Pandiatonic
Encyclopedia
In music
, pandiatonicism refers to the technique of using the diatonic (as opposed to the chromatic) scale without the limitations of functional tonality
. Pandiatonic music typically uses the notes of the diatonic scale freely in dissonant combinations without conventional resolutions and/or without standard chord progressions, sometimes to the extent that no single pitch is felt as a tonic
. Pandiatonicism is also referred to as "white-note music", though in fact occasional accidentals may be present. Triads with added dissonances, such as a second or sixth (added tone chords), are typical. The term pandiatonicism was coined by the musicologist Nicolas Slonimsky
to describe the nonfunctional tonality of composers such as Igor Stravinsky
(in his Russian and neoclassical
periods) and Aaron Copland
(in his populist works; Jaffe, 1992). Pandiatonicism is particularly associated with Stravinsky and composers influenced by him; it was also used more recently by composers such as Arvo Pärt
, Steve Reich
, Eric Whitacre
and John Adams
.
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, pandiatonicism refers to the technique of using the diatonic (as opposed to the chromatic) scale without the limitations of functional tonality
Tonality
Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
. Pandiatonic music typically uses the notes of the diatonic scale freely in dissonant combinations without conventional resolutions and/or without standard chord progressions, sometimes to the extent that no single pitch is felt as a tonic
Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
. Pandiatonicism is also referred to as "white-note music", though in fact occasional accidentals may be present. Triads with added dissonances, such as a second or sixth (added tone chords), are typical. The term pandiatonicism was coined by the musicologist Nicolas Slonimsky
Nicolas Slonimsky
Nicolas Slonimsky was a Russian born American composer, conductor, musician, music critic, lexicographer and author. He described himself as a "diaskeuast" ; "a reviser or interpolator."- Life :...
to describe the nonfunctional tonality of composers such as Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
(in his Russian and neoclassical
Neoclassicism (music)
Neoclassicism in music was a twentieth-century trend, particularly current in the period between the two World Wars, in which composers sought to return to aesthetic precepts associated with the broadly defined concept of "classicism", namely order, balance, clarity, economy, and emotional restraint...
periods) and Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
(in his populist works; Jaffe, 1992). Pandiatonicism is particularly associated with Stravinsky and composers influenced by him; it was also used more recently by composers such as Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt is an Estonian classical composer and one of the most prominent living composers of sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-made compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music also finds its inspiration and influence from...
, Steve Reich
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich is an American composer who together with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass is a pioneering composer of minimal music...
, Eric Whitacre
Eric Whitacre
Eric Whitacre is an American composer, conductor and lecturer. He is one of the most popular and performed composers of his generation. In 2008, the all-Whitacre choral CD Cloudburst became an international best-seller, topping the classical charts and earning a Grammy nomination...
and John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
.
Pandiatonic Music
The following musical works include pandiatonicism.- John Adams
- Shaker LoopsShaker LoopsWritten in 1978 by the American composer John Adams, Shaker Loops was originally written for string septet. A version for string orchestra followed in 1983 and first performed in April of that year at Alice Tully Hall New York, by the American Composers Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson...
(Jaffe, 1992) - China GatesChina GatesChina Gates is a short piano piece composed by the minimalist American composer John Adams in 1977. Adams wrote this work as a companion piece to his Phrygian Gates, dating from the same period...
(Jaffe, 1992) - Phrygian GatesPhrygian GatesPhrygian Gates is a piano piece written by minimalist composer John Coolidge Adams in 1977-1978.The piece, together with its smaller companion China Gates is what is considered Adams' "opus one". They are, according to his own claims, his first compositions consisting of a coherent personal style...
(Jaffe, 1992)
- Shaker Loops
- Aaron CoplandAaron CoplandAaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
- Appalachian SpringAppalachian SpringAppalachian Spring is a modern score composed by Aaron Copland that premiered in 1944 and has achieved widespread and enduring popularity as an orchestral suite...
(Jaffe, 1992)
- Appalachian Spring
- Eric DolphyEric DolphyEric Allan Dolphy was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, and bass clarinetist. On a few occasions he also played the clarinet and baritone saxophone. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the 1960s...
- Eric DolphyEric DolphyEric Allan Dolphy was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, and bass clarinetist. On a few occasions he also played the clarinet and baritone saxophone. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the 1960s...
- Eric Dolphy
- William Duckworth
- "Southern HarmonySouthern Harmony (Duckworth)Southern Harmony is a minimalist composition by William Duckworth written in 1980 and 1981. It is scored for unaccompanied mixed chorus, and is an original work created through adaptation of shape-note songs from the 1854 compilation Southern Harmony and Musical Companion...
"
- "Southern Harmony
- Peter GarlandPeter GarlandPeter Garland is a composer best known for publishing Soundings Press, one of the few sources of new music scores and articles while in print...
- Sones de Flor (http://cutthemullet.tripod.com/may2002.htm)
- Henryk GóreckiHenryk GóreckiHenryk Mikołaj Górecki was a composer of contemporary classical music. He studied at the State Higher School of Music in Katowice between 1955 and 1960. In 1968, he joined the faculty and rose to provost before resigning in 1979. Górecki became a leading figure of the Polish avant-garde during...
- "Symphony No. 3Symphony No. 3 (Górecki)The Symphony No. 3, Op. 36, also known as the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs , is a symphony in three movements composed by Henryk Górecki in Katowice, Poland, between October and December 1976. The work is indicative of the transition between Górecki's dissonant earlier manner and his more tonal...
"
- "Symphony No. 3
- Constant LambertConstant LambertLeonard Constant Lambert was a British composer and conductor.-Early life:Lambert, the son of Russian-born Australian painter George Lambert, was educated at Christ's Hospital and the Royal College of Music...
- Trois pieces negres, pour les touches blanches
- Steve ReichSteve ReichStephen Michael "Steve" Reich is an American composer who together with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass is a pioneering composer of minimal music...
- The Desert MusicThe Desert MusicThe Desert Music is a work of music for voices and orchestra composed by Steve Reich based on texts by William Carlos Williams. It consists of five movements, and in both its tempi and arrangement of thematic material, the piece is in a characteristic arch form...
(Jaffe, 1992)- TehillimTehillim (Reich)Tehillim is a piece of music by American composer Steve Reich, written in 1981.The title comes from the Hebrew word for "psalms", and the work is the first to reflect Reich's Jewish heritage...
(Jaffe, 1992)
- Tehillim
- The Desert Music
- Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
- Petrushka
- Symphony in C Symphony in C (Stravinsky)The Symphony in C is a work by Russian expatriate composer Igor Stravinsky.The Symphony was written between 1938 and 1940 on a commission from American philanthropist Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss. It was a turbulent period of the composer's life, marked by illness and deaths in his immediate family...
Source
- Jaffe, Stephen. Conversation between SJ and JS on the New Tonality, Contemporary Music Review 1992, Vol. 6 (2), pp. 27-38
- Mann, William. London TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
(December 27, 1963) via Companion