ABSTRACT
Two opposing compositional tendencies, which stem from the early twentieth century, had reached their most intensive stage of polarization in the 1950s. With the move toward integral serialism, which was founded upon the precepts of total composer control over all aspects of the musical edifice, a reaction also led many of the same composers to consider the possibility of relinquishing rational control over both the generation and organization of the musical events. The historical factors that led to this schism are manifold. There has always been some degree of rhythmic, harmonic, and formal freedom for both the composer and the performer throughout earlier centuries, as manifested in the use of rubato or ad libitum indications, fermatas and grand pauses, improvisation in cadenza-like passages, realization of figured bass, and even the elimination of the barline resulting in metric freedom, as in keyboard fantasias of C. P. E. Bach.
