- I find above all that the expression, 'atonal music,' is most unfortunate--it is on a par with calling flying 'the art of not falling,' or swimming 'the art of not drowning.' Arnold Schoenberg, Style and Idea, p.210
If you do, you're not alone; many people who have some understanding of what "tonality" means don't seem to feel very warm and fuzzy about the concept of atonality.
But, strictly speaking, all that is meant by the word is that the music in question is not based on tonality. It doesn't really tell us anything about what the music is based on.
A quick primer on tonality, from Wikipedia:
- Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center" or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron (1810) and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840 (Reti, 1958; Simms 1975, 119; Judd, 1998; Dahlhaus 1990). Although Fétis used it as a general term for a system of musical organization and spoke of "types de tonalités" rather than a single system, today the term is most often used to refer to Major-Minor tonality (also called diatonic tonality, common practice tonality, or functional tonality), the system of musical organization of the common practice period, and of Western-influenced popular music throughout much of the world today. [Emphasis mine.]
It could refer to music that is as deeply moving and beautiful as any music ever composed, or it could be applied to very harsh, disturbing music.
"Atonal" doesn't necessarily equate with "highly dissonant" any more than "tonal" automatically means "consonant." Dissonance and consonance are essential aspects of tonality, but they are essential aspects of much atonal music as well.
Explore the various sonorities that can be created by the scales and modes that you created for our first project of the semester. There is no ban on the use of major or minor triads; I am hoping that your scales will lead you to discover other sonorities that you like and feel can be used in your compositions, and if some of the sonorities happen to be major or minor, so be it! No problem!
But just try to use them in ways that go beyond their use in the context of tonality.
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27 comments:
This entry has helped me move on in my piece. I think I'm creating a barrier in my mind that says "clashy, crunchy, highly dissonant or nothing."
Thank you for this post - it has changed my thinking already.
I think we as musicians need to listen to new music WAY more to understand it. There are some amazing pieces out there that aren't "tonal" and are SO captivating. You can make some very beautiful chords that tonality tends to sweep under the rug and label "bad" chords because they wouldn't fit within the tonal contraints. But i mean, take away tonality and you can play these beautiful sonorities as you please!
I agree with Kim - we need to listen to more new music. I haven't listened to or played much 'new' music, but since taking composition last term, and now being in the contemporary improv. ensemble, I'm growing more and more fond of it and want to understand and learn more about new music.
I never knew how fun it would be to write atonal music until last term, and I'm really excited to be starting this new project.
Now I no longer hold that sort of negative connotation towards atonal music, and I've realized that it can be just as beautiful as Brahms and Mozart.
I'm glad that I've been forced out of my 'tonal' shell - thanks!!
Well said, all around. It's unfortunate that so much atonal music that we're exposed to (at least in my experience) forces us to equate it with noise. Just as you'll find music from other centuries that you don't like, so will you with new music. Atonal doesn't just refer to Schoenberg and his ilk--just as tonal doesn't refer specifically to Beethoven.
I'm curious to see what will become of new music in the years to come. Certainly there were great masters of the past who weren't entirely accepted in their time, but grew to be appreciated. I think time will ultimately show us what was a passing fad and what's here to stay.
At first when I was somewhat of an ignorant music student I equated atonality with randomness. Atonal music isn't random at all! It can actually be quite coherent.
Atonality doesn't scare me or make me uncomfortable anymore. I quite like it - or at least what I've been exposed to.
Everyone is making very thoughtful comments, which is great! In fact, your comments have given me ideas for further blog entries, one of which I may start today...
I found that most of the atonal music I had listened to in the past was fairly dissonant and in general, harder to listen to than tonal music, but since last term where we were given the task of writing an atonal piece, my opinion has changed, even without listening to more atonal music- though I'm definately going to be doing this as well in order to get some more ideas. Maybe people who don't like atonal music should actually try writing it- they'd probably be surprised by how easy it is to come up with something that they actually like.
