COMPOSER | PIANIST | ORGANIST | CHOIR DIRECTOR | MUSIC THEORIST
Ph.D. Musicology/Music Theory, M.A. Musicology, B.Mus. Organ Performance
harley.konrad@gmail.com
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original compositions and new arrangements of public domain melodies.
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Some of my compositions celebrate the beauty of mathematics. I've also done some piano and choral arrangements of pop songs and some organ and choral church music.
Most recently, I've been working on arrangements for voice and piano.
Sofðu unga ástin mín - Icelandic Lullaby, arr. Konrad Harley
Toccata on "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" for Organ
Prelude on "Erschienen ist der herrlich Tag" for Flute and Piano
Prelude on "Holy Manna" for Clarinet and Piano
Prelude on "Beach Spring" for Clarinet and Piano
Prelude on "It's Me" for Piano
Prelude on "Prospect" for Flute, Bassoon, and Piano
Prelude on "St. Columba" for Flute and Piano
Touch of Zest for Piano
Zigzag for Clarinet and Piano
The Boulder for Piano
Prelude on "Resignation" for Violin and Organ
Prelude on "Nobody Knows" for Piano
The Champion for Flute and Piano
Pendulum for Clarinet and Piano
Falling Leaves for Clarinet and Piano
Problem Solver for Clarinet and Piano
Wave Form for 2 Flutes and Piano
Reverie for Clarinet and Piano
The Last Line for Oboe and Piano
March for Clarinet and Piano
Clockwise Spiral for Oboe and Piano
Golden Root for Trumpet and Piano
Night Air for Piano
Fine Point for Clarinet and Piano
Power Play for Trumpet and Piano
Skipping Stones for Piano
Arabesque for Clarinet and Piano
Going in Circles for Piano
Balancing Act for Flute and Piano
Nocturne for Clarinet and Piano (Inspired by Emil Post's Tag System)
Reflection for Oboe and Piano (on the Enumeration of Partitions by Binary Representation)
Rondo in C Major for Piano
Siphonophore for Piano
Infinite Staircase for Piano and Organ
Puzzle Piece for Piano
Deep Roots for Piano
Prelude in E Major for Piano
My Brain Is Open (A Tribute to Paul Erdos) for Piano
Reflection for Piano (on the Enumeration of Partitions by Binary Representation)
Prelude in G Major (Bubble Sort) for Piano
Pendulum for Piano
Wave Form for Piano
Golden Ceiling for Piano
Nocturne for Piano (Inspired by Emil Post's Tag System) - shorter version
Nocturne for Piano (Inspired by Emil Post's Tag System) - longer version
Two-Gen Swing for Piano
Dialogue of the Evil and the Odious for Piano
Balancing Act for Piano (Inspired by Sequence A005812 in the OEIS)
Hailstone Etude for Piano (The Hailstone Sequence and the Collatz Conjecture)
Spiral Study for Piano (on a Golden Ratio Fractal Sequence)
Toccata in A Minor for Piano (Miwin's Dice)
Waltz in C Major for Piano (Derangements)
Toccata in A Minor for Piano (Interleaved Multiples)
Humoresque in A Major for Piano (Leaf Nodes in a Binary Tree)
About Me
Konrad Harley (1986-) received his ARCT diploma in Piano Performance at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto in 2007, his B.Mus. degree in Organ Performance at the University of Toronto in 2008, and his Ph.D. in Music Theory at the University of Toronto in 2014 ("Harmonic Function in the Music of Sergei Prokofiev"). While studying at university, Konrad Harley was the organist and choir director at Christ Church Woodbridge (2006-2013) and the piano accompanist of the Queensmen Male Chorus (2006-2012). In 2016, he presented a paper on Prokofiev's harmonic language at the Symposium on Prokofiev and the Russian Tradition in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. An essay by Konrad Harley on the analysis of Prokofiev's music is included in the book Rethinking Prokofiev (Oxford University Press, 2020). Since 2015, he has been the organist and choir director at St. Barnabas Church in Toronto.
Title: Harmonic Function in the Music of Sergei Prokofiev
Author: Konrad Harley
Advisor: Ryan McClelland
Institution: University of Toronto, Faculty of Music
Keywords: Harmony; Music theory; Prokofiev; Russian music; Soviet music
Issue Date: June 2014
Abstract: This dissertation examines aspects of harmonic function in the music of Sergei Prokofiev. Chapter 1 provides a survey of music theory literature on Prokofiev's music--including many Russian studies--and discusses the theoretical underpinnings of my analytical approach. Chapter 2 deals with Prokofiev's uses of symmetry and inversion in tonal plans and harmonic progressions, emphasizing the importance of perfect-fifth-related harmonic alternatives and long series of perfect fifths in works in what Prokofiev called his "classical line." The central topic of Chapter 3 is sequential harmony. This subdivides into discussions of Prokofiev's characteristic use of brief linking chords that clearly express dominant function; long, structural, but "obscure" dominants; plagal sequential trajectories in which a written-out ritardando seems to compensate for the lack of a culminating D-T relation; and directional changes ("volte-faces") signalling the end of sequential passages. Chapter 4 considers questions of harmonic function in light of ladovaia peremennost' (modal variability) and tonal pairing, which for Prokofiev is typically major-third-based; the discussion extends to a variety of harmonic techniques involving reinterpretation, substitution, or redirection by major third. In Chapter 5, the focus shifts to the semitone. Investigating the harmonic-functional implications of events commonly referred to as chromatic displacements, I suggest that the concept of chromatic substitution is often of limited value and explore some of the ways in which harmonic-functional balance and tonal closure arise in spite of (or in some sense due to) these events. Chapter 6 offers a conclusion and suggestions for future research, emphasizing the value of studying Prokofiev's harmonic practice in relation to nineteenth-century precedents (rather than to the Classical style), highlighting some of the harmonic techniques and tonal strategies that cut across the conventional boundaries of Prokofiev's About and oeuvre, and re-evaluating the ways in which certain traditional tonal principles are relevant even to Prokofiev's idiosyncratic "modern line."