dissonant counterpoint

Technique developed by the US composer Charles Seeger and espoused by, amongst others, Ruth Crawford and Carl Ruggles. In dissonant counterpoint, the traditional definitions of dissonant and consonant intervals are reversed, so that the composer deliberately avoids using traditionally consonant intervals (thirds, fourths, fifths, and sixths) except as passing harmonies. The technique seeks to replace the traditional rules of counterpoint, rather than extending them in the manner of Schoenberg's atonal works.