On the Function of Function

Abstract

The concept of harmonic function, far from carrying a unitary and universally understood meaning, has signified many different things to theorists past and present. This essay examines some of the different meanings commonly associated with the term today, as well as aspects of the harmonic theories of Rameau, Weber, and Riemann, all regularly associated with the concept. Notions of chord identity, scale degree, and logical determinacy are considered.