serialism

American  

[seer-ee-uh-liz-uhm] / ˈsɪər i əˌlɪz əm /

noun

1. twelve-tone technique.

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serialism British  

/ ˈsɪərɪəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. (in 20th-century music) the use of a sequence of notes in a definite order as a thematic basis for a composition and a source from which the musical material is derived See also twelve-tone

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Other Word Forms

• serialist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of serialism

First recorded in 1960–65; serial + -ism

Example Sentences

With its nods to Brahms’s voluptuous writing for clarinet, Schoenbergian serialism and Steve Reich’s jagged strings, the music reveled in Sorey’s classical influences.

From New York Times • Jan. 7, 2021

It is both “an example of rampant serialism and a commentary on the phenomenon,” A.O.

From New York Times • Jul. 22, 2020

Julian Wachner, Trinity Wall Street’s industrious director of music and the arts, credits a 1990 lecture by the Boston-based composer Marti Epstein with directing his attention toward Anton Webern’s crystalline serialism.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 21, 2018

When Reich was a student, serialism, a genre that deliberately avoided harmony, melody and rhythm, was the only game in town.

From The Guardian • Oct. 26, 2016

When Herrmann composed his earlier “Sinfonietta for Strings,” he was influenced by the dissonant serialism of Schoenberg.

From Washington Post • Apr. 18, 2016