Serialism

Serialism emerged in the early 20th century, particularly in the 1920s, as composers realised that strict numerical patterns could create music with all the warmth of a spreadsheet. Characterised by the absence of traditional melody and harmony, it sounds a bit like your computer having an existential crisis; one moment it’s calculating, and the next, it’s muttering something incomprehensible. Fascinatingly, whilst it's not likely to top the charts, Serialism has influenced a whole host of genres and has at least one fan in the realm of avant-garde performance art (or so they say).