What does serialism mean?

Basic definitions. Serialism is a method, “highly specialized technique”, or “way” of composition. It may also be considered “a philosophy of life (Weltanschauung), a way of relating the human mind to the world and creating a completeness when dealing with a subject”.

How is 12-tone serialism defined?

Twelve-tone music is based on series (sometimes called a row) that contains all twelve pitch classes in a particular order. There is no one series used for all twelve-tone music; most composers write a unique row for each piece. (There 12!

How do you use serialism in music?

The first step in creating a piece of serialism is to choose the “series” of notes. This series of notes is called the Note Row. The note row is a series of intervals that uses all 12 notes of the chromatic scale (hence the name 12 tone music) in an order chosen by the composer.

How do you write serialism?

Serialism is based on a “series” of notes that determines the development of the composition….A Worked Example of Serialism

1. No note should be repeated until all 12 notes of the note row have been played.
2. The order of the series remains the same throughout the composition, except for some allowed changes.

Who used serialism?

Arnold Schoenberg
Serialism is a compositional technique pioneered by Arnold Schoenberg using all 12 notes of the western scale – all within a fixed set of rules.

Who created serialism?

What is the dodecaphonic matrix?

The Dodecaphonic Matrix. As we have observed, dodecaphony inherits an important premise from the Renaissance composers’ ideal to create with an economy of means in order to provide a unified and organic artistic expression, or more simply put, as much musical development possible from as little primary material possible.

What is dodecaphony in music?

The central concept behind dodecaphony is the notion that all of the music should arise from a single compositional element: the 12-tone row. A tone row (or series), as prescribed by Schönberg, must contain each of the twelve chromatic pitches (called a pitch class) once and only once.

What does serialism sound like?

I have annotated the sheet music to show where the different techniques of note row, inversion, retrograde and retrograde inversion are being used. I am sure you will agree that serialism produces a unique sound – it is typically “mysterious”, “unnerving” and even “painful”.

What scales are used in serialism?

Most (not all, but most) of the western classical and popular music we hear is based on major scales, minor scales or possibly modes. In Serialism, these are not used!