MUSI 1306 20th Century
Impresionism
musical style that stresses tone color, atmosphere, and fluidity, typical of Debussy (flourished 1890-1920)
glissando
rapid slide up or down a scale
Polyrhythm
use of two or more contrasting and independent rhythms at the same time, often found in music past 1900
Musical Quotation
works that make extensive use of quotations from earlier music; common since the mid- 1960s - the quoted material usually either conveys a symbolic meaning or is varied, transformed, and juxtaposed with other music
microtones
intervals smaller than half steps (may sound off key to Western ears) - composers such as Krzysztof Penderecki created sounds bordering on electronic noise through tone clusters - the directional aspect of sounds, how they are projected in space, has taken new importance
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)
Born in Vienna, Austrian composer (German composer) - work met hostility from the Viennese public - students Alan Berg and Anton Webern - twelve-tone system
Polystylism
The use of different styles or techniques in a musical composition
Harmony in 20th century music
"The emancipation of dissonance" Consonance and Dissonance - the tradition distinction between the two was abandoned in much music New Chord Structures - the triad is no longer fundamental - polychord - fourth chord
John Adams (music)
- American composer described as a post-minimalist - a conductor as well as a composer. - He has written works for orchestra, chorus, and opera. - He won the Pulitzer Prize for composition in 2003. - his music combines the driving pulse, constant repetition, and clear tonality of minimalism with lyrical, expressive melodies and varied orchestral colors - influenced by Stravinsky and Reich - directed at the New Music Ensemble in San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Schoenberg's Music
- Atonality, wrote music w/ no key center; dissonance is emancipated from the need to resolve to consonance; no single system of composition - The 12-tone system gives equal importance to all 12 pitches in the octave, pitches arranged in a sequence or row (tone row). - No pitch occurs more than once in the 12 note row in order to equalize emphasis of pitches.
Bela Bartok (1881-1945)
- Born in Hungary - taught piano at his alma mater, the Budapest Academy of Music - influence by Hungarian nationalist movement - became a leading authority in peasant music - Concerto for Orchestra his best known work
French Impressionist Painting
- Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, and Camille Pissarro had an exhibition in Paris. Impression: Sunrise - impressionist paintings were seen as formless collections of tiny colored patches - impressionist painters were concerned primarily with effects of light, color, and atmosphere with impermanence, change, and fluidity - impressionist obsessed with water
Stravinsky's Music
- Compositions of almost every kind, for voices, instruments, and the stage; and his innovations in rhythm, harmony, and tone color had an enormous influence - compositions call for very large orchestras and draw on Russian folklore and folk tunes - neoclassical works emphasize restraint, balance, and wit
Liberation of Sounds
- Edgar Varese came up with the term - composers may device new systems of music notation because standard notation makes no provision for many noise like sounds - traditional percussion instruments are struck with new types of beaters made of glass, metal, wood, and cloth
Debussy's Music part two
- Expanded harmonic vocabulary and practice, obscure harmony, tempo, meter, and rhythm. (revolutionary in musical impressionism) - used 3, 4, and 5 note chords - weakend tonality by avoiding chord progressions that would affirm a key - varied music
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
- French Impressionistic music composer - studied at the Paris Conservatory - pianist for Nadezhda von Meck - won the Prix de Rome (award given by the French government) - Prelude to the afternoon of a Faun; LaMer - opera Pelleas et Melisande
Music and Musicians in Society
- Music was now able to be recorded - It was now also widespread through radio (popular in the 1920s & the 30s) and television - Musicians came from everywhere, very inclusive - Musicians affected by political, economical, and social upheaval - WWII led to the largest migration of artist and intellectuals in history - Recorded music gave listeners a chance to listen to them over and over until they finally understood it.
Concerto for Orchestra: Game of Pairs Allegretto scherzando Second movement
- Neoclassicism - a game involving different pairs of woodwinds and brass instruments - melodic lines of each pair are in parallel motion and are separated by a distinctive pitch interval - incisive sound of a side drum is prominent throughout the movement; it plays syncopated solos at the beginning and the end, as well as in the hymnlike middle section
Short Ride in a Fast Machine (Adams) post minimalism
- Rapid tempo, rhythmic drive, powerful and colorful sonorities. - Spread by steady beats in the woodblock, and repeated orchestral chords - The climax comes with a fanfare-like melody in the trumpets - uses synthesizers within an orchestra - Use of percussion is a hallmark of the 20th c. music. - Irregular rhythm and rhythmic ostinato are also a hallmark of 20th-century music.
