John Weinzweig - Use of Serialism

Use of Serialism

Weinzweig’s move toward serialism was not a complete transition; he was very selective and deliberate in which principles he chose to adopt. While he acknowledged that Schoenberg’s influence on the musical world was powerful, he was not particularly taken with Schoeberg’s music and preferred that of composers such as Berg and Webern. His attraction to serialism was not the same as that of its Viennese founders. Since he was not taught strictly using tonality in his early education, he did not feel the need to rebel and use serialism simply as a means to avoid tonality. While he often employed the techniques used by Stravinsky, Bartók, Copland and Varèse, he did not teach these methods to his students exclusively.

The way in which Weinzweig used a 12-tone row in his compositions differed from the traditional method. He would use the row as a motivic invention and develop that motive in a neoclassical manner, treating it more like a theme than a means of tonal organization. The row typically remains identifiable throughout the piece but is not limited by strict serial procedures.