Okay. I have to be that
composer who talks about atonal music. Atonality is one of those
funky things which means one thing yet, thanks to public perception
means something entire different. I've heard non-stop, both from the
“uneducated” folk and people who hold doctorates, a common
misconception that “atonal” music means music which is harsh,
dissonant, unaccessable. “Atonality” is practically a synonym for
“bad music” the way some people use. Hell, I've even had somebody
tell me “Atonal music happened in the early 20th
century, and then we went back to pretty music.”
Frankly,
I'm fucking tired of people mislabeling an entire genre of music.
Let's
get one thing out of the way first. “Atonal” does not
mean “ugly.” “Atonal” means “Non-tonal.” That's really
all there is to it. Atonal music is music which isn't based around a
tonal center. What's a tonal center, you ask? If the music has a
pitch which you can hum/sing find as it progresses on, then it has a
tonal center. That's all there is to it.
In all
technicalities, Debussy wrote atonal music. Every time he used a
whole tone or symmetrical scale to hide a tonal center, he was
experimenting with atonal music. I have a hard time finding people
who find Debussy's music completely unlistenable. Most people
absolutely fawn over his music. He's frequently listed as a major
inspiration for living composers, and is usually the first composer
of the 20th
century covered. That's pretty impressive for a 19th
century composer! Yes, Schoenberg is the patron saint of serialist
music, but does he sound like Debussy? Does Messiaen? Boulez? How
about Hindemith? How about Strauss? Do any of these composers sound
like each other? Each of them wrote atonal music, and each
composer approached their music in completely different ways.
I used
to guest lecture in music appreciation classes when the students
began studying atonal music. I stressed repeatedly
that atonal music is NOT “ugly.” It's “different.” I treat
atonal music the way one treats a foreign language; before you're
used to dealing with it, it sounds quite awkward and confusing. The
more time spent trying to understand it the more it starts to make
sense. Afterwards, I always started with excerpts from Hindemith's
Ludus Tonalis suite.
Ludus Tonalis is
arguably not atonal. Technically, the work exploits tonal rules in
order to end with an atonal sound. The tonal centers shift so fast
the listener can't latch onto.
Here's
a sample of what I'd use (it is, in fact, my favorite movement from
the suite): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxgJcP65IQE
Ultimately,
I'm not saying people need to like all
music. I'm still convinced it'll be a cold day in hell before I like
Wagner. However, DON'T bash and trash and entire SPECTRUM (not genre)
of music simply because you or your teacher mislabeled two pieces!