Retrograde inversion is a
musical term that literally means "backwards and upside down": "The inverse of the series is sounded in reverse order." Retrograde reverses the order of the motive's pitches: what was the first pitch becomes the last, and vice versa. This is a technique used in music, specifically in
twelve-tone technique, where the inversion and
retrograde techniques are performed on the same
tone row successively, "[t]he inversion of the prime series in reverse order from last pitch to first."