Rhythm and Form
- The concept of beat and form are abandoned - follow its own rules - little or no repetition
Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland (Neoclassism)
- This work is scored for a thirteen-member chamber orchestra - originated as a ballet score for Martha Graham - concerns a "pioneer celebration in spring around a newly built farmhouse in the Pennsylvania hills" - rhythm and melody suggest barn dances, fiddle tunes, and revival hymns - uses only one folk tune a Shaker melody titled Simple Gifts - bright and transparent
Pierre Lunaire Op. 21 Mondstrunken (Moonstruck Pierrot; 1912) Atonalism Schoenberg
- a cycle of twenty-one songs for female voice and an ensemble of five musicians who play eight instruments - based on weird poems by Belgian poet Albert Giraud - poems deal with the tragic clown puppet character Pierrot from the centuries-old commedia dell'arte (Italian improvised theater) - the cycle divides into three groups of seven songs that evoke a surrealistic night vision - eerie Sprechstimme, unique instrumental effect, and atonal musical language
Concerto for Orchestra Bela Bartok (1943) Neoclassicism
- a five-movement orchestral work composed. The 5 movements instead of 4 can be traced to Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique - Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitzky - This work is Tonal, and the expanded tonality uses Bi-tonality specifically - While this is called a Concerto, it is a Concerto Grosso, which uses Bach Brandenburg No 3. as a model, using each section in the orchestra, or more specifically, each wind and the brass section as the concertino or small group of soloists
Neoclassical
- back to Bach; neo-baroque - reacted against romanticism and impressionism - neoclassical composers turned away from program music - preferred absolute music and smaller music groups - favored polyphonic texture, composers wrote fugues, concerto Grossi, and baroque dance suites - tonal and used major and minor scales - harmony is different
Tone color of 20th century music
- became a very important element of music had a major role in creating variety, continuity, and mood - percussion became prominent and numerous, instruments such as xylophone, celesta, and woodblock - orchestral and chamber works often sound transparent; individual tone colors are heard clearly - less emphasis on blended sound
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
- born in Brooklyn, New York - Russian Jewish immigrant parents - leading American composer - Music for the Theater one of his jazz compositions - in the 30s it was high dissonant, sophisticated works
Charles Ives (1874-1954)
- born in Danbury, Connecticut - studied composition at Yale - became an insurance businessman - monumental Concord Sonata and 114 songs - first great composer from the U.S.
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
- born in Russia near St. Petersburg - studied with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - The Rite of Spring created riot with its pagan primitive, harsh dissonance, percussiveness, and pounding rhythm
William Grant Still (1895-1978)
- born in Woodville, Mississippi - grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas where he studied violin - Harlem Renaissance - Afro American Symphony: first composition by a black composer to be performed by a major American symphony orchestra - worked for publisher and composer W.C. Handy in Memphis and arranged his military marsh St. Louis Blues - studied with conservative George Whitefield Chadwick and modernist Edgard Varese - first African American to conduct a major symphony orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Alternative to the Traditional Tonal System
- central tonality had been weakened by rapid and frequent key shifts - compositions are often organized around a central chord other than the triad - musical phrases rounded off by chord progressions
Copland's music
- clear texture - drew on American folklore in his ballets such as Billy the Kid, Rodeo, and Appalachian Springs - slow moving harmonies often evoke the openness of American landscape - polyrhythm, polychords, changing meters, and percusiveness orchestration - used serial technique (manipulation of tone row or series)
Charles Ives' Music
- composition deeply rooted in the folk and popular music he knew as a boy: revival hymns, ragtime, village bands, church choirs, patriotic songs, and barn dances - inspired by unconventional features of American traditions - polyrhythm, polytonality and tone clusters - he often quotes snatches of familiar tunes - mild-sounding consonant chords and earslpitting dissonance
Musical style since 1945
- constant demand for novelty - in the 70s composers advocated stylistic pluralism and eclecticism: works include sections from baroque to rock - the internet provides composers with instant access to a limitless variety of music
