“MAINSTREAM” DODECAPHONY

Chapter:

CHAPTER 3 The Apex

Source:

MUSIC IN THE LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Author(s):

Richard Taruskin

The first movement of the Piano Quartet well exemplifies Copland's “mainstream” or “middle of the road” approach to twelve-tone composition. The row (Ex. 3-3) is used as a theme in the traditional sense, which means that it will be varied according to standard methods of thematic elaboration as well as according to specifically serial procedures. It is constructed on the principle of “whole-tone complementation”—that is, playing off the two mutually exclusive whole-tone scales against one another. Whole-tone scale segments, a familiar sound in music since before the turn of the century, are what the themes present most saliently to the listening ear, and what make them memorable.

Citation (MLA):

Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 3 The Apex." The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press. New York, USA. n.d. Web. 21 Sep. 2023. <https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume5/actrade-9780195384857-div1-003002.xml>.

Citation (APA):

Taruskin, R. (n.d.). Chapter 3 The Apex. In Oxford University Press, Music in the Late Twentieth Century. New York, USA. Retrieved 21 Sep. 2023, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume5/actrade-9780195384857-div1-003002.xml

Citation (Chicago):

Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 3 The Apex." In Music in the Late Twentieth Century, Oxford University Press. (New York, USA, n.d.). Retrieved 21 Sep. 2023, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume5/actrade-9780195384857-div1-003002.xml