Atonality
(A-toe-NAL-li-tee)
Music without tonality, or music that is centered around no central key or scale.
The term was first used to describe certain compositions by Arnold Schoenberg, Anton von Webern, and Alban Berg. Schoenberg's term was pantonal.
SUGGESTED LISTENING EXAMPLES:
- Stockhausen: Zeitmasse for Five Woodwinds, No. 5
- W. W. Norton - 4-CD Musical Example Bank --
Disc 3, Track 53
- Schoenberg: Suite for Piano, Op. 25, I
- W. W. Norton - 4-CD Musical Example Bank --
Disc 3, Track 40
- Boulez: Le marteau sans ma”tre, IX
- W. W. Norton - 4-CD Musical Example Bank --
Disc 3, Track 58
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