Serialism

Serial music (including serialism or seriality, from French musique serial, introduced in 1947 by René Leibowitz; engl serial music. ) Is a flow of new music that developed from about 1948. Serial music is a further development of the twelve-tone technique of Arnold Schönberg and is composed according to strict rules. The composition technique is based on the attempt, if possible all the properties of music such as note duration, pitch and volume to build on numbers or proportions rows. This idea of ​​a musique pure springs from the desire to produce a music of the greatest possible clarity, free from redundancy, vagueness and arbitrariness of personal taste.

Historically possible serialism was the preliminary work of Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, representatives of so-called Second Viennese School, the newly arranged already pitch and interval structures by their own rules. However, while in the twelve-tone music, only the change in pitch is defined as a series, will be in serial music, the parameters of length, volume and tone (among which - especially in piano music - even articulation or category include ) quantified and reported serially in a predetermined proportion.

As a first composition that comes close to these rules, Olivier Messiaen's piano piece applies Mode de valeur et d' intensités - to refer to the future generations as a rule - in which he, not only strengthen the pitch, but also tone durations and the articulation by serially similar modes (hence the title ) organized, but still allowed for a higher degree of compositional freedom. Messiaen himself however said to have used the same techniques already a few weeks before the composition of this work at the piano factory Cantéyodjaya.

Special forms of serialism are the occasional music, the group composition and - with limitations - the statistical music.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not the purpose of serial music ( or, more precisely composed using serial techniques music) that the design principles are listening traced. Rather, the preorganization serves a similar purpose as the Tonsatzlehren earlier times, namely, specific to avoid false perceived constellations. In the classical example, were parallel fifths, with Schönberg the Oktavverbot in serial music, the avoidance of tonal structures or regular rhythms. The "meaning" of this music is from the manufacturing process similar to far away as the "meaning " of a Bach chorale from the commandments of the regular way set in four parts. Therefore, reviews are inaccurate, the see a problem in that:

• The reception on the limited Wish achievement of the human short-term memory (20 sec memory performance of new information ) is based, which makes it impossible to listen to the complex musical structures. Now, on the one hand empirically proven that an average listener and the topics of the three subject groups in the main clause (which are nine topics alone in the exposition ) of a Bruckner symphony not know and keep in mind can and that the material immanent hearing is total not given as recognition performance. On the other hand, the material level can not be equated with the figure plane.
• The interpretation prevented by the seemingly limited accuracy of instrumental and vocal parts that the exact information about the composer can be adequately reproduced precisely. Here is the recent history has shown that the quantity considered as insurmountable difficulties can be resolved at the latest by the next generation - like the once " superhuman " regarded as difficulties Liszt 's piano etudes, meanwhile, are long since become the examination papers of ordinary Conservatory 's degrees.
• The use of rules and the operation with tables of numbers to a free of any musicality " paper music " lead. At least with the most important representatives of serial music undetermined the rules of the underlying music ( with very few exceptions ) the work completely, but saved the musical invention and design by the composer clearances quite.

The promotion of the material by molding led to electronic music, which is more subject to the restrictions of traditional instruments in any way.

As a key work of serial composition technique are: Pierre Boulez's Structures for 2 Pianos, Karlheinz Stockhausen's Kontra-Punkte for ensemble and groups for three orchestras. Among the most important representatives of serial music include:

• Karlheinz Stockhausen
• Karel Goeyvaerts
• Luigi Nono
• Pierre Boulez
• Luciano Berio

A possible confusion given by the English usage. There serial music often referred to the twelve-tone technique in the sense of Schoenberg, while the serial music is referred to as total serialism.