[zozbot234]

> for removing natural tonality from a composition

Of course, nothing stops you from using the "removing natural tonality" trick in a way that's ultimately subordinate to broader tonal goals. For instance, a small tone row fragment can be used to set surprising tonal expectations and cleanly modulate to any key - even in a completely monophonic piece with no background harmony! It's just supposed to be a horizontal composing-out of some arbitrary set of notes, but this is also what makes it work within tonality as a pivot point.

(And if the atonal fragment can be snuck in initially as a melodic "variation" of motivic material from the piece, it needn't even surprise the listener as such - until, that is, they find themselves listening in a completely different key area and have to wonder "wait, how did that twist work?")

[grotted]

Shostakovich did this a lot in his later work. His violin sonata starts with a long slow atonal dirge, then suddenly slinks into this little tonal waltz. It gives a “haunted music box” vibe that I absolutely love.