Serial Method
(Twelve Tone Technique)
Group: Karen, David, Michelle,
Patrick, Jody, Angie

Composer Timeline
12-Tone Serial Method 1

“The Method of Composing with
Twelve Tones Related Only to
Each Other” - Schönberg
(now known as the 12-Tone Technique or
Dodecaphony)

Tone Row
 P - prime
 I - inversion
 R - retrograde
 RI - retrograde inversion
12-Tone Serial Method 3

The Definition of Serialism
A method or style of composition which a parameter of the piece is subjected to a fixed permutation or series of elements in succession.
12-Tone Serial Method 4

Serialism - A Basic Definition
A piece of music for which there is an order to the progression of events.
 Events are notes and/or aspects of the music
– Including: chord duration, rhythms, dynamics
–
Twelve Tone only refers to the notes.
 The order of events (series) are determined by a numerical representation of a tone row
12-Tone Serial Method 5

Tone Row - Definition
The arrangement of all twelve notes of the equal-tempered scale so that each note appears only once.
 Each note has equal importance
–
No tonic and dominant relations
 The order of these twelve notes is to be strictly followed throughout the piece
–
Only four possible permutations on the row
12-Tone Serial Method 6

Tone Row Conventions
 Once a series is created it can be transposed over all 12 notes
 There are four forms of a tone row for each of the 12 transposition
 This allows for 48 forms for any particular tone row
 With so many tone rows ( 479,001,600 ), possibilities for music is virtually limitless
12-Tone Serial Method 7

Tone Row Conventions (cont’d)
 Intervals are a quality heard, not seen
–
They are diatonic intervals - not exact
– Cb would become a B for transcription
 Any particular tone row must be played in whole, or as a part of one or more statements of a series
 There were no conventions for: changing register, number of series played, etc.
12-Tone Serial Method 8

Four Forms of a Tone Row
 Prime form
– the original form of a twelve tone row or any of its transpositions
 Retrograde form
– the statement of a tone row in the reverse order from which it was stated in prime form
12-Tone Serial Method 9

Four Forms of a Tone Row (cont’d)
 Inversion form
–
Turning the prime statement of a tone row upside down, mirroring all intervals
• minor 3rd up becomes a minor 3rd down
 Retrograde Inversion form
– the statement of a tone row in the reverse order from which it was stated in inversion form
12-Tone Serial Method 10

Prime
Retrograde
Inversion
Retrograde Inversion
12-Tone Serial Method 11

Tone Row Naming
 The basic four shapes of a tone row are usually labeled as follows (although there is no standard naming convention) :
–
P for prime
–
I for inversion
–
R for retrograde
– RI for retrograde inversion
12-Tone Serial Method 12

Tone Row Naming (cont’d)
 Subscript numeral is the pitch-class number
– interval by semitones from index number
• (This is not a standard either)
 Index number is represented by subscript 0 and is set by the starting note of the prime
 Example: Assuming P
0 to be on C
– P
10 represents a prime version of the tone row beginning on Bb
12-Tone Serial Method 13

Ideas Behind a Tone Row
Avoid melodic progressions which are too traditional in character
–
Arpeggio chords or scale association.
Bb: I iii V Ab: I iii V
12-Tone Serial Method 14

Ideas Behind a Tone Row (cont’d)
Avoid using too many melodic intervals of the same or similar size
–
These may lead to melodic monotony
M3 M3 M3
12-Tone Serial Method 15

Ideas Behind a Tone Row (cont’d)
Avoid chromatic combinations that result in the resolution of a leading tone
12-Tone Serial Method 16

Ideas Behind a Tone Row (cont’d)
Except in a deliberate design devoted to a particular interval, a row generally contains a balanced number of seconds, thirds, fourths or fifths, and tritones
P5 st st m7 M2 st tt st P4 P5 M7
12-Tone Serial Method 17

Terminology
 Closed system - all the selected tone row forms contain the same two notes for their outer pitches
 Twelve-tone aggregate - groups of notes freely combined with each other to form the twelve tone row
12-Tone Serial Method 18

