Hartvigson, Fritz
Pianist, composer; Swe den. B. 1851.
HARMONY armony [from Gr., harmo, to join]. The art of combining sounds. The study of harmony in its fullest extent is that which treats of the combination of sounds, consonant and dissonant, and their succession. The so-called laws of harmony have all been arrived at empirically, hence have been subject to change, each new composer of sufficient originality and genius modifying them to suit his purposes. Harmonic combinations may be either consonant or dissonant. The consonant combinations consist of the common (perfect) chord and its derivatives.
The dissonant combinations all include some dissonant interval, viz., 7th or 2d, augmented 4th, diminished or augmented 5th, augmented 6th or diminished 3d, or 9th. The movement of consonant combinations is perfectly free; that of dissonant combinations is subject to the rules governing the resolution of the dissonant sounds they contain. Two classes of dissonances are recognized: (1) Those that belong to the overtone series, called essential; (2) those that result from the employment of suspensions, retardations, changing and passing notes.