Me vs. Atonalism, again
Okay… people seem very convinced of convincing me that there are rich and fertile sonic grounds to be discovered in the land of atonality. For a bit of a recap we have: firstly, me claiming that strict twelve-tone atonalism is too much and too academic. Secondly, me defending myself a bit from the criticisms of (a) being overly dismissive about the genre, and (b) insisting that late Shostakovich really does use tone rows.
So what do we have this time around? Well, wishniak says:
As with anything challenging, one might have to invest some time in it, get used to some new aesthetic values…
And Chris Culver says:
It’s odd to pitch standard repertoire classical music as good for nerds since it’s fun to figure out how it works, while at the same time deploring modernism as too “academicâ€.
Both are making the point that I’m not necessarily giving the serialists a fair go of it, which, since this site is all about trying to get people to listen to a genre they have negative preconceptions about, is a bit hypocritical. I kinda have to agree - a bit reluctantly - although in my defense it’s not as if I haven’t tried it.
In fact, JF brought up the Berg Violin Concerto, which I am actually quite partial to (and I’d also quite like to see Wozzeck). I think it’s a striking piece, especially when you know the full, morbid, background (a memorial to the young death of Manon Gropius, and also Berg’s final work). However, I think the reason it is so striking (and also why it is popular amongst people who do not in general care for atonalism) is that it inextricably linked to the tonal system. Berg’s tone-row is a tonal tone-row: g-minor, d-major, a-minor, e-major, Es ist genug. This is what I’m getting at when I claim that atonality is only truly satisfying when balanced against tonality.
JF comments that:
What you’re really talking about, I think, is not atonality but degrees of dissonance in the harmony, one “degree†being how long the dissonance lasts, and note-sequences you can or can’t recognize as melodic shapes.
Which I sort of agree with. I’ll write more about this another time. the thing that bugs me about serialism is the forced nature of it, the insistence that you have to give every note equal importance. While Berg’s violin concerto pulls this off while still being emotionally touching, I think it’s because he pushed the overly strict twelve-tone system almost into tonality. What I like about late Shostakovich is similar - he’ll take a twelve-tone melody, which is bloody hard to hear as a melody the first ten times you listen to it - and then develop it without the restrictions of the twelve-tone system.
I like difficult melodies, I like working on a piece before I understand it, but serialism seems scarily restrictive. Rob Schottland agreed:
Personally, I feel that the serial/twelve-tone movement of the 20th century was too limiting a format to survive in its strictest form.
I think I concur. But, I’m willing to give it another ago - I just ordered a CD from Amazon featuring Schoenberg’s Variations for Orchestra, recommended to me in a previous post. I’ll let you know how the listening goes.
PS - This is a great radio broadcast about the Berg violin concerto.
May 17th, 2007 at 7:17 am
One reason why I think it is important to defend serialism as valid music is that the voices most vocal against serialism are also those who consider very little indeed to be valid music. Critics like Roger Scruton define good music so strictly that nothing outside the 100-something years between Bach and Brahms counts.
In such judgement, all popular music of our time is unacceptable. Sure, more than a few classical fans would agree with that. But even more outrageous is that if you exalt classical ideas of tonality as necessary for good music, indigenous musical cultures are out too. The Western diatonic scale is the only valid one? That leaves out every musical culture based on the pentatonic scale (as well as Per NørgÃ¥rd’s hierarchical-period music, which pretty much everyone finds beautiful for all its lack of a strict key). Minor seconds must be seen as dissonant? That means much rich song from the Shopsko region of Bulgaria is worthless.
It seems a ridiculous conclusion to make that all music produced outside of the European context, and before and after a couple of centuries there, is a mistake.
So, the attack against serialism tends to be one theatre of operations in a war against everything the critic doesn’t personally like. You yourself might be an admirably open-minded music listener, but if serialism can’t be seen as real music, then what falls next?
And as with all music, no one says you have to like it. Just don’t hassle its fans to be madmen or to have no taste.