Terminology (cont’d)
 Hexachord - the row divided into 2 groups of 6 notes
 Combinatoriality - “the simultaneous presentations of two different forms of a single row so constructed that the new twelve-tone aggregates are created by the combination of their hexachord”
12-Tone Serial Method 19

Explanation of matrix creation http://www.pcpros.net/~ntxawgl/music/12_tones_tech nique.htm
12-Tone Serial Method 20

Composers and Works
 Josef Hauer (1883-1959)
 Piano Piece, op.25 (1923)



Wandlungen (1927)
Over 1,000
Zwöftonspiele (Twelve-Tone
Games) after 1939
Arnold Schönberg (1874-1951)
 Five Piano Pieces, op.23 (1923)
 Serenade, op.24 (1923)
12-Tone Serial Method 21

Composers and Works (cont’d.)
 Suite for Piano, op.24 (1924)—first completely twelve-tone work


Wind Quintet, op.26 (1924)
Suite for Seven Instruments (1926)



Third String Quartet (1927)
Variations for Orchestra (1928)
Suite in E , op.29 (1926)
 Variations, op.31 (1928)
12-Tone Serial Method 22

Composers and Works (cont’d.)
 Von heute auf morgen , op.32 (1928)
 Piano Piece, op.33a (1929)
 Moses und Aron (1930)
 Accompaniment to a Film , op.34 (1930)



Fourth String Quartet (1936)
Violin Concerto (1936)
Piano Concerto (1942)
12-Tone Serial Method 23

Composers and Works (cont’d.)
 String Trio, op.45 (1946)
 Phantasy for violin and piano, op.47
(1949)
 Alban Berg (1885-1935)
 "Schliese mir die Augen beide" (1925)
 Lyric Suite (1925)
 Violin Concerto (1935)
12-Tone Serial Method 24

Composers and Works (cont’d.)


Anton Webern (1883-1945)
Kinderstücke
(1924)
 String Trio, op.20 (1927)
 Symphony, op.21 (1928)
 Quartet, op.22 (1930)
 Concerto, op.24 (1934)
12-Tone Serial Method 25

Composers and Works (cont’d.)
 Nikoloas Skalkottas (1904-1949)
 Third Piano Concerto (1939)
 Fourth String Quartet (1940)
 Ernst Krenek (1904-1968)


Karl V (1933)
Lamentio Jerimaiae Prophetae (1942)
12-Tone Serial Method 26

Composers and Works (cont’d.)
 Luigi Dallapiccola (1904-1975)
 Il Coro degli zitti (1936)
 Tre Laudi (1937)
 Volo di notte (1939)
 Canti di prigiona (1941)
 Cinque Frammento di Saffo (1942)
 Liriche greche (1945)
 Job (1950)
12-Tone Serial Method 27

Composers and Works (cont’d.)
 Goffredo Petrassi (b. 1904)


Noche oscura (1951)
Second Concerto for Orchestra (1952)
 Wolfgang Fortner (1907-1987)
 Third String Quartet (1948)
 Milton Babbitt (b. 1916)
 3 Compositions for Piano
12-Tone Serial Method 28

WWW sites: http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/g_twelve_tone.html
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/schonberg.html
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/classmus.html
http://www.pcpros.net/~ntxawgl/music/12_tones_tech nique.htm
http://www.futurenet.com/classicalnet/composers/feat ures/schoenberg/arnie.html
http://music1.csudh.edu/Mus486/TwelveTone/
12-Tone Serial Method 29

More WWW sites: http://geocities.com/Vienna/9498/settheory.html
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~fields/gems/5.htm
http://arts.usf.edu/music/wtm/art-aw.html
http://www.music.princeton.edu/~ckk/smmt/serialism.
3.html
http://ananke.advanced.org/3343/webdocs/muglossary.html
http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/13162.html
http://thumper.pomona.edu/~elindholm/web_op6.htm
12-Tone Serial Method 30