I know that "functional harmony" describes the tendencies of certain chords to "lead" or "resolve" to other chords, but from what I've seen so far -- I've only recently begun studying theory after decades of playing music primarily by ear -- those tendencies seem to be categorized primarily by their "strength" or "weakness."
I'm wondering whether any effort has been made to describe certain harmonic functions in more physical or spatial terms, like "twisting" or "lifting" or "narrowing" or "opening." (I know this sounds very vague, but it seems like there are various sensations that certain harmonic devices consistently produce, and that describing them in such terms could provide a practical cookbook for composers.)
If anyone could point me in the right direction, or just explain why this question might be naive or unanswerable, I'd greatly appreciate it!