Fugue Writing Twelve-tone Serial Techniques

The dissertation tempts to combine two elements contradictory in tonality sense: the traditional genre of fugue developed around Baroque times, and the modernistic composing technique of 12-note series created by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951).Nowadays, modernistic composers make efforts to transcend traditions, accordingly, more fugue compositions in 12-note series have emerged. All these composers of different countries and nationalities choose 12-note series as the main pitch material in composing traditional musical works. Theoretical research of composing techniques has not paid enough attention to 12-note series technique in fugue composition. However, some composers who adopt series tonality have been tempting to combine 12-note series and fugue, which approves to its scholastic value.The dissertation consists of an epilogue, five chapters in the body part and an ending conclusion. The epilogue includes for parts detailing in a literature review of the dissertation topic in China and abroad; grounding base, significance and innovation of the topic; necessity and practical importance of the topic; and writing plan and complementary measures of the dissertation research. The first chapter of the body part is a historical review of 12-note series and fugue; the second chapter deliberates on the issue of tonality in fugue composition; the third chapter analyzes different constitutive elements involved in 12-note series fugue composing; the forth part mainly explains the counterpointing techniques in 12-note series fugue composing; the fifth parts selects five atypical fugue works as study cases for theoretical demonstration. In the conclusion part, the author will explain the inner logic and abstractive expression of fugue thinking, as well as some personal understanding of 12-note series techniques.