Yet another....Atonality Rant

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 20^th 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 20^th century covered. That's pretty impressive for a 19^th 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!