Tradition and Modernity in the Harmony of Corale, interludio e aria by Eugeniusz Knapik

Piotr Jędrzejczyk

The analytical case study presents a harmonic analysis of a post-tonal work, Corale, interludio e aria for flute, harpsichord, and string ensemble by Eugeniusz Knapik, composed in 1978. The study focuses on the composer’s strategies of harmonic organization and the different harmonic structures employed throughout the work. The analytical framework is based on the terminology developed by Tadeusz Andrzej Zieliński (Podstawy harmoniki nowoczesnej, Kraków: Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, 2009). The analysis demonstrates that the work combines elements referring to tradition — such as tertian chords, modal thinking, and pitch centralization — with modern compositional strategies characteristic of post-tonal music, including the stabilization of the harmonic range, with harmonic tension playing a key role within individual structures, as well as the extensive use of cluster-like sonorities.

Keywords: harmonic analysis, harmony, New Romanticism, post-tonal, Twentieth-Century Music

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.22215260

Source(s), object(s) and method(s) of analysis
Source(s) of analysisScore
Year of creation1978
Composer's nameEugeniusz Knapik
Methods of analysisOther
Target group / Study level
Level of Music Analysis knowledgeAdvanced, Intermediate

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