Debussy's Music
- evoked fleeting moods and misty atmosphere as the titles of his works suggest - music sounds free and spontaneous - tone color: crucial changes in timber - woodwinds are prominent; strings and brass often muted - some of the finest piano works of the 20th century - used successions of dissonant chords that do not resolve; harmony for its special color- parallel chords
Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring, section 7 Theme and Variations "Simple Gifts" (Neo-classicism)
- folk like simplicity reflects the Shaker text - in each variation the tune returns unadorned creating variety and contrast through changes of tempo, tone color, dynamics, register, accompaniment and key - variation 2 is lyrical and thoughtful, played in lower register with polyphonic imitations - variation 3 is presented faster and staccato by trumpets and trombone
George Gershwin (1898-1937)
- grew up in the lower east side of Manhattan - Russian Jewish immigrant parents - creator of the golden age of American music theater - Rhapsody in Blue - La La Lucille his first complete Broadway music
Increase use of the twelve tone system
- in the 1950s Stravinsky the leading composer of tonal music, adopted this system - the Nazi regime limited the system, afterwards it was explored - it was a compositional technique rather than a special musical style
Bartok's Music
- individual style that fused folk elements, classical forms, and twentieth century sounds - often does not quote folk melodies but uses original themes that have a folk flavor - revitalized and reinterpreted traditional forms such as the rondo, fugue and sonata form
Rhythm of 20th century music
- irregular and unpredictable - power, drive, excitement - drawn from jazz, folk music, and European art music from the Middle Ages - rapidly changing meters, beats are grouped irregularly - unconventional meters
Music Styles (1900-1945)
- new approaches to organizing pitch and rhythm; no single system governs pitch in all musical compositions - listeners are guided primarily by musical cues within an individual composition
Melody of 20th century music
- no longer tied to traditional chords or to major and minor keys - contains wide leaps - based on a wide variety of scales - contains a series of phrases that are irregular in length, not as easy to remember
1900-1945: An Age of Musical Diversity part two
- peak of jazz influence came during the 1920s and 1930s - modern composers are draw inspiration from a wider historical range of music - Composers took Wagner's style as a point of departure, or else they reacted violently against all he stood for
Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune (Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun) Impressionism
- program music, a free illustration of the beautiful poem by Stephane Mallarme - established the French Impressionist style - woodwind solos, muted horns, and harp glissandos - begins with an unaccompanied flute melody (most famous orchestral flute melody) - continuous ebb and flow; described as a "quiet revolution" mainly for its subdued dynamics
Minimalist Music
- reaction against the complexity of serialism (atonality) and the randomness of chance music - composers include Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and John Adams and been influenced by northwestern thought - after the 70s, minimalist music became richer in harmony, tone color, and texture
Mondestrunken (Moonstruck) from Pierrot Lunaire by Arnold Schoenberg (Atonalism)
- scored for piano, voice, flute, violin, and cello - depicts moonlight as a sacramental wine we drink through the eyes - soft and light in texture - varied recurrence of ostinato motive in different instruments unifies the piece
Stravinsky's Music part two
- shift to a twelve-tone system in the 1950s - tone colors are dry and clear, and the beat is strong - irregular meters, ostinatos, or melodic patterns frequently unify sections of a piece - rich novel harmonies
Concerto for Orchestra (Bela Bartok, 1943)
- showpiece for an orchestra virtuoso - vivid contrast of moods - melodies have a distinct folk flavor - mellow "late" style characterized by more frequent use of traditional chords - A B A form, sonata form, and fugue are fused with 20th-century rhythm and tone colors
atonalism
- the outgrowth of Expressionism - Music without a tonal center - Based upon the 12 notes of the chromatic scale
La Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) 1913 Primitivism by Stravinsky
- third ballet score of Russian Ballet - a Ballet whose subject matter was a Russian pagan celebration honoring the fertility of spring - harsh dissonance, percussive orchestration, rapidly changing meters, violent offbeat accents, and ostinatos fired the imagination of many composers
1900-1945: An Age of Musical Diversity
