Neotonality (or Neocentricity) is an inclusive term referring to musical compositions of the twentieth century in which the

tonality Tonality is the arrangement of pitches and/or chords of a musical work in a hierarchy of perceived relations, stabilities, attractions and directionality. In this hierarchy, the single pitch or triadic chord with the greatest stability is ca ...

of the common-practice period (i.e. functional harmony and tonic-dominant relationships) is replaced by one or several nontraditional tonal conceptions, such as tonal assertion or

contrapuntal motion In music theory, contrapuntal motion is the general movement of two melodic lines with respect to each other. In traditional four-part harmony, it is important that lines maintain their independence, an effect which can be achieved by the judicio ...

around a central chord. Although associated with the

neoclassicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism ...

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

and

Les Six "Les Six" () is a name given to a group of six composers, five of them French and one Swiss, who lived and worked in Montparnasse. The name, inspired by Mily Balakirev's '' The Five'', originates in two 1920 articles by critic Henri Collet in ' ...

in France and Hindemith in Germany, neotonality is a broader concept, encompassing such

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

composers as Bartók and Kodály in Hungary, Janáček and Martinů in Czechoslovakia,

Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

in England, Chávez and Revueltas in Mexico, Villa-Lobos in Brazil, and

Ginastera Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentinian composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Biography Ginastera was born in Buenos ...

in Argentina. Figures with less nationalistic ties such as

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

, Shostakovich,

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

, and

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. The music critic Donal Henahan said, "Probab ...

also 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 a

tonal centre In music, the tonic is the first scale degree () of the diatonic scale (the first note of a scale) and the tonal center or final resolution tone that is commonly used in the final cadence in tonal (musical key-based) classical music, popular ...

in 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 dominant pedal points, or through the use of contrapuntal motion around some central chord.

References

Sources * * *

'' 2, no. 2 (Spring–Summer): 11–43. * ragone, Luann 003br>Introduction
Louise 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's ''Sérénade en la''". ''Theory and Practice'' 12:27–53. * 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. . * Rihm, Wolfgang. 1986. "Neo-Tonalität?" '': Zeitschrift für Neue Musik'', no. 14:14–17. * Straus, Joseph N. 2000. ''Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory'', second edition. Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall. . * 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. . {{Modernism (music) Modernism (music) Tonality

References

Further reading