Klangfarbenmelodie

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Klangfarbenmelodie (Ger.). Melody of tone colours. Term introduced by Schoenberg in his Harmonielehre (1911) to describe the contrasts in timbre which he introduced in the 3rd of his 5 Orchestral Pieces (1909) and which now constitute a structural element in modern comp. comparable in importance with pitch, duration, etc. Further explorations into the possibilities of melodic construction with points of tone colour were carried out by Webern.