- variety of music reflected the diversity of life during the early twentieth century - composers drew inspirations from various sources including folk and popular music - composers were attracted to unconventional rhythms, sounds, and melodic patterns - non-European music has a great influence on the music of the west
Tonal Music and a Return to Tonality
- works by composers such as Benjamin Britten, Dmitri Shostakovich, Leonard Bernstein, and John Adams - may include central tones or chords as well as consonant sonorities - in the 60s composers such as George Rochberg and David Del Tredici returned to tonality; referred to as new romantics
La Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) Primitivism
- written for an enormous orchestra - folk-like melodies - uses the Bassoon in the highest end of its range for a unique sound; sets the opening mood - using unusual instruments, playing in unusual ranges to carry the melody, to create the character or mood of a work is characteristic of the 20th c. - narrow ranges, made up of fragments that are repeated with slight changes in rhythm and pitch - melodic and harmonic repetition give the piece a ritualistic, hypnotic quality - rhythm is a vital structural element
Characteristics of music since 1945
1. Increase use of the twelve-tone system 2. Serialism- use of the techniques of the twelve-tone system to organize rhythm, dynamics, and tone color 3. Chance music, in which a composer chooses pitches, tone colors, and rhythms by random methods, or allows a performer to choose much of the musical material 4. Minimalist music, characterized by a steady pulse, clear tonality, and insistent repetition of short melodic patterns 5. Musical quotation, works containing deliberate quotations from earlier music
Characteristics of music since 1945 part two
6. Polystylism, the use of different styles or techniques in a musical composition 7. Tonal music and a return to tonality 8. Electronic music 9. "Liberation of Sound" greater exploitation of noise like sounds 10. Mixed media 11. New concept of rhythm and form
prepared piano
A piano whose sound is altered by placing objects such as bolts, screws, rubber bands, or pieces of felt between the strings of some of the keys; invented by John Cage
Atonality
Absence of tonality, or key, characteristic of much twentieth-century music. - Arnold Schoenberg wrote the first Atonal piece
Bandoneon
An instrument of the concertina family, similar to an accordion but operated only with buttons rather than a keyboard, that is used in tango.
The Rite of Spring (Stravinsky)
Ballet made up of two large sections which are subdivided into sections that move at various speeds The Adoration of the Earth consists of: (1) Intro (2) Omen of Springs: Dances of the Youths and Maidens; (3) Ritual of Abduction; (4) Spring Rounds; (5) Games of the Rival Tribes; (6) Procession of the Wise Elder; (7) Adoration of the Earth; (8) Dance of the Earth
Bartok's Music part two
Best known for instrumental works, especially piano pieces and string quartets. Compositions contain string folk influences. - Worked within a tonal center. Harsh dissonances, polychords, tone clusters. - rhythmically his music is characterized by a powerful beat, unexpected accents, and changing meters
fourth chord
Chord in which the tones are a fourth apart, instead of a third; used in twentieth-century music
20th century composers
Claude Debussy, Arnold Schoenberg, Igor Stravinsky, Alban Berg, Bela Bartok, Charles Ives, George Gershwin, William Grant Still, Aaron Copland, and Alberto Ginastera
Polychord
Combination of two chords sounded at the same time, used in 20th century music
Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night) Arnold Schoenberg
Expressionism - a string sextet, - one movement, based on the poem of the same name by poet Richard Demel. - the 1st programmatic work in the genre of chamber music. - The stages of Demel's poem are reflected throughout the composition, beginning with the sadness of the woman's confession, an interlude wherein the man reflects upon the confession and journeys through his emotions, and a finale reflecting the man's bright acceptance of the woman
Sperchstimme
In German, speech-voice; a style of vocal performance halfway between speaking and singing, typical of Schoenberg and his followers.
Impressionism and Symbolism
It is a FRENCH development. It was not followed in other countries. (an outgrowth of the Romantic era Nationalist movement) Most important Composers: Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel Often inspired by literary and pictorial ideas, it sounds spontaneous, sensuous, beautiful, delicate, and extremely colorful.
twelve-tone system
Method of composing in which all pitches of a composition are derived from a special ordering of the twelve chromatic tones (tone row or set); developed by Schoenberg in the early 1920s.
