Invariance (music)
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In music using the twelve tone technique invariance describes the portions of rows which have been so designed that they remain invariant under the allowable transformations (inversion, retrograde, retrograde-inversion, multiplication). George Perle describes their use as "pivots" or non-tonal ways of emphasizing certain pitches. Invariant rows are also combinatorial.
Variance in musical data is not an all-or-nothing property, but rather a quantitative variable. All data is to some extent invariant, and the emphasis in implementation can be oriented towards enhancing or limiting the variance/invariance regardless of the starting germs.
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