ABSTRACT
The American composer George Perle (1915–2009) has been developing a consistent theory of post-diatonic music since 1939, the significance of which lies in the growth toward a new kind of tonal system and a new means of progression. Perle felt that, during the early stages of development, his new harmonic principles had served sufficiently in the organization of his small-scale compositional structures, but it was only in 1960, with the Fifth String Quartet and Three Movements for Orchestra, that he made his first major breakthrough in the application of the system toward large-scale harmonic and tonal integration. While Perle’s theoretical formulations have certain historical connections to the twelve-tone music of the Viennese composers, of which his writings are well known, his formulations also have fundamental connections to the nonserial compositions of Debussy, Scriabin, Stravinsky, Bartók, and Varèse.
