# Can anyone recommend works/composers that combine tonal and atonal music?



## evangelist1 (Apr 28, 2019)

Schoenberg: Verklarte Nacht being one example. Any others? Thanks.


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## Guest (Jun 11, 2019)

Actually I'd say Verklarte Nacht is "tonal" although the Chamber Symphonies are closer to mixing tonal and atonal.

Hindemith, Penderecki, Lutoslawski, Holmboe, Darius Milhaud (polytonal), Egon Wellesz, Benjamin Frankel are favorites of mine that might meet your criterion.


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## evangelist1 (Apr 28, 2019)

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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)




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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

Dutilleux, Lutoslawski, Messiaen, Milhaud, Villa-Lobos, Varese, Lindberg (Magnus)... composers who emerged as radicals but aged well and found large audiences... 

And try the string quartets by Schoenberg and Zemlinsky as well, if it's the Viennese sound you want...


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## arthro (Mar 12, 2013)

there are frameworks for this, particularly programme music and film music. Danger. threats, fear are all portrayed let's say dissonantly, while comfort, relaxation,etc are usually very conventionally tonal. 

This has been going for some time: storms for example would be a good point to introduce less conventionally tonal stuff. Also if you want to describe chaos confusion. There's a storm in Beethoven's Pastoral, and it may have sounded less conventional tonal then, but not now.

In a nutshell, I'd go for anything that depicts weather patterns.


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## paulbest (Apr 18, 2019)

Tonal/atonal/semi atonal/polytonalism/hyper-tonalism...its all there...
This is characteristic of all Henze's worjks but here its stark contrasts and then blends,,,pulling apart, reconnecting, evolving.
People *got* Schoenberg a lot faster than Henze...now why is this?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

paulbest said:


> Tonal/atonal/semi atonal/polytonalism/hyper-tonalism...its all there...
> This is characteristic of all Henze's worjks but here its stark contrasts and then blends,,,pulling apart, reconnecting, evolving.
> *People *got* Schoenberg a lot faster than Henze...now why is this?*


Maybe because in Schoenberg's music "it" _isn't _"all there." Stravinsky said that art thrives on limits.


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## Alfacharger (Dec 6, 2013)

Charles Koechlin "Les Bandar-log" from the Jungle Book. Serial too!


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## paulbest (Apr 18, 2019)

I like this Koechlin piece,,,hopefully it does not stop there...Great find,,,it was many decades ago, I heard a a Koechlin piece and always had him at the back of my mind,,,not sure why I did not follow up,,,guess hardly no one mentioned him, and that was that.

EDIT...
I'm back rather quickly with this NEWS FLASH

David,, made a comment on his amzon review/Koechlin orch works. 
*interesting stuff,,,however ,,,none all that memorable...*…3 generous stars,,,,
I'll pass, ….pity,

https://www.amazon.com/Orchestral-R...=koechlin+cds&qid=1560297965&s=gateway&sr=8-1


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## CrunchyFr0g (Jun 11, 2019)

Schnittke Symphony No 1.
Tonal; atonal; baroque; classical; jazz. It's a wonderfully mad mixture of everything


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

paulbest said:


> I like this Koechlin piece,,,hopefully it does not stop there...Great find,,,it was many decades ago, I heard a a Koechlin piece and always had him at the back of my mind,,,not sure why I did not follow up,,,guess hardly no one mentioned him, and that was that.
> 
> EDIT...
> I'm back rather quickly with this NEWS FLASH
> ...


Never a good idea to let one man's opinion guide your own judgments. As you know well, some composers are unfairly scorned by the masses when in reality their music has much to offer. As for Koechlin, I've only heard a few pieces by him. They're all good, and they could well be the only interesting pieces he ever wrote. But I'd have no way to tell until I hear some more of them.

In any case, that CD set is a steal. Thanks for the link, adding this to my list.

Re: OP, check out Penderecki's 2nd violin concerto and other late music.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

CrunchyFr0g said:


> Schnittke Symphony No 1.
> Tonal; atonal; baroque; classical; jazz. It's a wonderfully mad mixture of everything


Chocolate covered with bones? Welcome.

Yeah, lots of Schnittke fits the bill.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Rochberg's String Quartet No.3


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

To me, nobody combined both like Prokofiev did.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

Rautavaara's symphonies -- 3, 4 and 5 atonal, 7 "Angel of Light" famously tonal


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## Guest (Jun 15, 2019)

In addition to others previously mentioned, one of my favourite "atonal" composers was Nikos Skalkottas. He was a member of the Second Viennese School and a disciple of Schoenberg. He wrote a lot of music much of which has been lost. Much of what has survived is quite accessible, and is a kind of mixture of tonal and atonal. It's easy to get absorbed into this kind of music after a short while listening. His Double Bass Concerto (AK 27) is fairly typical of his orchestral output, and his Concertino for Oboe & Piano (AK 28) of his chamber works. Both of these should both be available on Spotify or similar for testing to see if this kind of material appeals.


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