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 Serial
Composition and Atonality : An Introduction to the Music of Schoenberg,
Berg, and Webern by George Perle
As far as
I can tell, George Perle's books are the only ones that really
come to grips with atonality. Others are either 1) simplistic
glosses, 2) pieces of propaganda, or 3) attempts to impress or
intimidate the reader (so as to entrench their authors in academia).
Having heard one of George Perle's piano sonatas on the radio
the other day and once a string quartet of his in concert, I can
testify that he is himself a first-rate composer, and isn't it
better to read the works of one who has an artistic stake in his
subject?
However, for
a contrasting point of view, I also recommend--with reservations--"Milton
Babbitt: Words about Music", edited by Stephen Dembski. Like
George Perle, Milton Babbitt is a prominent serialist composer.
As it happens, I'm not a particular fan of his music, and I think
his analyses tend miss the substance of the music he analyzes,
but he is an influential, articulate, and intelligent exponent
worth hearing out. -- anonymous review (Amazon.com)
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