Serialism
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Breakdown of tonality
Schoenberg – Verklarte Nacht (1899)
Abandonment of tonality
Schoenberg – Six little pieces for piano
(1911)
Schoenberg was also a painter –
this is a self-portrait
Another way?
• Schoenberg felt the need for a new way of
writing extended pieces – without relying
on key
• Suite for Piano (1923) was his first serial
piece – ie a piece based on a series or tone
row (sometimes called a note row)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/profiles/schoenberg.shtml
Not just Schoenberg
• Although Schoenberg was credited with the
tone row idea, another composer seemed to
be thinking the same way.
• Josef Hauer wrote a song in 1922 which
uses 12 note techniques
This is a fairly simple example of how to use a tone
row
More examples
• Stravinsky hopped on the serial bandwagon
for a time
• Below is an example of one of Stravinsky’s
tone rows
Listen to Stravinsky’s Fanfare
• Rhythm plays a large
part in this, as you
would expect of a
fanfare
• There is very little
sense of pulse, but
with quick repeated
notes, the piece sounds
very exciting
Stravinsky – by Picasso
How a tone row works
• Prime Order (P) is the original note row
• The Prime Order of Stravinsky’s Fanfare is
shown below:
• The row can be developed by turning it
upside down. This is called an inverted
order (I)
• To invert, start on the first note and move
the same intervals, but in the opposite
direction.
• You can also play the row backwards. This
is called a retrograde order (R).
• A retrograde
inversion (RI)
would be backwards, and upside
down!
Transposition
• You can also transpose the row any number
of semitones up or down.
• The example below is RI6, the retrograde
inversion transposed up six semitones.
Verticalisation
• You can also have chords made from the
notes of a tone row. This is called
verticalisation.
• Whilst we have been using a Stravinsky
piece as an example, Stravinsky only used
serial techniques in a few of his
compositions.
• Two big disciples – and pupils – of
Schoenberg also worked in Vienna.
• Anton Webern was Austrian, and a pupil of
Schoenberg’s.
Webern – Variations for piano
op27
• Listen to the Webern Variations.
• Webern took Schoenberg’s serial techniques
very seriously and used them in most of his
pieces.
• Webern’s pieces were often very short –
more intense than his serial friends!
• See next slide for a picture of Webern.
Anton Webern
1883-1945
http://www.wwnorton.com/enjoy/shorter/composers/webern.htm
Canonic Structure
• Webern often used Canonic structure in his
pieces.
• His canonic pieces were characterised by
huge melodic leaps, intertwining melodies
and much use of verticalisation.
• He also structured his piece by use of
motives
Other important characteristics of
Webern’s Variations
• Monophonic texture
• Much use of different articulation marks and
dynamics
• Similar to pointillist
painting
Seurat: Sunday afternoon
on the island of La Grande
Jatte
Alban Berg (1885-1935)
• Berg was another pupil of
Schoenberg’s
• Berg’s brand of serialism
was perhaps less strict
• His famous violin
concerto is composed
using serial techniques,
but is much more
Romantic sounding
http://www.karadar.net/Dictionary/berg.html
Serialism in a nutshell
• Developed in the early
20th century by Arnold
Schoenberg
• Based on a 12-note
row which can be used
in Prime order (P),
inversion (I),
retorgrade (R) or
Retrograde Inversion
(RI)
• Don’t forget other
techniques such as
transposition and
verticalisation
• Berg and Webern, and
later Stravinsky, all
used serial techniques
in their work