Davis Vande Steeg

Test #8 Journal Entry #1

Terms:
Glissando A rapid slide up or down a scale.
Polychord A combination of two chords played at the same time, usually used in
20th century music.
Tone Cluster A chord made up of tones only a half-step or a whole-step apart, used
in music after 1900.
Polytonality An approach to pitch organization using two or more keys at one time,
often found in 20th century music.
Bitonality An approach to pitch organization using two keys at one time, often
found in 20th century music.
Atonality An absence of tonality, or key, characteristic of much music composed in
the 20th and early 21st century.
Polyrhythm A use of two or more contrasting and independent rhythms at the
same time, often found in music after the 1900s.
Pentatonic Scale A scale made up of five different tones, used in folk music and
music of the Far East.
Whole Tone Scale A scale made up of six different tones, each a whole step away
from the next, which conveys no definite sense of tonality. Usually found in the
music of Debussy and his followers.
Twelve-Tone System A method of composing in which all pitches of a composition
are derived from a special ordering of the twelve chromatic tones. First created by
Schoenberg in the early 1920s.
Tone Row A particular ordering of the twelve chromatic tones, from which all
pitches in a twelve-tone composition are derived.
Sprechstimme In German it means speech-voice or a style of vocal performance
halfway between speaking and singing. This style was created by Schoenberg in the
early 1920s.

Genres:
Impressionism A musical style which stresses tone color, atmosphere, and fluidity.
Typically used in Debussys compositions.

Neoclassicism A musical style marked by emotional restraint, balance, and clarity, inspired by
the forms and stylistic features of eighteenth-century music.
Primitivism An evocation of primitive power through insistent rhythms and percussive sounds.
Expressionism A musical style stressing intense, subjective emotion, and harsh dissonance.
Typically in German and Austrian music of the early 20th century.
Composers:
Debussy: Claude Debussy was a French impressionist composer, born in a small town near
Paris. He began studying at the Paris Conservatory at ten, working summers as a pianist for
Nadezhda von Meck. He was a master at evoking a fleeting mood and misty atmosphere.
Literary and pictorial ideas inspired him, and most of his compositions have descriptive titles.
His music is free and spontaneous, almost improvised. The use of tone color is also
unprecedented, with an emphasis on atmosphere and fluidity, characteristic of impressionist
music. He uses three-, four- and even five-note chords with a lush, rich sound. Use of wholetone scale, as well as the pulse of his music, makes the music vague. Although not particularly
large, his output is remarkably varied, with opera, piano, orchestra, chamber ensemble, and art
song compositions to his name.
Ravel: Maurice Ravel was known as a master of orchestral and pianistic tone color. He grew up
in Paris and studied piano and composition for many years at the Paris Conservatory. Much of
his melodies are based on modes, which sometimes make them suggest music from a foreign
land or from the distant past. His music is often characterized by a clear beat, and rhythmic
patterns are often obsessively repeated. He was extremely sensitive to the technical and
expressive capacities of orchestral instruments and created many fresh combinations of tone
colors.
Stravinsky: Igor Stravinsky was a legendary figure and was regarded as the worlds greatest
composer he created modern classics, and influenced three generations of composers and
inspired many painters, writers, and choreographers. He had a large influence on twentiethcentury music; his innovations in rhythm, harmony, and tone color inspired musicians
throughout the world. Much of his music is scored for unconventional groups of instruments.
Highly contrasting tone colors are often combined. He often used existing music to create
original compositions; he drew on a vast range of styles, from folksongs to Baroque and more.
Schoenberg: Arnold Schoenberg was born in Vienna, and was almost entirely self-taught. His
early works show many features of the late romantic style with emotional intensity and literary
programs. Some early compositions use the gigantic orchestra favored by late nineteenthcentury composers. When he began to write atonal music it was a revolutionary development,
evolved from the earlier emphasis on chromatic harmony and liberal use of all twelve tones in
the chromatic scale. The atonal language was soon adopted by his students Berg and Webern,
and tended to be extremely emotional and very short. He later tried to develop a more systemic