Serialism
Method of composing that uses an ordered group of musical elements to organize rhythm, dynamics, and tone color, as well as pitch - Milton Babbit, Pierre Boulez
Minimalist Music (definition)
Music characterized by steady pulse, clear tonality, and insistent repetition of short melodic patterns; its dynamic level, texture, and harmony tend to stay constant for fairly long stretches of time, creating a trance-like or hypnotic effect; developed in the 1960s.
chance/aleatoric music (1950s)
Music composed by the random selection of pitches, tone colors, and rhythms; developed in the 1950s by John Cage and others - Imaginary Landscape No. 4 by John Cage - other serial composers such as Pierre Boulez and Karlheiz Stockhausen introduced elements of chance into their compositions - makes a complete break with traditional values in music - one sounds is as important as another sound
electronic music
Music using synthesizers, computers, and other electronic instruments. - includes rock, chance music, and serial composition - lets composers control tone color, duration, dynamics, and pitch with precision - traditional instruments may also be "electrified" through amplification - electronic instruments have suggested new sounds and new forms of rhythmic organization
Neoclassicism
Musical style marked by emotional restraint, balance, and clarity, inspired by the forms and stylistic features of eighteenth-century music, found in many works from 1920 to 1950
Expressionism
Musical style stressing intense, subjective emotion and harsh dissonance, typical of German and Austrian music of the early twentieth century. - explores the dark, sad, violent element of human nature and emotion. Much of this music written for the "noir" genre of film. (Noir is French for the color black) - influenced my psyche of Sigmund Freud
pentatonic scale
Scale made up of five different tones, used in folk music and music of the far east. (used by Debussy) - is produced by five successive black keys of the piano
whole tone scale
Scale made up of six different tones, each a whole step away from the next, which conveys no definite sense of tonality; often found in the music of Debussy and his followers.
tone row (set, series)
Particular ordering of the twelve chromatic tones, from which all pitches in a twelve-tone composition are derived. - 48 possible versions of a row - may be placed in any register - may be presented one after the other (melodic line) or simultaneously (chords)
French Symbolist Poetry
Poetry emphasized fluidity, suggestion and the purely musical or sonorous, effects of words - Symbolists also broke with traditions & conventions of French poetry - Avoided hard statements—preferred to "suggest" (symbolize) their topics - Symbolist poetry became the basis for many Impressionist musical works Most important Symbolist poets: Stephane Mallarme (1842-1898) Paul Verlaine (1844-1896)
The Rite of Spring (Stravinsky) section two
The Sacrifice: (1) Intro; (2) Mysterious Circles of the Young Girls; (3) Glorification of the Chosen Maiden; (4) Evocation of the Ancestors; (5) Rituals of the Ancestors; (6) Sacrificial Dance
Primitivism
The evocation of primitive power through insistent rhythms and percussive sounds - this style is defined by driving, irregular rhythms, and the use of many polyrhythms. - came from Igor Stravinsky - a result of the profound effects of the 1868 World's Fair and Nationalism/Exoticism on western European culture and artistry
Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night) Arnold Schoenberg- music characteristics
The ominous mood is created by opening the work with repeated notes on a pedal point in the bass, a melody in minor modality, in a slow tempo, with legato articulation, and piano dynamic The "transfiguration" emerges as major modality, in a soft or piano dynamic range, and much simpler homophonic and polyphonic textures, reminiscent of Palestrina's writing, bringing the listener a sense of peace.
mixed media
The technique in which music is presented together with visual counterparts such as slide projections, films, or theatrical action. - intended to breakdown the ritual surrounding traditional concerts and to increase communication between composer and audience
tone cluster
a chord made up of tones only a half step or a whole step apart
ostinato
a motive or phrase that is repeated persistently at the same pitch throughout a section to stabilize a group of pitches
Bitonality
approach to pitch organization using two keys at one time
Polytonality
approach to pitch organization using two or more keys at one time
Aleatoric music/Chance music
the emancipation of sound
