Neotonality

Neotonality(orneocentricity) is an inclusive term referring to musical compositions of the twentieth century in which thetonalityof thecommon-practice period(i.e. functional harmony and tonic-dominant relationships) is replaced by one or several nontraditional tonal conceptions, such as tonal assertion orcontrapuntal motionaround a central chord.

Although associated with theneoclassicismofStravinskyandLes Sixin France andHindemithin Germany, neotonality is a broader concept, encompassing suchnationalistcomposers asBartókandKodályin Hungary,JanáčekandMartinůin Czechoslovakia,Vaughan Williamsin England,ChávezandRevueltasin Mexico,Villa-Lobosin Brazil, andGinasterain Argentina. Figures with less nationalistic ties such asProkofiev,Shostakovich,William Walton,Britten,andSamuel Barberalso are counted amongst neotonal composers. Without establishing any one style or school, neotonality became the dominant international idea in the 1930s and 1940s ( "new tonalities" ).Many of these composers (e.g., Bartók, Hindemith, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky) combine features characteristic of common-practice tonality with features of atonality.

The most common means of establishing atonal centrein neotonality is by "assertion". This may involve repeating a central pitch or emphasizing it in some other way, for example through instrumentation, register, rhythmic elongation, or metric accent. No single method of tonal assertion ever became dominant in the 20th century. Another possibility is to retain some element of common-practice tonality, such as beginning and ending on the same triad, using tonic or dominantpedal points,or through the use of contrapuntal motion around some central chord.

References

Sources

• Burkholder, J. Peter,Donald Jay Grout,andClaude V. Palisca.2009.A History of Western Music,eighth edition. New York: W. W. Norton.ISBN9780393931259.
• Salzman, Eric.1974.Twentieth-Century Music: An Introduction,second edition. Prentice-Hall History of Music Series. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.ISBN9780139350153.
• Silberman, Peter Scott. 2006.Neighbor Spaces: A Theory of Harmonic Embellishment for Twentieth-Century Neotonal Music.PhD diss. Rochester: University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music.

Further reading

• Berger, Arthur.1963. "Problems of Pitch Organization in Stravinsky".Perspectives of New Music2, no. 2 (Spring–Summer): 11–43.
• [Dragone, Luann]. [2003].IntroductionLouise Talma Society website (archive from 29 October 2012, accessed 22 April 2015).
• Hermann, Richard. 1987. "Thoughts on Voice-Leading and Set Theory in 'Neo-Tonal' Works: The 'Hymne' from Stravinsky'sSérénade en la".Theory and Practice12:27–53.
• Kinne, Michael. 2000.Die Präfixe post-, prä- und neo-: Beiträge zur Lehn-Wortbildung.Forschungen des Instituts für deutsche Sprache: Studien zur deutschen Sprache 18. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.ISBN3823351486.
• Rihm, Wolfgang.1986. "Neo-Tonalität?"MusikTexte:Zeitschrift für Neue Musik,no. 14:14–17.
• Straus, Joseph N. 2000.Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory,second edition. Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall.ISBN0-13-014331-6.
• Wile, Kip. 1995.Collection in Neocentric Music: A Study in Theory and Analysis of the Music of Debussy, Stravinsky, Scriabin, Bartók, and Ravel.Ph.D. dissertation. Chicago: University of Chicago.
• Williams, J. Kent. 1997.Theories and Analyses of Twentieth-Century Music.Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace and Company.ISBN015500316X.