Atonality, in music, the absence of the system of harmonic relationships called tonality. In tonal music, which makes use of diatonic scales, one tone is treated as a center of gravity toward which the others are attracted by varying strengths. In atonal music all tones are treated as though they were of equal strength. Atonality is one of the main currents in 20th-century music. The major proponents of atonal music include Austrian composers Alban Berg and Anton Webern, and Austrian-born composer Arnold Schoenberg. Schoenberg developed the twelve-tone method of musical composition, which brought a formal organization to atonal music.
