The Expansion of the Subdominant in the Late Nineteenth Century

During the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the subdominant functioned as a subsidiary harmony within the powerful tonicdominant axis. For the most part, the subdominant functioned either as preparation for the dominant or as a neighboring harmony that prolonged the tonic chord (Ex. 1). In both cases, the subdominant embellished-as a neighboring chord-the structurally important dominant or tonic harmonies. In the later nineteenth century, the subdominant came to acquire new functions and to assume more autonomous structural roles, and concurrently with the change in status and function of the subdominant came a reassessment of the dominant and even of the tonic functions. In this way, the development of the subdominant function was part of a larger nineteenth-century process of experimenting with and expanding upon aspects of the tonal system. This paper traces the late nineteenth-century development of what had been a limited common-practice subdominant function. I use as musical examples the Lieder of Hugo Wolf, and while Schenker's theoretical approach forms the analytical point of departure, I suggest new analytical models when his theories are no longer applicable. The choice of Wolf's Lieder for musical examples is somewhat problematic, for his innovative exploration of a new harmonic language