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There are many issues with the analysis of music using pitch-class sets—some generic to many forms of analysis, some more specifically relevant to set theory. The flexibility of set theory is a double-edged sword.
16 lip 2023 · As we’ve seen in class, one very interesting way of looking at a lot of post-tonal music is by studying the transpositional and inversional relationships between pitch-class sets. In the short example below (from Bartók’s “Subject and Reflection”) you’ll notice that the right hand of the two passages is T5 -related, as is the left-hand.
Below are lists of all set classes with prime form, Forte number, and interval vectors shown. Allen Forte published the original list of set classes in The Structure of Atonal Music in 1973. These lists use prime forms as calculated using the Rahn method.
A set class (an abbreviation of pitch-class-set class) in music theory is an ascending collection of pitch classes, transposed to begin at zero. For a list of ordered collections, see: list of tone rows and series. Sets are listed with links to their complements. The prime form of unsymmetrical sets is marked "A".
A set is any unordered group of unique (no-repeats) pitch classes. For example, D, F, A# is (2, 5, T). To transpose a set up by n half steps, add n to each pitch class in the set. To transpose a set down by n half steps, subtract n from each pitch class in the set.
Set theory is the analytical technique we will use to analyze expressionist music. The primary composers associated with expressionism are Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951), Anton Webern (1883–1945), and Alban Berg (1885–1935).
