Whole Tone Harmony and Form

Hi, I've been working on a whole tone scale assignment for class and I have a few questions hopefully someone can answer.

First, since all tones are equal, does harmonic progression matter?

Secondly, how would you write a period if V-I doesn't work any longer? Or any other functional harmony?

Thanks

I don't know much about writing music entirely in whole tones, but I think that you would pretty much have to abandon writing specific chord progressions. I think you should experiment and create a melody that uses whole tones and use that as a jumping-point for the harmony.

I would also suggest looking at a few Debussy works that use whole tone scales (he basically invented them). The only piece that comes to mind is his 'Voiles' or 'Sails.'

Cadences tend to be more melodic than harmonic. Try to get a melody that sounds like it comes to and end by returning to an oft repeated note and using rhythm that gives the feeling of coming to a stop.

Cadences tend to be more melodic than harmonic. Try to get a melody that sounds like it comes to and end by returning to an oft repeated note and using rhythm that gives the feeling of coming to a stop.

It depends on whether you're talking about the "whole tone scale" or 12-tone writing - they're quite different things. For the former, check works by Debussy, Bartok and

First, since all tones are equal, does harmonic progression matter?

What do you mean "harmonic progression"? There is certainly "harmonic" progression in Schoenberg's Chamber Concert No.1 or his Ode to Napoleon, Op.41 - or Murail's "Winter Fragments", but it's not going to be the same "harmonic progression" you get in, say, Mozart or Schumann.

Secondly, how would you write a period if V-I doesn't work any longer?

How did people write a period before V-I was "invented"/used/established? How can there exist "periods" in classical indian Raga music without V-I? Or in music from Ghana?

The "V-I" cadence is not something that people "invented" so that they could have musical periods - it's something that emerged out of compositional development and "tonal progress" from the Renaissance to (arguably) Haydn.

There are a lot of other elements that can indicate change in structure or section (phrases, periods, sentences etc) other than just harmony (vertical occurrences) - there's voice leading (linear motion), dynamics, texture, register, tempo, instrumentation among others. Check pieces such as Debussy's String Quartet (first movement) (generally Debussy's works, especially the later ones), Bartok's 3rd movement from his Concerto for Orchestra, his Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, or his String Quartet No.5, check Schoenberg's Chamber Concerto, Berg's Violin Concerto, Mahler's 10th Symphony, Palestrina's "Missa Brevis", and Leonin's works to see how people have managed to signify "sentences" or "periods" without the use of (strictly speaking) V-I. Also, Bartok's 5th String Quartet and Debussy's "Voiles" from his 1st book of Preludes for piano use the whole-tone scale extensively, so I think it would be very beneficial to study them (scores can be found on IMSLP for both of them).