“Atonalism”
Schoenberg’s Waltz Op. 23 ushered in the atonal era. But did you know that atonalism itself goes back centuries? Unfortunately, I’m not well versed in the 13th century “cantus firmus” so I can’t speak to that. But I am a huge fan of Bach’s F minor fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier (Book I). In the subject of that fugue, we hear nine of the 12 chromatic tones, and only the first note is repeated. And (wait for it, wait for it) in the fugal answer, we hear the three remaining tones.
Listening to this Bach fugue is a joyful revelation. I love the lack of rhythmic variation, because it focuses my ear on the 12 chromatic tones. But music isn’t about keeping a scorecard. The music makes me experience that part of me that is uncertain, tentative, afraid to reach out and give her a call. This feeling isn’t unique, either. Bach’s student Kirnberger, described the work as “despairing” and “full of doubt.” Was Bach spurred to do this based on the same intellectual curiosity Schoenberg displayed? Or was it more Bach’s connection to the laws of nature, science, alchemy, spirituality, universal harmony? How would music’s evolution have changed if someone with Schoenberg’s. intellect had been in the audience as Bach premiered this particular fugue? It is interesting to note that while Bach may have championed ideas that are far more associated with Schoenberg, Schoenberg certainly loved Bach, and he completed orchestral transcriptions of Bach works late in life.
Regardless of who the true innovators were, I subscribe to the notion that all music is tonal. Atonality has rules, but (I would argue) those rules are not, in and of themselves, enough to destroy the tonal relationship among the 12 tones. Our ears crave resolution, they have what Leonard Bernstein called a “nostalgic yearning for the deep structures implied by, indeed inherent in, these notes.”
Which brings me back to that Bach fugue. It’s not just a musical expression of uncertainty. At some point, it feels like Bach is opening the universe to us, giving us a choice as to which level to live our lives on, and asking us to consider our personal challenges in a number of different ways. That atonalism can be a musical tool spurring so much emotional connection and information is not lost on Bach. We 21st century listeners tend to pat ourselves on the back — we like to believe. that in the 20th century we discovered atonality, and now we have the consciousnes and. confidence to return to tonality but with some new compositional tools. Well, guess again, because Bach had that level of consciousness. several hundred years ago. (And by the way, I can cite similar examples in the music of Mozart and Beethoven, among others.) But what is even wilder is the fact that Bach’s fugue points the way towards a level of atonal expressiveness that eluded quite a few composers during the entire 20th century. Bach, once again, is a portal to the past, present and future. A portal to, ultimately, musical truth.
