The long awaited English translation of the Polarity text can only be described as a triumph. For more than 75 years, Karg-Elert's monumental treatise on the history of harmony has been literally a closed book to practically everyone who has been fascinated by the composer's unique harmonic idiom and, of course, by the theories on which it was based. The huge undertaking, which involved the analysis of musical sounds from the time of Pythagoras to the 20th century, occupied Karg-Elert for many years, and its eventual publication in 1931 was fraught with difficulties, including legal ones. It was not until 2004 that a reprint in Germany was issued, though there had always been a copy in the British Library and it was this which supplied the sheets, sent in batches to Dr Fabrikant for translation, assisted by Staffan Thuringer. The technical expertise required in reproducing the text in all its elaboration, including the 778 musical ilustrations and figures was prodigious, especially as some of the more complicated diagrams had to be reconstructed when their originals disappeared into the binding of the flimsy, paperbacked original. All this has been carried out by Terry Truman to the highest standard, together with a selection of musical examples, mainly by Karg-Elert hinself, played by Dr Fabrikant and recorded by Terry Truman. These occupy a total of 154 tracks on the
two CDs which accompany the book and the CD-Rom. Both, in their different ways, are models of clarity and ease of use; for the CD-Rom, Adobe Acrobat Reader Version 5 or later is required.
The book version is surely an indispensable work of reference for any musical institution. There is an exceptionally informative Introduction by Harold Fabrikant which places the book's subject matter in the context of the scientific basis of harmony, especially as studied and expounded in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by Helmholtz, Gottfried Weber, Richter, Hauptmann, von Oettingen, Reimann and Grabner. Although the text itself is by no means easy to grasp, the musical illustrations are an essential (and fascinating) part of the Polarity ‘experience’;
the translator rightly asserts that their actual performance was, at times, Karg-Elert’s unstated wish and, furthermore, ‘the most exotic harmonies simply demand to be experienced in performance’. Those present at Dr Fabrikant’s introductory lecture on October 30 will agree that hearing his playing one of Karg-Elert’s own examples of a remarkably modulating passage (and its inversion) brought sharply into focus the concept of polarity which was indeed a revelation.
Quite apart from its subject matter and the accompanying CDs, the book itself is a most handsome volume, strongly bound so as to withstand frequent use, with the German and English texts on opposite pages throughout — pages which lie conveniently flat when opened, and thus make for ease of reading at the keyboard. Mere praise, or even congratulation on the achievements of those responsible for the completion of this mammoth project is invidious, but the award of an Archive Fellowship and Honorary Memberships at least recognises their invaluable achievement in furthering the cause of Karg-Elert's great contribution to the understanding of musical sound.
For fuller information (including details of payment by PAYPAL and postage from outside Australia) see the Polarity publicatio n’s own website:
www.adam.com.au/ttruman/polarity.html
two CDs which accompany the book and the CD-
The book version is surely an indispensable work of reference for any musical institution. There is an exceptionally informative Introduction by Harold Fabrikant which places the book's subject matter in the context of the scientific basis of harmony, especially as studied and expounded in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by Helmholtz, Gottfried Weber, Richter, Hauptmann, von Oettingen, Reimann and Grabner. Although the text itself is by no means easy to grasp, the musical illustrations are an essential (and fascinating) part of the Polarity ‘experience’;
the translator rightly asserts that their actual performance was, at times, Karg-
For fuller information (including details of payment by PAYPAL and postage from outside Australia) see the Polarity publicatio
www.adam.com.au/ttruman/polarity.html
