Abstract
This paper presents a description and some developments on Perle’s theory and compositional system known as Twelve-Tone Tonality, a system that, because of its characteristics and fundamentals, is currently associated with Schoenberg dodecaphonic system. Some research has been made in the last few decades in order to develop his model in a Computer Assisted Composition (CAC) environment. After some efforts in order to analyse these prototypes, we realize that in general they were discontinued or outdated. A three-scope proposal is so outlined: Firstly, to simplify the grasp of a system that presents an easily understandable starting premise but afterwards enters a world of unending lists and arrays of letters and numbers; Secondly, to present the implementation process already started using PWGL [1] (see Laurson, 1996; Laurson, 2003; Laurson, 2009). Finally, the model is applied in a short original compositional work, and it is presented and analysed emphasizing the standpoints properties of the system. Some further considerations were made regarding the continuity of this project where the construction of a dedicated PWGL library of Perle’s model reveals a pre-compositional necessary tool. PWGL software was selected due to its specific fitting features: it is based on Common Lisp - perfectly powerful and suitable to process lists of integers — and it is specialized in CAC.
Highlights
George Perle’s Twelve-Tone Tonality (TTT) seems to be an almost forgotten issue in compositional and analytical common practice
The final results in his own compositional work confirm ‘that the consistency of musical structure provided by twelve-tone tonality has allowed Perle to create music of great sophistication and emotional depth’ (Carrabré, 1993, pp. 232-3)
Even George Perle, about his book, referred that ‘some of my friendliest reviewers admitted that they found Twelve-Tone Tonality “very tough reading.”
Summary
George Perle’s Twelve-Tone Tonality (TTT) seems to be an almost forgotten issue in compositional and analytical common practice. Applying the same technical principle to melody one gets ‘Symmetric Counterpoint’ (Oliveira, 1990) It is the aim of this research in a broad sense to start developing a computer library model for PWGL dedicated to Perle’s Twelve-Tone Tonality (TTT) with direct application in Computer Aided Composition (CAC). The approach to George Perle’s TTT inevitably requires an analysis/discussion of the concept of symmetry and its applications His theory is grounded in symmetrical interval cycles in which a special type of tone row is employed. George Perle was an American composer, professor emeritus at the Aaron Copland School of Music and a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music, thanks to his Twelve-tone system of composition based on cyclic intervals and symmetrical inversions This structural method for composition started with the analytical work he has done with Alban Berg’s compositions. The specific features of this software include a powerful and suitable list processing, adequate to manage series of cycles, symmetries, and sets
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