I believe that just being born in our generation, the "baby boom echo," we are nurtured to have negative feelings for 'atonal' or contemporary music.
I can't remember who talked to me about this, but I was attending a lecture and the lecturer talked about how the goal of most post-war music was to be 'weird' and 'unique'. The epicentre of these goals was works that involved sitting at a piano and not playing for four and a half minutes or coming on stage and feeding a piano a bale of hay. It's hard, I find, to not have a negative generalization of post-war contemporary music with figureheads such as John Cage or Le Monte Younge. These 'rotten apples' spoiled the barrel of post-war contemporary music for us. In our musical upbringing, many of us had to play the music of the baroque, classical and romantic eras, as well as once in a while a modern piece in the back of a RCM book that was probably by a Canadian composer that I will boldly say, probably not many of us enjoyed.
So, in my mind, this is why myself, and many of my peers, have a negative understanding of 'contemporary' music.
Neatly though, this lecturer, said that myself and my peers would react to the postwar era by running the other way in our music, to create music that shows the beauty of extended-harmony in tonal world and staunch, lush chromaticism in lyricism. I know this is how I feel, and a few close peers of mine do as well.
So what am I trying to say? I don't know. I think it is ovbious that many of us have a negative imagine of 'atonal' or modern music. How does one change this? I don't know.
From a listeners perspective most people consider atonal music to be noise and randomness. To try and change opinions about this form of music I think more people need to experience it from the perspective a composer. Being able to see and hear what can be accomplished in the realm of atonality opens the door to many possibilities. This was very obvious after last semesters composition class. Many of us were reluctant at first but after the first assignment I know everyone seemed to warm up to the idea of atonality, it really made a difference!
I'm a good couple weeks behind commenting on this post, but I think it gives me a different perspective. By writting atonaly and learning more about that kind of music in class, I sincerly see how viable atonal music is. The very idea of dissonance and atonality meaning the same thing seems silly to me now. A month ago, I never would of said that I liked an atonal piece. But know, after listening to some of Debussy's piano preludes, I'm a changed man.
I think for me I had to treat atonality as just another normal part of music. When I think of it as a seperate entity it seems hideoous and impossible to compose anything nice within it. But when I look at an atonal chord as just being another tool for music it seems more approachable and I find it easier to work with that way.
Mind over matter?
Before I came to music school, my definition of atonal music would have definitely have included the words bad, ugly, dissonant, unpleasant, or ... well you get the idea. But since coming to music school, and certainly since I have started composing atonal music, I've really opened up to what atonal music brings to the table. It isn't ugly white noise that doesn't make sense with no thought or planing involved. There are some beautiful chords, progressions, or melodies that just cannot be "allowed" in tonal music that you are free to explore with little restrictions in atonal music.
Listening to atonal music can really help anybody learn to appreciate it!
I definately think that atonal music has negative connotations, but I also think that this is due to false information. I also think that when people think about something 'not being' it automatically implies a negative. If atonal music is inherently 'not tonal' instead of just being music expressed in a different tonal language, it implies that it is somehow less. It could work both ways though. If something is constantly referred to as 'not dissonant' it could easily be thought of as too smooth, or boring, or sissy music if you will.
Like many of the other comments posted here, my connection to atonal music before the past couple years has been close to none.
I used to be the "Hi my name is Tim and I am a Bach-Beethoven-Chopin-Liszt / tonal functional harmony addict."
This has indeed changed and I like to admit for the better! While many atonal pieces I do find unpleasant and other words like jarring, gross, piercing, boring, or just plain uninteresting, there are for sure many that are absolutely gorgeous and exciting. In realizing that some composers wish for their pieces to be jarring and "gross," for a desired effect, this in itself is interesting and I believe that continued listening of those pieces would develop an enjoyment of them.
