TWENTIETH- - Synapse Music

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The Twilight of the Tonal System 13 The final stage is reached with those works that proceed through several keys, with none of them seeming to govern the tonality of the piece as a whole. Such works simply cannot be considered "tonal" in the traditional sense of the term. Examples include Lisz!'s symphonic poem Orpheus (1854) and the first movement of Saint-Saens's Sym phony No.3 (1886). There was also experimentation in the nineteenth century with unusual key schemes among the various movements of mu1timovement works. The greatest challenge to the tonal tradition came from those works in which the first and last movements are not in the same key. For instance, the three movements of Mendelssohn's Symphony No.2 (1840) are in Bb major, G minor, and D major. With Mahler the practice is almost a mannerism: Symphonies Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9 (1894-1909) all belong to this category. SUSPENDED TONALITY AND ATONALITY Earlier in this chapter we used the tenn "suspended tonality" to describe a passage with a momentarily unclear or ambiguous tonality. This term is appropriate only when used in the context of a tonal composition. It is not the same as atonality, a term that will appear fre quently in this text, and which needs to be defined at this point.9 In a very general way, atonality means music without a tonal center. More specifical ly. it refers to the systematic avoidance of most of those musical materials and devices that traditionally have been used to define a tonal center. Those materials and devices would in clude, among others, the following: Diatonic pitch material Teltian hannonies Dominant-tonic harmonic progressions Dominant-tonic bass lines Resolution of leading tones to tonics Resolution of dissonant sonorities to more consonant ones Pedal points Although chromaticism led historically to atonality, chromatic tonal music is not the same as atonal music. A more thorough study of atonality will have to be postponed until later chapters, although the term will come up from time to time throughout this text.
14 The Twilight of the Tonal System SUMMARY The decline of the tonal system as the primary organizing force in music coincided with and was largely due to the a"icendancy of chromaticism. Diatonic tonal music is essen tially diatonic on all levels, whereas chromatic tonal music is based to a much greater extent on the chromatic scale. Some of the characteristics of chromatic tonal harmony are the following (listed in the order in which they are introduced in the chapter): Chromatic mediant relationships Direct modulations Tritone relationships Real sequences Brief tonicizations Suspended tonality Enharmonicism Parallel voice leading Diminished-7th chords Nonfunctional chord successions Voice-leading chords Augmented triads Unresolved dissonances Equal division of the octave Nonfunctional bass lines Unclear distinction between chord tones and embellishments Chromaticism is also a factor in musical forms in the nineteenth century, both with in and between movements. At times, tonality lost its control over the tonal structure of individual movements and of multi movement works as well. Atonality is not a characteristic of music of the nineteenth century. Atonal music avoids the use of most of those musical materials and devices that traditional ly have been used to define a tonal center. NOTES I. "Diatonic" here simply means "in a given key." The notes and chords diatonic to C major are all drawn from the scale C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. 2. Greg A. Steinke, Bridge 10 20lh Celltu/y <strong>Music</strong>, p. 79. 3. Gregory Proctor, "Technical Bases of Nineteenth-Century Chromatic Harmony: A Study in Chromaticism," p. 131.
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Page 6 and 7: 1 2 PREFACE Contents THE TWILIGHT O
Page 8 and 9: 5 6 SUMMARY 92 NOTES 92 EXERCISES 9
Page 10 and 11: PRIME FORMS AND SET CLASSES 185 THE
Page 12 and 13: EXERCISES 280 14 THE ROLES OF CHANC
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VOICE LEADING IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY
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4. Arnold Schoenberg, Style alld id
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Harmonic Progression and Tonality 9
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108 Harmonic Progression and Tonali
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INTRODUCTION 11 4 SIX Developments
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136 Developments in Rhythm Finally,
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Form in Twentieth-Century Music 147
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150 Form in Twentieth-Century Music
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164 Imports and Allusions Quotation
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-----------NINE----------- INTRODUC
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SUBSETS Nonserial Atonality 189 Som
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214 Classical Serialism SUMMARY The
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Timbre and Texture: Acoustic 223 pr
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236 Timbre and Texture: Acoustic Sp
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----------TWELVE--------- INTRODUCT
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Timbre and Texture: Electronic 247
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Timbre and Texture: Electronic 253
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256 Timbre and Texture: Electronic
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SUMMARY Timbre and Texture: Electro
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INTEGRAL SERIALISM Serialism After
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--------FOURTEEN-------- INTRODUCTI
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286 The Roles of Chance and Choice
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316 Minimalism and Beyond SUMMARY A
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Appendix Prime Forms, Forte Labels,
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Materials and Techniques of TWENTIE
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TWENTIETH- - Synapse Music

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