atonalism

plural atonalisms

1. uncountableusuallyThe school of atonal musical composition

   As a young composer, he wandered for years in the desert of atonalism and then, following the example of John Cage, he detoured through the wilderness of music based on an aesthetic of randomness and anarchy.

   2008 October 8, Charles Mcgrath, “Musical Odyssey: Circus Marches as a Boy, Grand, Topical Operas as a Man”, in New York Times

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   No matter how melodramatic the story behind the music might be, most audiences won't buy atonalism; Arnold Schoenberg could have been devoured by escaped circus tigers while he was finishing the Variations for Orchestra and it would still get booed off the stage.

   1998 February 27, Lee Sandlin, “Over Powered”, in Chicago Reader