One such piece that I didn't realize was "atonal" until told because I was at this point under the impression that atonal music was... bad... is Messiaen's "Le Baiser de l'Enfant-Jésu." I personally adore this piece and can't wait to learn it.
I hate to admit it, but I'm a little guilty of associating atonal with the dissonant, busy, highly serialized stuff (like Boulez's Structures.) For atonal music that I like, I usually describe it as "contemporary" instead of atonal, even if it's not contemporary at all! I think the word itself indeed sounds unpleasant to us - it has negative connotations.
I don't remember the first atonal piece I heard, but I always remember being drawn more towards modal music than tonal (which like you say, is technically atonal!) and I loved any flute piece that had an angular and dissonant melody. I still hear lots of people that have gripes with "modern" "atonal "contemporary" ect ect music.. it's a little sad!
I find the more I am exposed to atonal or other contemporary music, the more I appreciate it. I've probably heard more this semester than in the rest of my life all together - between this class and post-tonal music and MUN concerts. Some I like more than others, but I am hearing now more structure and purpose in them. I find it especially interesting when looking at the scores to find all the patterns and logic hidden in them. They're not just random notes thrown together on a whim! And now I'm gaining a whole new perspective on it through composition. Learning that nothing in a good composition is random, every piece is the result of many, many careful decisions.
As is said in the blog, it is difficult, as students learning theory mostly geared towards tonality, to appreciate atonal music. When I began my studies, I was under the impression the atonal music had negative connotations and that the music was indeed full of dissonances, adding to the unpleasant nature that is can have.
I think my greatest experience with atonal music is in writing it and performing it. In the intro to composition course, all of our assignments involved us exploring sounds that were not in the realm of tonality. This at first was very difficult to grasp. I didn't understand how to write without a key or set of chords, however as I began to simply use my ear as best I could, I was able to make chords and progressions that are not available in tonal music.
As far as performing goes, this year I tackled a sonatina, and it was atonal. This made the piece incredibly difficult, because I found it very difficult to put together with my accompanist, because of my lack of understanding of atonality. What made me appreciate it more was time really studying it, and putting together how the atonality really created music.
I guess concluding, my journey with atonality is still ongoing. I still find that I only like a small portion of what I hear, however writing it makes me use my ear in ways that I'm not used to, and performing it requires me to study it, and really know the music inside and out. I'm finding that I appreciate it more and more, it simply comes with time and patience.
Atonality was a foreign word to me almost entirely, before coming to music school. I can really appreciate the Schoenberg quote, as there seems to be a divide between people who see atonal music as it is-music, and people who separate music into that of tonal and atonal. When you are introduced to the concept of atonality by people, or surrounded by people, who are of the "art of not falling" type, it is very easy to be influenced into thinking all atonal music is unpleasant to listen to. This idea had been planted in my brain upon my arrival to music school, but was broken last summer, when I had the chance to play in the Newfound Music Festival. We played multiple works in succession that instead of using a metre and measures, used timers, so that rather than coming in on "measure 52" you came in at "1'22"'. We played at The Rooms, dispersed throughout different levels, being conducted by Dr. Caslor who was on the ground floor. The music we played did not contain tonal centres, which was uncomfortable to me at first, but as we played through the pieces it became evident they were very beautiful and overall it was a very liberating experience.
Composing "atonal" music was very intimidating at first, but exploring the different sounds, not being confined by a tonal centre was exciting and led me to writing some music I never would've thought of before.
Correction: It was actually the Sound Symposium in the summer of 2014 where we played at The Rooms, not the Newfound Music Festival!
During my first year at the school of music I had no idea what atonal music was, and it was an interesting experience listening to atonal music for the first time. It sounded so different than what I was used to hearing but it also in some ways resonated with the music I enjoyed listening to. Slowly I started enjoying this music, and over the past year composing it has become such an exciting part of my life. One composer who I have been listening to quite a lot over the past year is Scriabin. Listening to his late works has given me lots of inspiration in my composing and has widened my range of knowledge within atonal music. The different sounds that can be produced and the large amount of technical aspects that are applied to the music all have made me become fonder of atonal music. It did take quite a bit of time listening to atonal pieces to get comfortable with them, but nevertheless I am happy that I was able to explore this kind of music.
