Bagatelle Without Tonality

The "Bagatelle Without Tonality" is a late work by Franz Liszt, a renowned Hungarian composer and piano virtuoso. This piece is notable for its experimental nature, anticipating the breakdown of traditional tonality.1

Tonality in music refers to the organization of musical elements around a central key or tonic. In contrast, atonality, as seen in Liszt's "Bagatelle Without Tonality," abandons this central reference point. This style uses the 12 tones of the chromatic scale without prioritizing any single note, creating a sense of harmonic freedom. Liszt's exploration of atonality in this piece foreshadowed developments in 20th-century music by composers like Arnold Schoenberg.231