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CHOICE Review

The translation of Schenker's Neue Musikalische Theorien und Phantasien is now complete, Harmony (vol. 1) having appeared in 1954 and Free Composition (vol. 3) in 1979. These volumes were first published in 1910 and 1922, respectively. In them, Schenker gives a thorough and detailed explication of species counterpoint, critiquing the writings of 17 other theorists and writers from Johann Fux through Hugo Riemann. He also refers to contemporary composers, among them Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, and Hans Pfitzner, usually with less than approval. The preface to the second volume reflects his disillusion, if not bitterness, in the aftermath of WW I. His writing here is more polemical and chauvinistic than in any other of the translated works. The heart of the matter, however, is the presentation of two-voice counterpoint in Volume 1; the detail involved is evident from the start, when he devotes two chapters of more than 90 pages to a discussion of the cantus firmus. Three- and four-voice counterpoint are treated in Volume 2 with a brief chapter given to five- to eight-voice counterpoint. The last third of that volume is devoted to ``Bridges to Free Composition.'' Appended to both volumes are endnotes and bibliographies of Schenker's works, both in German and in translation, and of works he cites. The translation and scholarly apparatus are commendable, the music examples, typography, and layout excellent. Should be part of every academic music collection.-R. Stahura, Ripon College