rameau-weber-riemann · kopp1995-function-of-function

Tonique, dominante, and sous-dominante are defined by action -- their relation to the chord which follows. I, ii, iii, etc., are defined by identity -- their relation to a tonic. ... In essence, Weber's theory identifies chords by their participation and position in a key ... But Weber had no concept of secondary/applied dominant ... Consequently, he analyzed stretches of music containing tonicizations of secondary degrees as quick successions of modulations to different keys. ... Hugo Riemann's theory is indisputably a functional one in some sense, since it was he who popularized the term. ... The principal significance of the functional archetypes Tonic, Dominant, and Subdominant is that they are the primary chords of the key, linked by the preeminent interval of the fifth. ... By allowing for the identification of every possible diatonic and chromatic chord with one of the three functional archetypes, Riemann provided a means not otherwise available by which to understand these chords as exercising meaning within a prevailing key ... Ultimately, Riemann's functions inhere as tonal meanings in individual chords; they do not determine action from one to the next.