|

12-tone music

DEFINITIONS OF: 12-tone music

1

n a type of serial music introduced by Arnold Schoenberg; uses a tone row formed by the twelve semitones of the chromatic scale (and inverted or backward versions of the row)

Synonyms:
12-tone system, twelve-tone music, twelve-tone system
Type of:
serial music, serialism
20th century music that uses a definite order of notes as a thematic basis for a musical composition
WORD FAMILY
USAGE EXAMPLES