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

1. Composer Timeline
12-Tone Serial Method

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

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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. Four Forms of a Tone Row Prime form Retrograde 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

10. 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

11. Prime
Retrograde
Inversion
Retrograde Inversion
12-Tone Serial Method

12. 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

13. 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 P0 to be on C
P10 represents a prime version of the tone row beginning on Bb
12-Tone Serial Method

14. 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

15. 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

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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. Explanation of matrix creation
12-Tone Serial Method

21. 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 ( )
Five Piano Pieces, op.23 (1923)
Serenade, op.24 (1923)
12-Tone Serial Method

22. 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

23. 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

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

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

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

27. Composers and Works (cont’d.)
Luigi Dallapiccola ( )
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

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

29. WWW sites: http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/g_twelve_tone.html
12-Tone Serial Method

30. More WWW sites: http://geocities.com/Vienna/9498/settheory.html
12-Tone Serial Method