The absence of a tonal center or key in music, where no single pitch serves as a point of harmonic resolution. This creates a floating, unresolved quality that avoids traditional harmonic expectations.
From Greek a- 'without' and tonality, literally meaning 'without tone center.' The term was coined in the early 20th century to describe the radical departure from traditional tonal music by composers like Schoenberg.
Atonality was music's great liberation movement - like abstract art freeing painting from realistic representation, atonal composers like Schoenberg freed music from the 'tyranny' of traditional harmony, though audiences took decades to warm up to this brave new sonic world!
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