Order (music)

Principal forms of Anton Webern's tone row from Variations for piano, op. 27, movement 2.^[1][2]  Play 

In music, order is the specific arrangement of a set of discrete entities, or parameters, such as pitch, dynamics, or timbre.

Order is particularly important in the theories of compositional techniques originating in the 20th century such as the twelve-tone technique and serialism. Analytical techniques such as set theory take care to distinguish between ordered and unordered collections. In traditional theory concepts such voicing and form include ordering. For example, many musical forms, such as rondo, are defined by the order of their sections.

See also

• Order (mathematics)
• Permutation (music)
• Retrograde (music)

References

1. Nolan, Catherine. 1995. "Structural Levels and Twelve-Tone Music: A Revisionist Analysis of the Second Movement of Webern's 'Piano Variations Op. 27'", p.49–50. Journal of Music Theory, Vol. 39, No. 1 (Spring), pp. 47–76. For whome 0 = G♯.
2. Leeuw, Ton de. 2005. Music of the Twentieth Century: A Study of Its Elements and Structure, p.158. Translated from the Dutch by Stephen Taylor. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 90-5356-765-8. Translation of Muziek van de twintigste eeuw: een onderzoek naar haar elementen en structuur. Utrecht: Oosthoek, 1964. Third impression, Utrecht: Bohn, Scheltema & Holkema, 1977. ISBN 90-313-0244-9. For whom 0 = E♭.