If the ideas set forth in the theory of relativity,
in that of wave mechanics, and in the quantum theory are to be accepted
as characteristic of the intellectual attitude of our time, it should be
interesting to study analogous expressions in atonality. The first and
most striking example is found in the concept of twelve-tone music, which
shows interesting relations to the thoughts active in modern physical science.
This does not mean that twelve-tone music has assimilated physics, or has
turned into a new kind of mathematical operation. The example merely connotes
similarities in habits of feeling, viewing, and thinking.
Ernst Krenek
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