Even if Schenker's argument for the derivation of the Ursatz from the harmonic
series were coherent, it would fail to carry conviction because of its
inconsistency with the real world of music, in which small integer ratios are
not of the essence of consonance. However, much of Free Composition consists of
Schenker's analyses of a multitude of examples from composers of the nineteenth
and earlier centuries (Table 1). By implication, these
examples are selected from the masters, those whom Schenker
considers composers of true music. Unfortunately, no prescription, other than
the analytical method itself, is given to determine whether a composer is a
master. The introduction to Free Composition mentions J. S. Bach,
C. P. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn.
These are also strongly represented in the examples, though there Chopin comes
in second place to Beethoven.
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