All three were extremely sensitive to unusual, subtle tone
color. Avoiding the mass effects of the late romantic orchestra, they
sought sounds at the top and bottom of instrumental ranges and were
fascinated by flutter tonguing and mutes for the brass instruments, as
well as harmonies and glissandos for the strings. Instruments such as
the celesta and xylophone were raised to positions of great importance.

This extreme sensitivity to tone color as well as the fragmen-
tary quality of their melodies and the freedom with which they
treated dissonances make for interesting points of contact with the
music of Debussy. The French composer is objective and cool, while
these composers are subjective and burning, but the sound worlds
they inhabit are not totally disassociated. Most of the composers of
the time were faced with the problem of writing music without the
structure provided by major-minor tonality. It is not surprising that
their various solutions were similar at times.

The bibliography of Schoenberg will be found at the end of Chapter
X, and that of Berg and Webern in Chapter XI.

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