Serialism

Abstract

Since Arnold Schoenberg developed the twelve-tone system in the early 1920s, serialism has been the subject of a continuous torrent of scholarship. At least in part, this is the result of an experimental attitude that has marked serialism since its inception. No two major serial composers have used the same set of tools; indeed, the creation of new serial techniques seems to have been a necessary stage in the growth of a serial composer. This individuality naturally has consequences for scholarship. For one, it has meant a profusion of writing by composers. Some of this writing comes as compositional theory, as composers—from some mixture of a desire to share fruitful research, to facilitate the comprehension of their music, and to stake claims on their inventions—have written about serial procedures that interest them creatively. Some comes as aesthetic manifesto, as composers seek to justify their unique approaches. The great diversity of serial compositional techniques and aesthetics has also led to a flourishing of analysis, as analysts work to define and interpret the many separate practices composers have developed. Yet serialism’s individuality has also contributed to dramatic critical pushback: a running theme among commentators has been that serial music is inaccessible to nonspecialists. The prose written by serial composers has also generated much critical commentary, for many justifications given for their work have been shown to be problematic from political, cultural, and historical perspectives. The sources included in this bibliography give a sampling of the best work from all of these discursive branches as well as a selection of more general resources to help new students of serialism find their footing. Finally, a word about the scope of the article is in order. In the English-language literature, “serialism” and, interchangeably, “serial music” refer broadly to music based on systematic permutations of pitch classes or other elements. Twelve-tone music, accordingly, is the first prominent instance of serialism. French scholarship uses a similarly broad connotation of “musique sérielle,” which encompasses “Le dodécaphonisme” or “musique dodécaphonique” (i.e., twelve-tone music). German scholars, in contrast, have tended to differentiate between “Zwölftonmusik” (twelve-tone music) and “serielle Musik,” the latter distinguishing itself by the application of serial techniques to rhythm, timbre, intensity, and other musical dimensions. This article adopts the English-language definition of serialism.