Characteristics of Late Romantic Harmony (Book 3, CH 26) 

Thanks for all the "Nice" replies!

This made me think about the jazz standard Stella by starlight which started as a piece in a late romantic (film score) style. In Stella there are great number of strong beat dissonances, all of which eventually resolve but jazz musicians treat as colour tones. It strikes me that that is a really good example of the shift from romantic to jazz/colour tone harmony just by interpreting non chord tones differently.

an observation: the added 6 on mahler's excerpt seems to me like a suspension of the 5th of the dominant. It can perhaps be considered a 13th chord

I think i just stumbled upon a fascinating channel, I'll be browsing your channel for a few hours this weekend. Thank you

I love this kinda stuff. Subbed!

It's pretty funny that through the current harmonic era, romantic through the impressionists at the turn of the century, dissonance has taken on a new meaning, there is no need to resolve dissonances anymore as long as they a) Arise through stepwise melodic motion, they can stay as long as they like, or b) came to the sonority through common tone. A frozen non chord tone, very modern, not even in the outer voices, Chopin doesn't break a sweat lol.

Nice. But maybe I part ways with the analysis of the Chopin excerpt a little bit. I think the linear analysis and Roman numeral analysis both point to the same logic: the progression is a pretty straight ahead circle of fifths sequence, with the diminished 7ths as rootless dominants.

Nice. Love this!

Your analysis of non-chord tones seems too rigid. Ironically, for the very reason you pointed out in the very beginning as a characteristic: horizontal harmony. That F isn't "frozen", it's a pedal tone (very common in Mahler), which resolves later to the Eb. Mahler may play lose with dissonances, but every tone is very deliberate. The term "frozen" is also never really used. I have heard "unprepared" or unresolved appoggiaturas" instead. However, I don't that is what's happening here. The start of Mahler 5th, 4th mov. is super simple. It helps to not overcomplicate things. Also, dominant 9ths are fairly standard for Mahler and his contemporaries. Along with various replacements of the V chord altogether such as: IV, Ct/I, bII, iii, and their variations/alterations. As for the Chopin, when you're dealing with a series of chromatic sequences you just have to remember one thing. A chromatic sequence is the same as a phrase modulation. This a type of direct modulation only supported by a previously established melodic material. So, no point in trying to connect everything in one key. These are a series of short modulations that never establish themselves and travel step wise down until we reach F# again.

Im hoping that im right when i think that the tune in the thumbnail is mahlers 5th, adagietto

I might have to pick up this book 3

Amazing video sir!

Superb analysis! I am very passionate about modern music but I've always felt that for sheer harmonic power and efficiency, the Adagietto from Mahler's 5th Symphony constitutes a pinnacle that may never have been surpassed since (by which I do NOT mean I think that subsequent music was not as good or better). Others may have a different take. I'd love to hear their examples!

Thanks for very informative video and so kind detiled explanation!

Brilliant. Thank you.

2:34

Very helpful video. Really appreciate the analysises you gave

Thank you

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Wonderful explanations thank you good sir :}

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Error at 8:24 in the performance: a C-natural in the treble where a B-flat should be. Surprised nobody heard it. Nice, otherwise.

To bad the piano examples are full of phasing problems and very unbearable to listen to😢

Highly suggest anyone wanting to compose in this style and understand this music more deeply study composition in the way these composers actually learned. Partimento, formal counterpoint, and improvisational practices. Chopin is essentially the first step of breaking from and recombining standard schemata. Life changing study

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Thank you RU-vid algorithm. A breath of fresh air to watch a straight forward, quiet class with no background music and no yippity influencer tone of voice

I am not a musician so I did not understand anything. But even so, this video is really relaxing to watch. You are like the Bob Ross of music theory!

Fascinating! I especially appreciate the analysis of the Mahler, which helps to explain how such expression and deep pathos was made possible.

The 64k question is .. did the composers think "I'll just write some stuff avoiding linear progression" or possibly "hmm...i like this, but I'll leave it to the scholars to make a living out of it".

I was fascinated with how the Symphony 1 un D Miinor (1901) by Dohnanyi does this kind of thing. He is constantly "setting you up" -- most of all in the closing triumphant fuga that goes back to the first movement for an idea. The symphony is large and set up like a Mahler work (esp the 5th, in 5 movements with rigorous form). While rarely played it sounds very familiar the first time you hear it, maybe because Hollywood has copied from it sometimes in its film noirs of the past. (The harmonic effect does resemble Brahms more than Bruckner and Mahler. The same with the Amy Beach Piano Concerto in C# Minor which is almost another "Brahms" concerto.)

Thank you for the refresher on romantic harmonic characteristics, its been a while since I've revisited the subject.

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Dear Sir, I am a professional musician, and yet I really enjoy the way you put all information in a form that stick well to mind and evokes curiosity to further investigation. Would you be so kind and tell me how to find your book and, how to find the first 25 chapters to watch? I went to your channel, but there are no separate play list to this amazing journey, found some chapters but not all. Thank you for your amazing take on harmony and thank you for your time.

precursor to jazz harmony 🤙

What’s with all the “Nice” comments lol

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Thank you for the in depth analysis and free information. I compare what you’ve uploaded here favorably against the books I’ve read. Your (detailed) focus on analyzing this chromaticism as arriving from varying tendencies and sources set this above many of the things I’ve read, which will describe voice leadings or functional purposes but rarely talk about the motivations or tendencies that produce this harmonic language

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Amazing as always, Dr. Kehlenbach

You know... a lot of the traits you've mentioned here is fairly decently adhered to in a number of electronic circles. There's essentially no dominant->tonic progression, few harmonic tones in melodies on the downbeat, modulation, if there is any, moves the pieces to very remote key areas sometimes using modes or planar motion, and there's an enormous reliance on movements using thirds. I hear this especially in Japanese electronic music.

Chopin just being tonally ambiguous af. It seems to be very common in classical to include/announce the 4th in an ambiguous chord with multiple tonal centers like a minor or augmented chord, to which (circle of fifth) the harmony is moving to in the next step, kind of overlapping chord progressions, which is maybe what gives classical music its characteristic dissonance. Like on 9:54, that augmented Bb D F# includes the G in the bass which sounds dissonant, but the next step is a G power chord, ie circle move from the earlier D to G. In pop, that G would not be squished onto the augmented chord. 10:51 same going on here, the F being predicted/part of most earlier chords, where instead C is emphasized, before the C chord finally dissolves away

I hear Ennio Morricone in Mahler’s Adagietto. Hearing it on piano brings that out. thx.

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The last Bb appogiatura in bar 6 of the mahler reduction is playad as a C in the piano. Just wanted to point that out. Nice video! ☺️

Which book is that???

RU-vid is hypocriet

Very helpful

06:48

In what world is Chopin late romantic? Mahler’s melodic dissonances in that example always resolve to a triadic note, even if they aren’t always prepared. The appoggiatura is an endemic feature of the classical era 150 years before, and just never died out, but rather intensified.

I was taught to abandon Roman numeral analysis when you hit a sequence. And even as far back as Bach, harmonic progressions are often motivated by melodic movement, rather than the other way round. Especially stepwise movement in the bass.

Thank you so much for this brilliant video.

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3:35 of course it looks confusing to you, because the analysis is absolutely horrible. The key of F minor, is never left, there is not a single modulation in that passage.

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Not to be a troll but Roman numeral analysis is for non musicians.

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i know what the vocabulary means at this point but it still annoys me.

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This is all just standard jazz harmony