Cliff Crego's blog, whitebark—
Notes scratched into a stonepine snag, open to the light, clear air . . .
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09/29/11
WHY A-TONALITY IS NOT POSSIBLE
Filed under: General
Posted by: @ 4:25 pm

What we think of as tonality in Music is
perhaps nothing more than a confused concept about
how sounds are centered in Space.

Like a tree which reaches from root to crown, suspended
between earth and open sky, sounds move to naturally
center themselves in a dynamic web of relationships.

Implied in this is that what has been called a-tonal
music simply cannot or does not exist.

At the same time, it must be said that much music has
indeed been written that lacks strong, clear, articulate
centers.

Trying to find one’s way in such music is much like
the exasperating experience of trying to navigate on
foot through prototypically featureless urban landscapes.

Who does not know this feeling, when offered no
center, of being lost before the very beginning?

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