As someone who finds writing atonally extremely difficult, I found this blog post intriguing. When you say that atonal music “could refer to music that is as deeply moving and beautiful as any music ever composed, or it could be applied to very harsh, disturbing music”. You explain my exact problem. I find personally I have been exposed to a lot of atonal music that has been more on the harsh side of that scale. So in writing my first pieces I am finding it tricky to get out of that ‘harsh’ pattern. I found the beginning of the course where we worked on building individual chords really helpful. It helped my find atonal sonorities that I found pleasing to my ear and the ones I found too harsh.
My first real experience with atonal music was in grade 12, a soundscape, and although I found it interesting it was hard to wrap my head around it as music considering how different it is from what I previously classified as music. Adding atonality to my musical spectrum and really analyzing it in comp 3100 this term has been both challenging and rewarding as I feel like there are new doors opening in my musical world.
I've always heard that Schoenberg hated the word atonality, just as many artists tend to hate the labels most commonly assigned to them (Debussy didn't want to be called impressionist, Reich didn't like being called minimalist, etc).
But I really do sympathize with Schoenberg here, especially because the taxonomy of the word atonality really doesn't match the music being produced. Milton Babbitt suggested the word "a-tonic" which didn't catch on obviously, but I really think it should have. Atonal music uses tones, twelve of them in fact!
So not only is the umbrella of "atonal" music vague and expansive, the actual word itself doesn't make any sense.
As somebody who likes music commonly referred to as "atonal", I encourage those who don't like music where somebody slams an aluminum baseball bat onto the keys of a piano to check out works which employ tonal structures, like triadic structure chords, in an atonal way (ex. late Debussy, most Jazz post Kind Of Blue, a lot of Scriabin, Shostakovich, pretty much any punk, rap, blues, most pop music). Not all atonal music is Penderecki, just like not all tonal music is Bach. There's a great grey area there that holds some real gems.
This blog post really opened my eyes. Before coming to music school, I didn't really think much about atonal music. I grew up doing Kiwanis music festival, taking private piano and voice lessons, taking RCM exams and singing in my school choir - so, needless to say, I wasn't really exposed to much other than Western classical music. But since starting MUN, my eyes have been opened and I've recognized that atonal music is really important is becoming very popular. I used to think that I hated this type of music - as you alluded to in the blog post, even the name made me cringe. I would see a concert featuring atonal music and think "I don't want to go see that!" I wanted what my ears had been accustomed to - the nice, structured Western music that I had grown up with.
Now I am in my second year and I realize how wrong this was. In my opinion, there is a huge problem that growing up, I had never heard anything else! I think that it is important to be exposed to all types of music - tonal, atonal, music from other countries, etc. I just overall believe that this makes you a better musician, and more understanding and respectful of other cultures and viewpoints.
I found your second last paragraph a real game-changer for me. I had never considered the fact that atonal music doesn't have to be "dissonant" or that tonal music was necessarily "consonant". Looking back, I realize that there are times when I listen to a tonal piece and really do not think it sounds very nice. Likewise, there are times when I am at the piano and play a random set of notes and just LOVE how it sounds, even though it fits into no key. Composing my first piece for this class has just changed my outlook on atonal music, and I love the freedom that comes with composing it. Music has always been an outlet for me, and I can see composing atonal pieces really helping me in the future when I need to vent with no rules or structure.
