The Dynamics of Harmony

Book excerpt: This is a readable and imaginative book presenting, with infectious enthusiasm, a sensible simplification of the main processes of classical harmony in the Bach-Schubert period. Pratt's explanations of concepts such as "real" and "substitute" chords, of false distinctions between "major" and "minor" and of the simple basis of seemingly complex chromatic harmony enables readers to grasp the principles of harmonic progression, and to see most progressions as a form of "dominant-powered" movement. He focuses his study on Bach chorales, Mozart piano sonatas, and a Schubert song cycle, thereby providing depth, variety, and a realistic sense of a context of "real music" to his explanations and to the exercises. But he also offers the reader an immediate invitation to apply the same principles to an immense range of musical literature from Monteverdi to Scott Joplin.