Twelve-tone technique: the series of twelve notes
MUSIC HISTORY
Definition, series forms, Second Viennese School and singer stakes, with Adeline Toniutti's CALYP pedagogy.
Source Jean Mislin · Musicologist, organist and choral conductor · teacher of Adeline Toniutti As part of Adeline Toniutti's research
What is twelve-tone technique in music?
Twelve-tone technique (dodecaphony) uses the twelve pitches of the tempered chromatic scale in an order fixed by the composer, without tonal hierarchy or attraction among them. Formalized by Arnold Schoenberg around 1923 within the Second Viennese School, it structures atonal repertoire for singers and teachers, in the line of Adeline Toniutti at CALYP.
From free atonality to the twelve-tone method
Atonality sets aside the polarities and hierarchies of tonal language. For Schoenberg, Berg and Webern, research runs chiefly from 1906 to 1923: first free atonality (from 1908 in the Second Quartet), then the need for an organization as rigorous as the old harmonic system.
Serial music uses the twelve-tone technique organized as a series. In the Waltz of the Five Piano Pieces op. 23 and the Piano Suite op. 25, Schoenberg applies the method. Within the twentieth century, it is a path distinct from polytonality, neoclassicism or impressionism.
The series: basic material and transformations
The series is the succession of the twelve chromatic semitones in an order chosen by the composer, serving as the basic material of a work. No pitch is reused before the other eleven; B-flat equals A-sharp; the octave equals the pitch itself. Strict equality replaces tonal hierarchy.
The basic form generates three further forms: retrograde (reading right to left), inversion of intervals, and retrograde inversion. Transposable on eleven other degrees, they yield 48 melodic possibilities. One then rhythms, accompanies and builds chords from the series. Retrograde and palindrome (e.g. Berg's Chamber Concerto) extend this play of symmetry.
Schoenberg, Berg, Webern: three uses of the series
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) reaches twelve-tone method after free atonality and the Sprechgesang of Pierrot lunaire (1912). His pupils adopt the technique from 1924, widening the gap between Vienna and other capitals.
Alban Berg stays linked to post-Romanticism: expression first, softened series (Violin Concerto on triads). The opera Wozzeck (premiere 1925) marks expressionist lyricism; see also the Berg page.
Anton Webern keeps traditional forms despite atonality, with extreme concentration and tone-colour melody (Klangfarbenmelodie). His Konzert op. 24 divides the series into four cells of three notes. After 1950 he becomes the model for Darmstadt and Boulez (series extended to durations, dynamics, timbres).
Timeline
- 1906-1923: Second Viennese School research toward atonality then the series.
- 1908: atonal turn (Schoenberg, Second Quartet).
- 1912: Pierrot lunaire; Sprechgesang (before strict series).
- 1921-1923: twelve-tone formalization (op. 23, Suite op. 25).
- 1924-1925: Berg and Webern follow; premiere of Wozzeck.
- around 1950: total serialism (Boulez and Webern's legacy).
Related glossary terms: atonality, serial music, series, retrograde, Klangfarbenmelodie, Sprechgesang, palindrome, polytonality.
FAQ
FAQ on twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique and serial music: the same?
Twelve-tone technique is the method of twelve pitches in a series. Serial music uses that organization; total serialism (after 1950) extends the series to rhythm, dynamics and timbre.
Difference between atonality and twelve-tone technique?
Atonality refuses a tonal pole (from 1908). Twelve-tone technique organizes the twelve pitches as a series to avoid hierarchy, methodically (around 1923).
Who invents twelve-tone technique?
Arnold Schoenberg, with pupils Berg and Webern (Second Viennese School). The series is basic material; each composer uses it differently.
What is a retrograde?
Reading the series from right to left. With inversion and transposition, it multiplies melodic forms without reintroducing a dominant key.
Sources and quotations
Landmarks and quotations for further reading.
- Jean Mislin: musicologist, organist and choral conductor, teacher of Adeline Toniutti. Notes used within Adeline Toniutti's research.
- Twelve-tone: technique of the 12 pitches of the tempered chromatic scale, fixed order, no hierarchy among pitches (Schoenberg).
- Series: succession of the 12 semitones in a chosen order, basic material; Second Viennese School (Schoenberg and pupils).
- Serial music: music using the twelve-tone technique organized as a series.
- Atonality: twentieth-century practice that sets aside tonal polarities and hierarchies.
- Viennese School: Schoenberg, Webern, Berg; research 1906-1923; Webern (tone-colour melody), Berg (post-Romanticism, Wozzeck).
GO FURTHER
In the music history cluster
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE
Sing twelve-tone repertoire with a healthy vocal gesture
Series, atonality and expressionism: link history to technique and vocal health with the CALYP team.