atonal
Music that lacks a tonal centre or key, treating all twelve chromatic notes as equal.
In Depth
Atonality emerged in the early 20th century as composers like Arnold Schoenberg pushed chromaticism beyond the point where any note felt like home. In atonal music, traditional harmonic relationships — dominant to tonic, tension to resolution — are deliberately avoided, creating a floating, unanchored sound.
Schoenberg later formalised atonality into the twelve-tone technique, where all twelve notes of the chromatic scale must be used before any can be repeated. This system influenced generations of composers including Berg, Webern, Boulez, and Stockhausen. While atonal music remains challenging for many listeners, it opened up vast new expressive territories.
When Schoenberg's atonal music was first performed in Vienna in 1913, a riot broke out in the concert hall — punches were thrown and the police were called.