The Evolution of Twelve-Note Music
Oliver Neighbour · Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association · 1954
There has been a tendency to treat twelve-note music as an isolated phenomenon. This is appropriate in a close study of its structural features and musical purpose, but we shall be in a better position to ask the right questions about its origin and influence if we take into account other music which shows parallel developments. Such a preliminary enquiry may affect our view of its nature and historical significance, and my subject is this first step: less the evolution of twelve-note music than its place in the general evolution of music at about the time of its emergence.