Early Twentieth Century

Music 1900-1930

Rhythmic Complexity Nonsymmetrical patterns based on odd

numbers (5,7,11, or 13 beats per measure) Constantly changing meters Polyrhythm (simultaneous use of two or

more rhythmic patterns)

Musical Characteristics

Composers rejected the neatly balanced phrases of earlier music

Melody was no longer the focus of a composition.

Composers tried to make the instruments sing

Melody is no longer conceived in relation to the voice

Music Clip

The New Melody

Polychords (simultaneous sounding of two or more different chords; creating untraditional harmonies and tension in music.

Music Clip

Tutorial

The New Harmony

Atonal- music with no key center

Polytonal– A composition in two different keys played simultaneously

Twelve-Tone Row (Serialism)- A method of composing by Arnold Schoenberg, where equal importance is given to the 12 tones of the chromatic scale, by placing them in an organized series.

This method shattered all western ideals of tonal harmony by making dissonance (with no resolution to consonance) the norm

Music Clip

New Conceptions of Tonality

A French Movement developed by painters who tried to capture their “first impression” of a subject through varied treatments of light and color

Impression: Sun RisingClaude Monet

Impressionism (1890-1910)

Composers used vague outlines of melody and rhythm to paint pictures with their music

Composers used new scales and harmonies to create mood and atmosphere

Composers began to use dissonance more freely to create tension

Claire de Lune, Debussy

Impressionism in Music

The most important French composer of the early 20th Century. Attended the Paris Conservatory at age 11. Shocked his professors with his bizarre harmonies

that broke the traditional rules of composition Created a distinctive new style of writing for the

piano, using non-western scales Called the “father of modern music” Died during a bombardment in Paris,1918

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

The German response to French Impressionism Sought to represent the world in a distorted way,

to evoke mood, ideas, and extreme emotion Emerged as an avant-garde movement in poetry

and painting.

The Scream, 1893 Edvard Munch

Expressionism

Generally characteristic of Schoenberg’s atonal music and the twelve-tone system

Sought to express the subconscious through highly dissonant music

Expressionism in Music

Born in Vienna, Austria Began to study the violin at 8 years

old, and soon after begin composing

Received only a few months of musical training

Created 12-tone system at age 50 Emigrated to America after Hilter’s

rise to power and taught at UCLA Considered the first “great” teacher

since Bach.

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)

Early music reflected the Romantic style, staying within the boundaries of tonality.

Transfigured Night

In his second period, he abolished the distinction between consonance and dissonance and any sense of a home key. This period marked him as an

atonal-Expressionist. The high point of this period was the piece,

(sprechstimme) Pierrot Lunaire

Schoenberg’s Music

Schoenberg’s Art work

The Gaze (1910) Schoenberg

The Scream (1893)Edvard Munch

Mid Twentieth Century

Music 1930-1960

Continued use Schoenberg’s 12-tone system

Neo-Classicism Electronic Music Aleatoric Music (Chance Music)

Musical Characteristics

Composers returned to forms and techniques from the Baroque and Classical era, as a vehicle for expressing ideas.

Characterized by order, balance, clarity, and emotional restraint

A reaction against the unrestrained emotionalism of the Romantic Period

Brought more order to the increasing experimental forms of the early 20th century

Pulcinella, ballet by Igor Stravinsky

NeoClassicism in Music

Russian composer, who experimented boldly with rhythm

Explored the percussive use of dissonance, polyrhythms and polytonality

His style evolved continuously throughout his career

Composed using Neoclassical and 12-tone techniques Early works are strongly nationalistic, including

his ballet, The Rite of Spring

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

Subtitled “Scenes of Pagan Russia” It’s premiere performance in1913 sparked

one of the most famous classical music riotsIn history The choreography was primitive and

sensual The dissonance was percussive The piece featured polyrhythms and

polytonalitySacrificial Dance

The Rite of Spring

The Dance by Henri Matisse

This Matisse painting is suggestive of a primitive dance, inspired by the Rite of Spring

Musique ConcreteBegan in Paris in the late 1940s and usednatural sounds (including musical instruments)recorded on magnetic tape as a new medium forcomposition

Once recorded, the sounds were manipulated by various means (changing the playback speed, reversing the direction of the tape, etc)

Musique Concrete Video

Electronic Music

Electronische MusikBegan in Germany in the early 1950s andcreated compositions using electronicallygenerated sounds

This paved the way to keyboard synthesizers. One of the most widely used was the Moog Synthesizer created by Robert Moog.

Electronic Music- 2

Also referred to as “Chance Music” rebelled against Schoenberg’s stricter organization of the 12-tone system.

Sought to achieve a greater, even total, freedom from all predetermined forms and procedures.

In Aleatoric music some element of the composition is left up to choice or chance (clip)

Composers may opt to throw dice to determine rhythm and melody, or perhaps base their compositions on a series of random numbers

Generated by a computer.

Aleatoric Music

Born in Los Angeles, and attended Pomona College

Exhibited an early interest in non-Western scales A pioneer in aleatoric music (4’33 secs) Cage was a student of Arnold Schoenberg Discovered that the division between

consonance and dissonance had given way to a new opposition between music and noise.

Invented music for “prepared piano”, to resemble the sound of a Javanese gamelan from Indonesia

John Cage (1912-1992)