MUSIC 2251 Chapter Notes - Chapter 55: Retrograde Inversion, Tone Row, Sprechgesang
4 Nov 2018
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Ch 55 - war is hell: berg and expressionist opera. Composers combined social advocacy w their cutting-edge exploration of new musical techniques. Alban berg was the most commercially successful expressionist composer. The 2nd viennese school and the 12-tone method. The method of composing w 12 tones - each of the 12 tones carries equal weight. Tone row - particular arrangement of the 12 tones. Once the row is established, it becomes the basis for all the piece"s themes. Transposed row - keeps the same order of intervals but begins in a different pitch. Inversion - the movement of notes in the opposite direction. Retrograde inversion - turns the row upside down and backwards. Same techniques used in the baroque fugue. A musical dramatist, but leaned toward the formal patterns of the past (fugue, sonata, and suite) Wozzeck is being used for experiments bc he needs the 2146 Wozzeck kills his love bc he believes she was unfaithful.
