noun
- composers or musicians who create or perform atonal music, which lacks a traditional tonal center or key
Usage: music theory
Examples
- The atonalists of the early 20th century revolutionized classical music.
- Schoenberg and his students were prominent atonalists who developed twelve-tone technique.
- Many listeners found the works of atonalists challenging and difficult to understand.
- The concert featured pieces by several modern atonalists.
- Critics debated whether the atonalists had destroyed or liberated music from traditional harmony.
- Some atonalists later returned to more traditional compositional methods.