Toward a Post-Schoenbergian Grammar of Tonal and Pre-tonal Harmonic Progressions

Abstract

Schoenberg appears to have been among the first authors to revive Rameau’s theory of fundamental bass progressions. His categorization of the progressions in three categories (“strong or ascending,” “descending,” and “superstrong”) can be further systematized on the basis of a theory of chord substitutions. A study of the use of the progressions so categorized allows a general description of harmonically well-formed tonal phrases. A comparison with the usage of progressions in pre-tonal music evidences important differences.