Wiki quote excerpt: "The basis for serial composition is Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, where the 12 notes of the basic chromatic scale are organized into a row. This "basic" row is then used to create permutations, that is,
rows derived from the basic set by reordering its elements. "
The Wikipedia description is much too narrow. Serialism originated with 12-tone rows, but has evolved and encompasses much more. The bold print above says it more accurately. You have established a
basic set and are building musical structures from it according to a set of rules. That's serialism.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Tulip
The wiki quotes serialist composer Karlheinz Stockhausen: I don't know if anyone has taken Stockhausen up on this suggestion of finding serial patterns in constellations, but that is a very different project from my effort to depict the dynamics of the solar system. .
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Stockhausen's suggestion obviously goes beyond Schoenberg's rule-bound 12-tone technique. Serialism is no more limited to Shoenberg's original set of rules than modern composition is limited by Bach's rules of counterpoint.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Tulip
It is not about 'rationalizing' but choosing a time period, empirical inputs and parameters with which to depict them.
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I could not have stated a better definition of "rationalizing."
I'm wondering how you intend for a listener to derive information without some up-front knowledge of your musical encoding system. The tonal, dynamic, and rhythmic changes are meaningless unless the listener is provided some context: the composer's "basic set" and the rules by which it is ordered and reordered--and probably perfect pitch as well. The problem I see in the concept (if I'm understanding it correctly) is that your are trying to express empirical data through a medium that is ultimately (and almost exclusively) a medium for evoking emotion. You'll get some emotional response to the sound--for better or worse, but it will evoke no understanding of the solar system without a guidebook. I suggested the graphic accompanyment as one possible way to make the sound meaningful to the observer in the context you've set. But without some context to put it in (more than just titling it Music of the Spheres), it's just sound (that is not to say it won't be interesting sound).