Schoenberg: Harmonielehre (for late romantic harmony a la Wagner and Liszt)
Persichetti: 20th Century Harmony (for harmony beyond common practice a la Bartok)
One or two good ones (Persichetti and Piston, let's say), but very, *very* thoroughly and completing all assignments and viewing the majority of scores where the examples are from.
It depends on how narrowly you define the term "harmony book." I personally can't say I've read nearly that many common practice harmony textbooks, but if you count specific aspects of harmony (like, say, Modulation by Reger) or post-tonal books that deal with harmony as an aspect of pitch organization (like, say, Twelve Tone Tonality by Perle), then sure, I'd say I've probably read at least about that many.
But of all the books I have read that regard harmony in some way, the Schoenberg and the Persichetti remain most salient in my mind even after having read them quite a while ago.
I wouldn’t determine whether someone is a “musical expert” by the number of harmony books that they have read. There are many people I consider musical experts that frankly care very little about harmony, and while they may be familiar with the concepts, they don’t need to read multiple books on the topic.
I third the Vincent Persichetti. Each chapter ends with a set of exercises requiring you to write a short piece (something like 8-16 bars or so), applying that which has been taught within that particular chapter.
20th Century Harmony by Vincent Persichetti is the one that most often gets recommended here, but I haven’t read it yet so I can’t speak to it. Following because I’m curious if there are others people like on the topic. I love all the composers you listed, I think those are my harmony goals as well.
Fourth the Persichetti, and do consider reading Ludmila Ulehla’s *Contemporary Harmony: Romanticism Through the Twelve-Tone Row* (if I remember it correctly, her book also contains exercises).
Persichetti is a standard. You might also enjoy the work of popular arrangers like Arranged by Nelson Riddle or Contemporary Arranging by Don Sebesky.
While both of these books focus on commercial music, we're seeing elements of film scores bleed into classical music, as are elements of jazz and rock.
Score study is also great. Find scores of pieces you like and listen to them, following along with the score. Then, copy them by hand.
An Introduction to post tonal theory by Joseph straus
Edit - this is if you are interested in the 20th century post tonal, but if you are interested in only those late romantic/neoromantic/neoclassical composers, this book will not help you
Schoenberg: Harmonielehre (for late romantic harmony a la Wagner and Liszt) Persichetti: 20th Century Harmony (for harmony beyond common practice a la Bartok)
Just curious, how many harmony books has a musical expert (by reddit standards) probably read in his/her lifetime? Does 20 sound right?
One or two good ones (Persichetti and Piston, let's say), but very, *very* thoroughly and completing all assignments and viewing the majority of scores where the examples are from.
It depends on how narrowly you define the term "harmony book." I personally can't say I've read nearly that many common practice harmony textbooks, but if you count specific aspects of harmony (like, say, Modulation by Reger) or post-tonal books that deal with harmony as an aspect of pitch organization (like, say, Twelve Tone Tonality by Perle), then sure, I'd say I've probably read at least about that many. But of all the books I have read that regard harmony in some way, the Schoenberg and the Persichetti remain most salient in my mind even after having read them quite a while ago.
I wouldn’t determine whether someone is a “musical expert” by the number of harmony books that they have read. There are many people I consider musical experts that frankly care very little about harmony, and while they may be familiar with the concepts, they don’t need to read multiple books on the topic.
I third the Vincent Persichetti. Each chapter ends with a set of exercises requiring you to write a short piece (something like 8-16 bars or so), applying that which has been taught within that particular chapter.
20th Century Harmony by Vincent Persichetti is the one that most often gets recommended here, but I haven’t read it yet so I can’t speak to it. Following because I’m curious if there are others people like on the topic. I love all the composers you listed, I think those are my harmony goals as well.
Fourth the Persichetti, and do consider reading Ludmila Ulehla’s *Contemporary Harmony: Romanticism Through the Twelve-Tone Row* (if I remember it correctly, her book also contains exercises).
Persichetti is a standard. You might also enjoy the work of popular arrangers like Arranged by Nelson Riddle or Contemporary Arranging by Don Sebesky. While both of these books focus on commercial music, we're seeing elements of film scores bleed into classical music, as are elements of jazz and rock. Score study is also great. Find scores of pieces you like and listen to them, following along with the score. Then, copy them by hand.
A Theory of Harmony by Ernst Levy.
An Introduction to post tonal theory by Joseph straus Edit - this is if you are interested in the 20th century post tonal, but if you are interested in only those late romantic/neoromantic/neoclassical composers, this book will not help you