As someone who was a big fan of traditionally weird music genres like noise music before I was familiar with atonal music, I was never really turned off by it. However, I did have the association that atonal always equalled dissonant, creepy, and a general unpleasantness or unease. This is something I try very hard to debunk when taking to prospective composers at the music school. Sure, if you write something using 12-tone serialism, it’s hard to make it sound “happy” and uplifting to the average classical music listener, but there is so much more to atonal music than a few systems. I don’t mean to discredit their importance, or the beauty of a lot of the music made using them, but the focus on these systems when discussing atonal music helps to propagate the idea that atonal music has to sound like that. Atonal music is simply music that does not adhere to the classical sense of tonality. V resolving to I, specific chord progression patterns, etcetera. You can create beautiful, lush, soundscapes without using these tools, and that is still a form of atonal music! The other side of the coin though, is that people don’t need to be hesitant to explore the world of atonal music that actually does explore these more dark and uneasy atmospheres. You might find that something like Schoenberg’s “Verklärte Nacht” has a lot to offer both artistically and emotionally. The idea that classical music must soothe the soul is not a beneficial one for the future of the genre and it is also not representative of contemporary music, where that dissonant type of atonal music is most widely heard in places like horror movie soundtracks, where it enjoys a healthy career. We know now that large swaths of people are comfortable with engaging through negative emotions through art, whether that be fans of the artist Francis Bacon, or the millions upon millions of emo music fans around the world. This to me shows a possibility for the more dissonant side of atonal music to be successful going forward in many different contexts. However, the idea that all atonal music is dissonant is still an inaccurate and misleading myth. Go ahead and write whatever sounds good to your ear, but try experimenting without using tonal techniques, you’ll likely be surprised by how beautiful it can sound, not in spite of, but partially because it doesn’t use tonal techniques. It opens up a new world of colours and textures unavailable when adhering strictly to classical tonal technique.
Prior to studying music in University, I was not familiar with Atonality. Though I am only in my second year of studies, I would agree that there is a somewhat unpleasant connotation surrounding it. I think one reason might be related to the lack of exposure to Atonal music in typical classical music training methods. As a musician who learned through the Suzuki method of violin, my experience learning atonal pieces is highly limited. I briefly scanned the Suzuki violin repertoire and could not find any piece I would characterized as atonal. There are numerous reasons why this may be the case, nonetheless, I would argue that in the more advanced stages of the learning method it would be beneficial to expose musicians to atonal pieces.
The impact of not being exposed to atonal music until my University studies was that it took me awhile to become familiar with the sounds of atonal music and I was much less open to it. I would guess musicians who went through similar classical training to me may have had the same experience. Overall, I am really glad that I have been able to learn to enjoy the different colours that atonal music can offer, V to I can get pretty tiring.
I have an interesting relationship with atonality and this blog post makes me feel better about it. I find the word atonal implies ugliness and harshness which is usually not the type of music I like to write. Sometimes when I am composing I want to write music that is serene and graceful and for that sometimes I need to use tonal chords. I also find when writing in the classical atonal style there is a lot of tension and never any release. If I can try and reach points in my composition with chords based in tonality I find I can make the type of music I want to write. I appreciate that this blog post points out that major and minor chords can be used in atonal music.
I definitely prefer to use the word post tonal because the word atonal implies an abandonment of everything that tonal music offers.
In talking with you last year when I was taking the Intro to Composition course, I believe I remember asking the question of what the difference was between the terms 'post-tonal' and 'atonal.' At the time, I didn't know that these were referring to the same compositional style, with the word 'atonal' seeming to describe a style by what it lacks, with the term 'post-tonal' rather defining the style by what it is, a step past tonal music into a new writing convention. In knowing this, I agree with the aspects brought up here of atonality not being related to dissonance, but rather related to the Western-classical version of 'tonality' that we have made the modern convention. There does seem to be, however, a connotation that post-tonal or atonal music that relates those terms inherently with dissonance, possibly from the misconceptions of tonality usually referring to how 'nice' something sounds as mentioned here in the post. I personally agree with the notion that the term 'post-tonal' more accurately represents the style in which it is describing, and hope that in the future more musicians can be informed about the actual stylistic aspects of atonality.
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