ABSTRACT
The tonal organization that Schenker describes is most relevant to the musical language exemplified by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven; in fact, over 40 percent of the examples in Free Composition (Schenker’s last major work) are taken from the music of these three composers alone. From this central repertory of Viennese masterworks, Schenker extends the scope of his enquiry back to Bach and Handel (together nearly 20 percent of the examples in Free Composition) and forwards to Brahms, Chopin and Schubert (around 30 percent).1 With 80 percent of its examples taken from the music of just eight composers, Free Composition is not a comprehensive portrait of tonality across the ages; it is instead a detailed description of a very particular style, one that maintains a hugely important position in musical culture today.
