# Favorite mysterious-sounding atonal music?



## Chordalrock (Jan 21, 2014)

My list would be something like:

Unsuk Chin: piano concerto
Unsuk Chin: double concerto for piano and percussion
Xenakis: Oophaa (well, the harpsichord part anyway)
Xenakis: Komboi (parts)
Currier: Time Machines (parts)
Bartok: Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta - Adagio
Bartok: some stuff in the string quartets
Hilding Rosenberg: late string quartets (parts)
Messiaen: several pieces and passages

I wish I could think of more without qualifying them in some fashion...


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Chordalrock said:


> My list would be something like:
> 
> Unsuk Chin: piano concerto
> Unsuk Chin: double concerto for piano and percussion
> ...


Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire. It's the most terrifying representation of madness that I've ever heard--and I love it!

It's mostly atonal, but it includes one tonal song (which is somehow more disturbing than the atonal sections).


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

I'd put Scriabin's last two sonatas on the list.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Schoenberg's _Erwartung_, the original mysterious-sounding atonal piece, was probably never surpassed.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Bartok MSPC atonal? Huh. Must get my ears checked.


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## jailhouse (Sep 2, 2016)

biased because I'm listening to him right now, but I'll say Penderecki's St. Luke's Passion. Entirely atonal, besides 2 major chords that basically sound like Armageddon is about to happen


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## Retyc (May 10, 2016)

Chordalrock said:


> My list would be something like:
> 
> Unsuk Chin: piano concerto
> Unsuk Chin: double concerto for piano and percussion
> ...


I'm not really familiar with Rosenberg's repertoire yet. Which ones are considered "late"?


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

The best examples of "mysterious" sounding atonal are, for me, George Crumb's Variations, Dallapiccola, and Maderna's "Quadrivium."


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

The first thing that comes to mind for me is Webern's _6 Pieces For Orchestra_.


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## Chordalrock (Jan 21, 2014)

EdwardBast said:


> Bartok MSPC atonal? Huh. Must get my ears checked.


I'm no expert and I don't have relative pitch, so I also won't trouble myself over what is or isn't atonal and in what sense. I threw in the word 'atonal' in the description to give people some general direction in as few words as I could regarding the kind of 'sound' I'm looking for. It's not an absolute hard-and-fast rule or even something I'd bother defining.

EDIT: Also, I was only talking about the Adagio, not the whole work.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Another favorite


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## Chordalrock (Jan 21, 2014)

Retyc said:


> I'm not really familiar with Rosenberg's repertoire yet. Which ones are considered "late"?


I'm not sure, actually. 5 to 12? You can try any of the last six or so. The complete string quartets are on Spotify.


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## Myriadi (Mar 6, 2016)

A lot of Feldman, particularly the late piano pieces _Triadic Memories _and _Palais de mari_, or things like _Bass Clarinet and Percussion_. Also, many orchestral pieces by Scelsi such as _Anahit_, _Pfhat_, pretty much anything from the famed Wyttenbach set.


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## Chordalrock (Jan 21, 2014)

millionrainbows said:


> The best examples of "mysterious" sounding atonal are, for me, George Crumb's Variations, Dallapiccola, and Maderna's "Quadrivium."


Enjoying the Maderna. I wasn't aware of him, nice one.


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## JamieHoldham (May 13, 2016)

The introduction for Mozart's String Quartet No.19 is one of the very few "atonal" pieces I enjoy, and he was ahead of his time here I feel. Although not strictly atonal the dissonance gives it the feel out being out of key.


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## Chordalrock (Jan 21, 2014)

Myriadi said:


> A lot of Feldman, particularly the late piano pieces _Triadic Memories _


How do you view this piece intellectually? To me it sounds kind of like low-effort improvisation. I somehow find it hard to take it very seriously (at least so far - haven't listened to the whole 80 minutes of it)...


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Chordalrock said:


> I'm no expert and I don't have relative pitch, so I also won't trouble myself over what is or isn't atonal and in what sense. I threw in the word 'atonal' in the description to give people some general direction in as few words as I could regarding the kind of 'sound' I'm looking for. It's not an absolute hard-and-fast rule or even something I'd bother defining.
> 
> EDIT: Also, I was only talking about the Adagio, not the whole work.


I wasn't being critical or getting technical. It just never struck me that way, and I did pause to think, hence "Huh." I agree the Adagio comes closest.


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## Myriadi (Mar 6, 2016)

Chordalrock said:


> How do you view this piece intellectually? To me it sounds kind of like low-effort improvisation. I somehow find it hard to take it very seriously (at least so far - haven't listened to the whole 80 minutes of it)...


Works purely as a mood setting device for me, actually. I've read some of Feldman's writings and I can respect his attitude and interests, but can't share them, most of the time.

Remembering your interest in polyphony, I think you'd find Scelsi a bit more stimulating intellectually - there's a lot going on, and a lot of it barely perceptible, but it's happening nevertheless and is exciting to hear and feel the impact of.


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## Autocrat (Nov 14, 2014)

Ligeti, _Requiem_. Or _Lux Aeterna_. Yes I know my answer for favourite nearly everything is Ligeti but it just is.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Mysterious sounding can mean different things. I would say Scelsi's Uaxuctum.

Edit: I guess this may not technically be atonal although it's clearly not tonal.


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## Chordalrock (Jan 21, 2014)

mmsbls said:


> Mysterious sounding can mean different things. I would say Scelsi's Uaxuctum.
> 
> Edit: I guess this may not technically be atonal although it's clearly not tonal.


My list of works in the OP is partially to be taken as an act of defining the boundaries of this thread, though I'm also interested in seeing what people mention when I'm not being super explicit about that.


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## ST4 (Oct 27, 2016)

millionrainbows said:


> The best examples of "mysterious" sounding atonal are, for me, George Crumb's Variations, Dallapiccola, and Maderna's "Quadrivium."


I'm glad you mentioned them, they're both very important yet neglected composers. That Maderna piece is a favorite of mine


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## Adam Weber (Apr 9, 2015)




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## ahinton (Nov 8, 2016)

EdwardBast said:


> Bartok MSPC atonal? Huh. Must get my ears checked.


There's quite a lot of other music mentioned in this thread whose alleged "atonality" is highly questionable; likewise, mysteriousness is in the ear of the beholder...


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

JamieHoldham said:


> The introduction for Mozart's String Quartet No.19 is one of the very few "atonal" pieces I enjoy, and he was ahead of his time here I feel. Although not strictly atonal the dissonance gives it the feel out being out of key.


Very interesting. I wasn't familiar with this quartet. I agree that it's dissonance, not atonal. It strikes me as the same category of dissonance as in LVB's Grosse Fugue.


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## Geeber (Nov 8, 2016)

Yes, Scelsi was the first composer that came to my mind...


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