The technique of twelve-tone serialism was developed by Schoenberg to give structure to atonal compositions. The writer was interested in the fact that Dallapiccola’s twelve-tone compositions, as with Berg’s, were easier received by the general public than the works of other serial composers of the time. The reason being that his twelve-tone rows contain tonal elements. The boundaries of the field of study were determined in chapter 1. Terminology and problems encountered with the study were also discussed. To be able to analyse the tonal aspects of Dallapiccola’s rows, the basic outlines of tonality were clearly defined in chapter 2. It was found that tonal suggestions could be achieved by means of using: * tones that form part of a diatonic scale, * explicit triads, * implicit triads, * scale constructions and * tones that outline the tonic. The different types of twelve-tone rows were discussed and illustrated by means of music examples in chapter 3. A list of published works as well as a short discussion of each composition followed in chapter 4. Mention was made whether a work was tonal, atonal or a twelve-tone composition and Dallapiccola’s use of serial procedures in each composition was discussed. Chapter 5 showed where and how the above criteria were used in his rows. The study thus provides evidence that Dallapiccola had tonal references in mind when planning the rows and that tonal suggestions are common in his works. The twelve-tone rows often employ three, four or five of the criteria of implied tonality in a composition. Of the five criteria, tones that form part of a diatonic scale was used the most. This was discussed with all the rows, except Il prigioniero (row of hope) and Cinque frammenti di Saffo’s first and second tone rows. Dallapiccola used tones to outline the tonic in thirty one twelve-tone rows. Implicit triads were used in all but six works. Scale constructions appeared in nineteen works and Dallapiccola’s love for using a few chromatic notes or three consecutive notes of the implied major scale became apparent. Explicit triads only appeared in thirteen compositions. In the other rows, Dallapiccola created a tonal sense by means of other criteria or had a more chromatic approach. Dallapiccola thus used tonal references in the tone rows of his serial compositions and showed that twelve-tone tonality could be used to create a lyrical idiom. In this way the people that were trained in the tonal school could also appreciate twelve-tone compositions. In the opera Il prigioniero, it is especially evident that the Italian tradition of lyricism and dramatic intensity do exist after verismo composers (Morris 1999:257). / Dissertation (MMus(Performing Art))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Music / unrestricted

In this mini-dissertation the writer analyzed Hubert du Plessis’ Drie Stukke vir Fluit en Klavier, opus 25. He researched why Du Plessis uses three shorter series of different lengths. The relationship between the series in this work was researched, as well as the characteristic applications of the series. It was found that Du Plessis uses shorter series of different lengths as his compositional tool, because they are manageable and can be manipulated for any specific requirement or need. With fewer notes in a series, if chromatic notes are avoided, the music will lean itself to an impression of tonality. It is interesting for the researcher how the feeling of tonality was portrayed through the use of different series and hence the given dissertation was researched. In true atonal music, composers usually disregard third and halftone intervals. Yet, tritones are often used in atonal music. In retrospect, Du Plessis uses more third and halftone intervals than tritones. There is only one tritone in this work (found in the second series), as opposed to the use of third and halftone intervals throughout all three series. The feeling of tonality is further enhanced through fragments of the series that one can place in a specific key. With this in mind, it is evident to get the impression of tonality as a result of fragmentation from the series. Another aspect of tonality that cannot be ignored was the composer’s use of bitonality. The serial techniques that Du Plessis used, was also researched. It was found that Du Plessis did not make use of any new innovations. All these techniques were already used by composers like Schoenberg, Berg, Webern and Dallapiccola. The most important techniques that Du Plessis used, were: <ul> <li>The use of all the forms of the series and their transpositions</li> <li>Overlapping series (that is when the last note of the series, becomes the first note of the next series)</li> <li>Combination of series (superimposition)</li> <li>The dividing of series between the instruments</li> <li>The repetition of notes in a series before all the notes have been used</li> <Li>Sometimes notes are put in a different order, thereby losing the correct order of the series.</li></ul> / Dissertation (MMus)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Music / unrestricted