Questions tagged [serial]
For questions related to serial music, music in which a fixed series of pitch classes are used to generate the remaining musical material of the work. Questions should also likely use the theory tag.
23 questions
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Why should tritones not be counted from "both ends"
In compiling an interval-class vector (where an interval class is an ascending interval less-than-or-equal-to one tritone), it seems that tritones should be counted (ascending) from both ends of that ...
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We love the Second Viennese School, but daughter's practice of Boulez's music is wearying us. How can we appreciate Boulez?
We love and listen to the Second Viennese School like Berg, Schoenberg, Webern — even before my daughter was born! My daughter's studying music at university. To guard privacy, I don't want to write ...
user26407
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Does Schoenberg or Glenn Gould have a point? Does a great deal of music remain to be written in C major?
There's a great interview online where Glenn Gould talks about Stravinsky and Schoenberg (circa 1960). His comments about Stravinsky certainly haven't aged well but nonetheless, he does make some ...
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Compound Operations in Basic Atonal Theory by John Rahn
Looking into John Rahn's Basic Atonal Theory for Compound Operations. I’m reading John Rahn's Basic Atonal Theory.
What I dont understand is how the T11l(T7(Tol(T2(T5(X))))) example, in this section 3....
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Serialism and the the twelve-tone period
I'm really confused about 'Serial composers'. While studying Igor Stravinsky, in his later life, he was regarded as a 'Serial composer'. I would love to know if composers despised this categorisation ...
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What are the stipulations for a twelve-tone row to create a matrix with two consistent diagonals?
Consider the tone row for Chen Yi's "Near Distance" (C, D♭, B♭, E♭, E, G♭, A♭, A, B, F, G, D). The matrix for this row form is:
Notice that the NW–SE diagonal is all the same ...
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Mode of Limited Transposition for Microtonal Temperament
There's a recent paper discussing the theory of limited transposition for general n-temperament scale:
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Generalizing-Messiaen-%E2%80%99-s-Modes-of-Limited-to-a-...
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Intervals when making a tone row - what to keep in mind?
For writing 12 tone or serial music, one generally makes a tone row, and then uses that for constructing a melody. I want to know what would be the maximum range of intervals between any 2 consecutive ...
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How can I make 12 tone and atonal melodies sound interesting?
I have recently started learning about serialism (12 tone melody writing) and atonal music. When I attempted to write a short melody, it didn't sound quite pleasing to the ears. Yes, I know atonal ...
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Bar number featuring this tone row by Schoenberg in the sheet music [closed]
Given is an image of the tone row used by Schoenberg in his Variations for Orchestra op. 31. This is what was given in a music theory workbook.
I found the sheet music for the Schoenberg piece. But ...
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Learning the concept of Serialism from its basics - where should I start from?
I am completely new to the concept of Serialism. A music theory workbook I have only mentions about the concept in short, with an example of Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra. It also mentions ...
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Is it correct to call a 'tone row' a 'scale'?
I'm unskilled at German; perhaps translation is the snag. Anyhow, at 6:07, the violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann refers to the tone row in Berg's Violin Concerto as a 'scale'. Is this correct?
user26407
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Why oughtn't listeners try to hear where tone rows start and stop?
David McCleery. p. 27, Liner note to Discover Music of the Twentieth Century.
Between
1912 and 1923 he [Schoenberg] wrote very few works, dedicating his time instead to developing the
twelve-...
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Why does a Serialist composition sound like a random one?
Why can random notes and a structured Serialist composition sound the same?
This Reddit comment cites Ligeti:
The irony, noted Ligeti, was that the kind of music pioneered by Boulez and Stockhausen ...
user26407
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In twelve tone serialism, why is the same note written with two different Note Names?
Source: 'Schoenberg's Piano Concerto: an introduction' by Mitsuko Uchida. Liner Notes for this recording.
Here are the original two pages.
For Ex. 1:
Is the C♯ (that I coloured in red) erroneous? ...
user26407
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What are examples of tonal serialism?
Do any of you know of any examples of tonal serialism? That is, pieces that sound tonal, appear at first glance to be tonal, yet obey the rules of 12-tone serial composition as laid down by the ...
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Writing a simple 12-tone row
A few days ago my instructor taught me the basis of the twelve-tone system and taught me how to write a dodecaphonic row and its retrograde, inversion, and the inversion of retrograde. Now I have no ...
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database of 12-tone rows
I am hoping to do some statistical analysis on 12-tone rows that have been employed in practice, and for this I'm looking for as large as possible a database.
Currently I am only aware of the 160 ...
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What is the difference between a prime order, tone row and serial, if there is one?
I'm studying Op. 22 by Anton Webern for my AS music. I have 2 teachers and a revision guide, each of which uses one of the terms listed in the question and avoids the other two. I just wanted to see ...
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Inversions of Pitch Class set prime numbers
I am taking a long time to check whether or not pitch class set inversions are right, but there may be a shortcut. That's why I am asking for your help instead of procrastination and erroneousness.
If,...
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Are the discrete hexachords of a tone row always either the same set class or z-related?
In a traditional 12-note tone row, it seems to me that the first six notes will always either be in the same set class as the last six notes, or will be z-related, but I'm having trouble confirming ...
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How far do the supporting chords contribute to the tonality of Vi Hart's "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", and if they do, how?
Vi Hart, a mathemusician (cool eh!) at the Khan Academy posted an excellent video explaining 12 Tone music. She first explains the rules thus:
You have to use all twelve chromatic pitches in some ...
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In 12-tone music, how frequently do composers allow themselves to alternate between adjacent notes of the tone row?
In Vi Hart's video on twelve-tone nursery rhymes, she says that one of the rules of twelve-tone composition is that you're allowed to alternate between adjacent notes in the tone row as much as you ...
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