| Magnus Lindberg (b. 1958) developed a sophisticated harmonic system in the 1980s and continues to incorporate and refine this system in more recent works. This dissertation examines the composer's consistent and methodical harmonic system by exploring his innovative treatment of harmony and harmonic progression in his music composed since 1986. Lindberg's core harmonic vocabulary consists of 12-tone chords, overtone chords, and composite sonorities that exhibit aspects of both. He applies the chaconne principle, the heart of his system, to create recurring harmonic progressions and large-scale formal structures allowing him to achieve harmonic unity within a work. As I show, however, even in their simplest form, Lindberg's chaconnes are much more complex than their Baroque predecessors. Lindberg's innovations consist of several specific techniques, recurring from work to work, that expand the idea of the traditional chaconne. These include the insertion of new progressions between the main chords of the chaconne and the creation of new progressions by applying the cyclic nature of the chaconne not only to a sequence of chords, but also to properties and characteristics associated with those chords. In the course of examining the five works that are discussed in-depth in this dissertation, I will highlight similarities and differences in the manner in which Lindberg implements his system in each, revealing its gradual evolution. Finally, I will discuss the juxtaposition of his harmonic system with elements that are foreign to the system in more recent works and make comparisons with aspects of tonality. |
