Tone row

The twelve-tone row is an arbitrary arrangement of twelve different pitches of the chromatic scale in equal temperament sound system. It forms the compositional core of works of twelve-tone music, which had its starting point in the Second Viennese School.

For the composer Arnold Schoenberg, who took claim for themselves, "discovered" to have the twelve-tone rows, apply to the twelve-tone row as a new organizing principle of contemporary music two premises:

• In a twelve-tone row, all twelve pitches of the chromatic Scala must be included, with enharmonic octave confusion and have no meaning.
• In a twelve-tone one tone may only be used a second time, when all the other tones of the series have already occurred.

For Schoenberg therefrom constituted the totality of composing with twelve tones related only to one another, then the emancipation of dissonance produces a characteristic of the " new music ".

However, the twelve-tone row determines only the result of a twelve-tone pitch. The other parameters of sound ( length, volume and timbre ) remain in the classic twelve-tone technique.

Row formation

A twelve-tone row is an arbitrary but complete arrangement of semitones of the chromatic scale. Which arrangement, a composer from the 479 001 600 ( = 12! ) Selects possible permutations of the chromatic Scala for his composition, is an artistically far-reaching preliminary decision. However, the twelve-tone series is neither a composition still an issue. Schoenberg calls it a topic shape and understands it as an abstract entity, can be derived from the topic.

An example of a vertical, chordal processing of a twelve-tone row are the first bars of Schoenberg's Piano Piece op33a → Sample sheet.

The four modes of the twelve-tone

In the traditional twelve-tone two transformations ( transformations ) are a twelve-tone row as normal.

• Cancer Education: The cancer is caused by a twelve application of the origin series from its last note from backwards. This transformation is also called vertical mirroring.

• Inversion: The intervals of the original set are replaced by their complementary intervals, with the result that each interval that was addressed in the original set up, is directed downward in the reverse, and vice versa. Therefore, this transformation is referred to as horizontal mirror.

These two transformations can be derived from an original set of four rows form: the original series and its inverse and the cancer of these two. Related to it speaks the twelve-tone technique of the " four modes ," in which a twelve-tone row can occur.

Another veritable transformation, a transposition of the original series and its modifications are considered, which transposes the four modes of the twelve-tone row to the twelve different pitches of the chromatic Scala.

This can be from most twelve-tone rows a total of 48 ( = 4x12 ) series (the original included ) can be derived, which are the composer for a twelve-tone composition available.

The transformations cancer and reversal are borrowed from the counterpoint theory. Schoenberg 's twelve- examined so that its connecting to the strict rules of this compositional technique.

Special forms of the twelve-tone

Among the approximately one million remaining twelve-tone rows - eliminated the 48 derivatives of each row - can be a variety of row formation discover, have special features.

• Symmetries ( Schoenberg piano piece op.33a );
• Internal relations of series parts ( Anton Webern, Concerto for 9 instruments op.24 );
• Echoes of tonal elements ( major and minor triads in Alban Berg's Violin Concerto );
• Specific interval structures ( Terzfortschreitungen in Anton Webern's Cantata No. 1 op.28 );
• Extra-musical metaphors ( the BACH motif at the beginning of the cancer form the series shown above from Schoenberg, Op 25 )

Of importance were called Allintervallreihen, where in addition to all twelve semitones all eleven formable intervals are available. They occur also in the form of symmetric Allintervallreihen. → Main article Allintervallreihe