Dodekafonie

Dodekafonie, also known as twelve-tone technique, is a method of musical composition devised by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg in the early 1920s. It is a form of serialism, a compositional technique that orders or organizes musical elements according to a predetermined series. In dodecaphony, the twelve notes of the chromatic scale are arranged into a specific ordered sequence, called a tone row or set. This tone row forms the basis for the entire composition, with all melodic and harmonic material derived from it.

The fundamental principle of dodecaphony is that no note is privileged over any other. Each note of the chromatic scale must be used in a specific order before any note can be repeated. This ensures a certain equality among the pitches. The tone row can be manipulated in several ways: it can be played forwards (prime form), backwards (retrograde), upside down (inversion), or upside down and backwards (retrograde inversion). These transformations can be transposed to any of the twelve chromatic pitches, providing a vast array of possible melodic and harmonic combinations.

Dodecaphony was developed as a way to achieve a new level of organization and coherence in atonal music, a style that abandoned traditional tonality. Composers who embraced dodecaphony sought to create a systematic approach to composing music that moved away from the tonal system. While Schoenberg is credited with its invention, other composers like Alban Berg and Anton Webern, his pupils, also developed and expanded upon the technique. Dodecaphony has had a significant impact on 20th-century classical music, influencing many composers even those who did not strictly adhere to its principles. Its influence can be heard in various avant-garde and experimental music movements.