serialism

[ seer-ee-uh-liz-uhm ]

noun

1. twelve-tone technique.

serialism

/ 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

Other Words From

• seri·al·ist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of serialism¹

First recorded in 1960–65; serial + -ism

Example Sentences

Messiaen’s first batch of students, in the 1940s, included Pierre Boulez, who would become the de facto face of French serialism and modernist thought.

From New York Times

Later pieces like “Canto” saw ten Holt abandoning serialism, in a move he called “tonality after the death of tonality.”

From New York Times

An essay by Young in the accompanying booklet, though, lays out his thoughts on the limitations of serialism.

From New York Times

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

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

From New York Times