This study introduces the concept of spatial acquisition and demonstrates its applicability to the analysis of twelve-tone music. This concept was inspired by Krzysztof Penderecki’s dis-tinctly spatial approach to twelve-tone composition in his Passion According to St. Luke. In the most basic terms, the theory of spatial acquisition is based on an understanding of the cycle of twelve pitch classes as contiguous units rather than discrete points. Utilizing this theory, one can track the gradual acquisition of pitch-class space by a twelve-tone row as each of its member pitch classes appears in succession, noting the patterns that the pitch classes exhibit in the process in terms of directionality, the creation and filling in of gaps, and the like.
The first part of this study is an explanation of spatial acquisition theory, while the second part comprises analyses covering portions of seven varied twelve-tone works. The result of these analyses is a deeper understanding of each twelve-tone row’s composition and how each row’s spatial characteristics are manifested on the musical surface.