Abstract/Summary

Although literature identifies a repertoire of constructive and defensive responses to paradox, the problem of overcoming dissonance remains. While a both-and response at the individual or collective level is desirable, individuals encountering paradoxes will likely respond defensively, separating tensions into either-or poles. Insight into how individuals can work with tension created by dissonance is limited. Musical composition may have something to share. Since the Renaissance, composers have exposed listeners to constructively responding to tension through increasingly dissonant music. Arnold Schönberg’s dodecaphonic (twelve-tone) system emancipates the constraints of dissonance, reducing listeners’ resistance and developing a connoisseur’s appreciation of structural incompatibilities.