source file: m1425.txt
Date: Sat, 23 May 98 18:26 BST-1

Subject: Yet more on Schoenberg

From: gbreed@cix.compulink.co.uk (Graham Breed)

My mail download aborted in mid flow.  No doubt, you're all
wanting to know what other wildly inccurate assertions I was going
to make, so here they are:

I think these instructions come from Schoenberg, although he
wouldn't have described the result as atonality.  The first two
clearly imply a avoidance of 7-limit harmony.  5-limit _intervals_
are still used.  A 12-note scale is assumed, of course.  Two notes
an enharmonic diesis apart are "the same" note.  Applying these
rules in 19-eq would give entirely different results, as it's
easier to avoid keys without using all 19 notes.  Did Schoenberg
ever consider this?

You can still write some 7-limit chords.  However, there is no
bias _towards_ them, like with triads in tonality.  Dominant
sevenths are a special case as they strongly define a key centre.

The Webern Op. 5 is atonal.  There is a bit of repetition, which
goes against some definitions of atonality.

Serialism is generally used to mean composition based on a series
of notes/tones.  Specifically, it refers to Schoenberg's method of
composition using 12 tones related only to each other.  Here, a
whole piece is based on a row containing each of the notes in
12-equal exactly once.  That enshrines some of instruction (4)
above but says nothing about the other three.  It requires 12
nominally equal pitch classes, but does not require them to be
tempered.  However, a fixed non-equal scale will not do as the
inequality of intervals leads to an inequality of notes.

According to the CD booklet:

"The Berg Violin Concerto is said to be the first fully serial
concerto, though it has many tonal twists to it.  The soloist
announces the series, a succession of rising thirds, topped by
a tritone: G, Bb, F#, A, C, E, G#, B, C#, Eb, F."

I think Wozzeck includes some serial writing, particularly for the
doctor, who is a caricature of Schoenberg.  The piece as a whole is
atonal.

Webern's Symphony Op.21 is a good example of atonal serialism.

Boulez and co. developed something called "total serialism" where
factors beyond pitch class, such as rhythm and dynamics, are
specified in a serial manner.  Webern's Concerto Op. 24 was taken
as the model for total serialism.  Interestingly, I always assumed
this piece was the inspiration behind Minimalism before I discovered
the real history.  There are a whole load of books I've read where
"serialism" is used to refer to Schoenberg's method, although
"twelve tone" is also used.  I don't accept that this isn't true
serialism.  You can usually tell from the context which sense is
intended.