tonality (Hindemith)

Hindemith's theory of tonality, elaborated in The Craft of Musical Composition (1937), holds that all twelve tones of the chromatic scale relate to a single central pitch (the tonic) according to a natural hierarchy derived from the overtone series. In contrast to functional major-minor tonality, this system has no key signature and no modulation in the traditional sense, but every passage has a clearly audible tonal centre that the ear can identify. Ludus Tonalis is the complete practical demonstration of this theory.

Do not try to hear Hindemith through a tonal (functional harmony) or atonal lens simultaneously. Find the tonal centre of each passage — Hindemith places it clearly, usually in the bass — and let the voice-leading move toward and away from it. Harmonic tension arises from the distance of intervals from the tonal centre, not from dominant-tonic syntax.