Optional Listening: An example of atonal, and "serial" (12-tone) music by Arnold Schoenberg, which he composed in 1930: ACCOMPANIMENT TO A FILM SCENE, Op. 34 : Concert performance (Boulez, BBCSO, 1974 broadcast). The music was written as a score for an imaginary silent film (although by 1930, silent films were quickly becoming obsolete). It is in three segments, marked with these headings: "Threatening Danger"—"Fear"—"Catastrophe." But the piece runs without a pause and lasts a terse 8 minutes. It is a useful and concise introduction to the modernist style that became far more common in concert and film music during the post-World War II period.

• Optional Listening: An example of atonal, and "serial" (12-tone) music by Arnold Schoenberg, which he composed in 1930: ACCOMPANIMENT TO A FILM SCENE, Op. 34 : Concert performance (Boulez, BBCSO, 1974 broadcast). The music was written as a score for an imaginary silent film (although by 1930, silent films were quickly becoming obsolete). It is in three segments, marked with these headings: "Threatening Danger"—"Fear"—"Catastrophe." But the piece runs without a pause and lasts a terse 8 minutes. It is a useful and concise introduction to the modernist style that became far more common in concert and film music during the post-World War II period.