''Free Composition'' (''Der freie Satz'') is a treatise by
Heinrich Schenker
Heinrich Schenker (19 June 1868 – 14 January 1935) was a Galician-born Austrian music theorist whose writings have had a profound influence on subsequent musical analysis. His approach, now termed Schenkerian analysis, was most fully exp ...
, and possibly Schenker's best known work. The third volume of ''New Musical Theories and Fantasies'' (preceded by
''Harmony'' and
''Counterpoint''), it was first published posthumously by Universal Edition in Vienna in 1935. A second German edition by Oswald Jonas appeared in Vienna in 1956. The American translation by Ernst Oster was published by Longman, New York and London, in 1979.
''Free Composition'' is often believed to present a complete and systematic outline of Schenker's mature
theory
A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be s ...
, but it relies heavily on his previous writings, especially ''Der Tonwille'' (English translation, OUP, 2004) and ''Das Meisterwerk in der Musik'' (''The Masterwork in Music'', English translation, OUP, 1997) and cannot be fully appreciated without some knowledge of these publications.
The word ''Satz'' does not easily translate in English. "Free composition" apparently implies that there may exist a "strict composition", but Schenker considered that composition, by definition, is free, as opposed to strict counterpoint. The French translation proposes ''L'Écriture libre''
[Heinrich Schenker (1993). ''L'Écriture libre'', transl. Nicolas Meeùs.] ("Free writing"). Neither solution is entirely satisfactory.
''Free Composition'' consists of two volumes, one volume of text and one of musical examples. It is divided into three parts, dealing respectively with
background
Background may refer to:
Performing arts and stagecraft
* Background actor
* Background artist
* Background light
* Background music
* Background story
* Background vocals
* ''Background'' (play), a 1950 play by Warren Chetham-Strode
Reco ...
,
middleground
Middleground (April 22, 1947 – February 16, 1972)
"Grave Matters Farm Index North America" (horse graves),
Thoroughbred Heritage, 2005, webpage:
was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1950 Kentucky Derby and Belmont S ...
, and
foreground levels of structure. The last chapters of Part III are devoted to Meter and Rhythm and to Form.
See also
*
Free counterpoint
References
Sources
*''Der freie Satz'', Wien, Universal Edition, 1935. UE 6869. 2 vols. XXII+240 pp. and
V119 pp.
*''Der freie Satz'', 2d edition, edited and revised by O. Jonas, Wien, Universal Edition, 1956. UE 6869a. 2 vols. 240 pp. and
V119 pp.
*''Der freie Satz'', translation by Theodore Krueger, Ph.D. dissertation, State University of Iowa, 1960.
*''Free Composition'', 2d edition, translated and edited by E. Oster, New York, Longman, 1979. 2 vols. XXIV+166 pp. and VIII+
19pp.,
*''Free Composition'', Macmillan, 1979
*''Free Composition'', Schirmer Books, 1993,
*''Free Composition'', translated and edited by E. Oster, Pendragon Press 2001
*''L'Écriture libre'', 2d edition, translated by N. Meeùs, Liège, Mardaga, 1993. and
*
'Free Composition'' Chinese translation by Chen, Shi-Ben, Beijing: People’s Music Publications, 1997.
*''Свободное сочинение''
'Der freie Satz'' 2d edition, Russian translation by B. Plotnikov, Krasnoyarsk Academy of Music and Theatre, 2004.
Schenkerian analysis
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