonielehre as a text shaped by the influence of Central European science and politics. In accord with a severely economical approach to his subject, Schoenberg’s critique of figured bass and chorale harmonization is compared with Ernst Mach’s writings on scienti...

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Main Author: Murray Dineen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Linköping University Electronic Press 2009-06-01
Series:Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://cultureunbound.ep.liu.se/article/view/1890
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author Murray Dineen
author_facet Murray Dineen
author_sort Murray Dineen
collection DOAJ
description This article examines Schoenberg’s Harmonielehre as a text shaped by the influence of Central European science and politics. In accord with a severely economical approach to his subject, Schoenberg’s critique of figured bass and chorale harmonization is compared with Ernst Mach’s writings on scientific method. In support of this comparison, the article addresses the role played in Schoenberg’s political development by the Leftist editor and organizer, David J. Bach, one of Schoenberg’s closest childhood friends and a student of Mach. The comparison between Schoenberg and Mach, then, is drawn not only in terms of scientific method but also in light of the radical politics of the Austrian Left at the time, a politics for which both Mach and Schoenberg held sympathies. It should not be overlooked that later, however, they ceased to acknowledge these sympathies explicitly, and Schoenberg would appear to have abandoned them entirely.
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spelling doaj.art-d9dcbaca30f84a409f2cf78ab5b2e11c2022-12-22T03:14:22ZengLinköping University Electronic PressCulture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research2000-15252009-06-011110.3384/cu.2000.1525.0918105Schoenberg and the Radical Economies of HarmonielehreMurray Dineen0Department of Music at the University of Ottawa, CanadaThis article examines Schoenberg’s Harmonielehre as a text shaped by the influence of Central European science and politics. In accord with a severely economical approach to his subject, Schoenberg’s critique of figured bass and chorale harmonization is compared with Ernst Mach’s writings on scientific method. In support of this comparison, the article addresses the role played in Schoenberg’s political development by the Leftist editor and organizer, David J. Bach, one of Schoenberg’s closest childhood friends and a student of Mach. The comparison between Schoenberg and Mach, then, is drawn not only in terms of scientific method but also in light of the radical politics of the Austrian Left at the time, a politics for which both Mach and Schoenberg held sympathies. It should not be overlooked that later, however, they ceased to acknowledge these sympathies explicitly, and Schoenberg would appear to have abandoned them entirely.https://cultureunbound.ep.liu.se/article/view/1890MusicologyHarmonielehreArnold SchoenbergErnst Mach
spellingShingle Murray Dineen
Schoenberg and the Radical Economies of Harmonielehre
Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research
Musicology
Harmonielehre
Arnold Schoenberg
Ernst Mach
title Schoenberg and the Radical Economies of Harmonielehre
title_full Schoenberg and the Radical Economies of Harmonielehre
title_fullStr Schoenberg and the Radical Economies of Harmonielehre
title_full_unstemmed Schoenberg and the Radical Economies of Harmonielehre
title_short Schoenberg and the Radical Economies of Harmonielehre
title_sort schoenberg and the radical economies of harmonielehre
topic Musicology
Harmonielehre
Arnold Schoenberg
Ernst Mach
url https://cultureunbound.ep.liu.se/article/view/1890
work_keys_str_mv AT murraydineen schoenbergandtheradicaleconomiesofharmonielehre