method of organizing atonal music, a twelve-tone system. This offers the composer a new way
or organizing pitch in a composition; the twentieth-century alternative to tonality.
Berg: Alban Berg (1885-1935) was a student of Schoenberg, known for his unique synthesis of
traditional and twentieth-century elements. His use of atonality baffled critics, but made such a
powerful impression he performed throughout Europe and the United States. Due to chronic ill
health he did not perform or conduct, and had relatively few works.
Webern: Anton Webern was a neglected musician, with his music gaining popularity in the
1950s and 60s, after his death. He was born in Vienna and composed constantly and studied
piano, cello, and music theory. He entered the University of Vienna and earned a doctorate in
music history. Poetic lyricism pervades his music, with amazing originality, brevity, quietness,
and concentration. Though he wrote very little music, he has achieved worldwide influence.
Choral works and songs make up about half of his output, with the rest chamber orchestra or
small chamber groups. Composers of the 50 and 60s were fascinated by his use of texture,
tone color, dynamics, and register as unifying elements.
Compositions:
Prelude a lApres-midi fun faune: Written by Debussy, this prelude is a very free illustration of
the beautiful poem by Stephane Mallarme, The Afternoon of a Faun. The prelude begins with
an unaccompanied flute melody; its vague pulse and tonality make it dreamlike and
improvisatory. The prelude ends with the main melody played by muted horns, with bell-like
tones of antique cymbals evaporating into silence.
Violes (Sails) Preludes for Piano, Book 1 Bolero: A short piano piece by Debussy, the use of
wholetone scale gives it a tonally vague quality. Subdued in dynamics, moderate in tempo, it
is to be played in a rhythm that is caressing and not strict. The melody is presented in a high
register in single notes.
Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) Part 1, Introduction, Omens of Spring et al:
Introduction: The introduction begins with a solo bassoon at the top of its register. Fragments of
a Lithuanian folk tune are repeated in irregular ways. Omens of Spring: The next section begins
with drum-like strings, pounding out a dissonant chord. Unexpected and irregular accent are
heightened by jabbing sounds from horns. The dissonant harmony is a polychord combining two
different traditional chords. It closes with high trills in the strings and flutes.
Symphony of Psalms: A masterpiece from Stravinskys neoclassical period, this piece was
written in three movements, scored for chorus and orchestra. Neoclassical features include us
of tonality, major and minor triads, and fugue. The use of symphony merely indicates a wok in
several movements with an orchestra.
Pierrot Lunaire Op. 21 Mondestrunken (Moon Drunk): Schoenbergs opening piece in a song

cycle, which is scored for voice, piano, flute, violin, and cello. It is mostly soft and light in texture,
opening with a high seven-note motive that hypnotically repeats in the piano. It ends with a final
appearance of the motive at a slower tempo in the piano and flute.
A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46: A dramatic cantata for narrator, male chorus, and orchestra,
written by Schoenberg about the murder of the Jews by the Nazis. The text is spoken in English,
other than Nazi commands shouted in German. The narrators part is a kind of Sprechstimme,
with the rhythms of the spoken words precisely notated. The text also includes Hebrew, sung by
the male chorus. It is a twelve-tone composition with a brief orchestral introduction. As the
narrator prepares for the concluding Hebrew prayer a french horn softly intones the beginning of
the melody that is later proclaimed by the chorus.
Wozzeck, Act III, Scenes 4 and 5: The scene of Bergs third act of his opera shows a dark forest
scene, depicted through a vivid orchestra and rising harp tones. There is a return to tonality and
the musical language of late romanticism.
Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 10: Weberns unique style is fully revealed in his early, atonal
Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op.10, composed before he adopted the twelve-tone system. They
are among the shortest orchestra compositions ever written, and include unconventional
instruments such as the mandolin, guitar, cowbells, and harmonium. Melodic fragments are
played by various solo instruments and framed by silences. There are few notes, and the
tempos continually fluctuate.
Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 10,Third Piece, Very slow/extremely calm: Bells sounds,
seeming to come from far off being this piece. The dynamics remain below pp the whole time.
Bell-like sounds are produced by mandolin, celesta, guitar, harp, glockenspiel, cowbell, chimes,
and harmonium and heard both at the beginning and the end. Solo instruments are separated
by brief moments of near silence.