Task
- Create a piece of music using a tone row & its derivatives:
- Must have at least 4 parts
- No drums, untuned percussion or loops
- Samples allowed
Research
Serialism is a compositional tool for atonal music called Serialism. It was developed in the 20th Century by Arnold Schoenberg. Schoenberg (September 13th 1874 - July 13th 1951) was an Austrian composer and painter. He's associated with the expressionist movement and is most well-known for the development of Serialism in the 1920's. Schoenberg preiered one of his greatest pieces Pierrot Lunaire in 1912 and is based of a cycle of poems by Albert Giraud published in 1884.
Arnold Shoenberg is considered to be the developer of this method although many others including Dmitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky and Karlheinz Stockhausen are said to have composed using this method.
The Technique
The twelve-tone technique (serialism) is a way of manipulating the twelve chromatic notes in the scale in any way the composer decides. The main rules for this type of composition are:
- The entire series (tonerow) must be completed
- No note in the series can be repeated until the entire tonerow has been played
- The order of the notes of any one tonerow MUST stay the same
- Create a piece of music using a tone row & its derivatives:
- Inversion
- Retrograde
- Inverted Retrograde
- Must have at least 4 parts
- No drums, untuned percussion or loops
- Samples allowed
Research
Serialism is a compositional tool for atonal music called Serialism. It was developed in the 20th Century by Arnold Schoenberg. Schoenberg (September 13th 1874 - July 13th 1951) was an Austrian composer and painter. He's associated with the expressionist movement and is most well-known for the development of Serialism in the 1920's. Schoenberg preiered one of his greatest pieces Pierrot Lunaire in 1912 and is based of a cycle of poems by Albert Giraud published in 1884.
Arnold Shoenberg is considered to be the developer of this method although many others including Dmitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky and Karlheinz Stockhausen are said to have composed using this method.
The Technique
The twelve-tone technique (serialism) is a way of manipulating the twelve chromatic notes in the scale in any way the composer decides. The main rules for this type of composition are:
- The entire series (tonerow) must be completed
- No note in the series can be repeated until the entire tonerow has been played
- The order of the notes of any one tonerow MUST stay the same
Once this tonerow is
arranged it is called the Prime or the Original tonerow. This tonerow can then be developed to create
3 new tonerows which are derived from the Prime.
1) Inverted (Take the interval between 2 notes in the Prime and invert the direction the interval is going, i.e. if the first note is a C and the second an E the interval is a major fifth and the inverted interval would make the C fall to a G#)
2) Retrograde (Reverse the Prime tonerow. If the tonerow ends on a B, the B is the first note in the retrograde)
3) Retrograde Inversion ( You do the same as the inverted tonerow but you take the retrograde instead of the Prime)
1) Inverted (Take the interval between 2 notes in the Prime and invert the direction the interval is going, i.e. if the first note is a C and the second an E the interval is a major fifth and the inverted interval would make the C fall to a G#)
2) Retrograde (Reverse the Prime tonerow. If the tonerow ends on a B, the B is the first note in the retrograde)
3) Retrograde Inversion ( You do the same as the inverted tonerow but you take the retrograde instead of the Prime)
You can also transpose any tonerow to any note provided that
the entire tonerow moves not just one single note from within it.
The Composition
The piece is in 2 sections, an introduction/exposition and development sections. The introduction is in 4/4 and uses all 4 tonerows but with different rhythms. The piece starts with 2 versions of the Prime- they are the same instrument but the tonerows are an octave apart. The inversion tonerow joins and a duplicate of this (and the instrument) is played a half beat behind the first to create a delay effect. The brass comes in first playing the retrograde inversion tonerow and is then followed by the oboe playing the retrograde tonerow.
The piece is in 2 sections, an introduction/exposition and development sections. The introduction is in 4/4 and uses all 4 tonerows but with different rhythms. The piece starts with 2 versions of the Prime- they are the same instrument but the tonerows are an octave apart. The inversion tonerow joins and a duplicate of this (and the instrument) is played a half beat behind the first to create a delay effect. The brass comes in first playing the retrograde inversion tonerow and is then followed by the oboe playing the retrograde tonerow.
The second section is in 5/4 and makes more use of the klangfarbenmelodie. The Prime and inversion are the same as in section 1 but this time the oboe and brass share the remaining 2 tonerows. To end, the oboe plays the full retrograde tonerow and the brass plays the retrograde inversion tonerow twice, but the second time the tonerow is transposed up 3 semitones.
The table shows the sounds used although doesn't show the settings given them.
1 & 2
|
Dreamworks
|
3
|
Flying to the Earth
|
4
|
Angelista Wobble
|
5
|
Oboe
|
6
|
Harp
|
7
|
Funk Honk
|
8
|
Cello Vexed
|
The entire piece is meant to feel ambiguous and eerie. It is supposed to feel like there’s a definite structure but as though there is something not quite right about it- it’s meant to keep the listener on edge. The composition was written with soundtrack score in mind and so plays as an undercurrent to a disaster or horror scene. All of the instruments are from massive. There are 6 instruments altogether although each track has different settings.
Analysis of the Piece
The piece begins well with some interesting sounds. The overall feeling of the beginning is eerie and nervous. The piece continues this way, building and developing, but when the third section starts it feels rushed and out of character for the piece- the section (including the klangfarbermelodie) doesn't work with the rest of the piece at all. It's completely out of place and it ruins the effect of the composition.
