serialism

se·ri·al·ism  (sîr--lzm)

n. Music

1. Serial compositions.

2. The theory or composition of serial music.

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seri·al·ist n.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

serialism - 20th century music that uses a definite order of notes as a thematic basis for a musical composition serial music music - an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner 12-tone music, 12-tone system, twelve-tone music, twelve-tone system - a type of serial music introduced by Arnold Schoenberg; uses a tone row formed by the twelve semitones of the chromatic scale (and inverted or backward versions of the row)