MCG 1C Questions and assignment to lesson 4: Avantgarde

NB:Left-over from session 3: Classicism (Stravinsky's and others'); Bartok's 'regression'

1. From the Second Great War to the turn of the century.
a. Describe three historical process that strongly mark the decades after World War II in politics and
culture.

1968 Assassination of Martin Luther King

1969 Neil Armstrong becomes the first man on the moon
1988 - the fall of Communism marked by the fall of the Berlin Wall which symbolizes the opening
of Democracy to Eastern Europe.

b. Describe some important elements (political, cultural and musical) of the postmodern situation at
the end of the twentieth century (as mentioned in the lecture)
When the Allies entered Germany towards the end of World War II, it was discovered that
improvements had been made in recording sounds magnetically. Tape had become suitable for highfidelity recording of music.
The decades after World War II marked a period of separation between classical and
popular spheres. New technologies increased the rate of change and style in
the music of the last half century.
2. Traditions of Innovation
Describe the linkage within these traditions between the first half of the century (around WWI) and
the second (after WWII):
a. Expressionism, Abstraction and Abstract Expressionism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_art
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expressionism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_expressionism
The word Expressionism started to exist in 1901 when some paintings
were exhibited in Paris. The artist seeks to depict not objective reality but rather
the subjective emotions. Right before WWI much of the art world was under the
influence of Expressionism. When the war started many Expressionists initially
believed it could be the apocalyptic event which would fix the widespread
materialism of the monarchies but then noticed the misery and destruction went
on longer than expected. Post-expressionism describes art movements in the postwar. It was influenced by expressionism but rejected its aesthetic.
Abstract art developed thanks to romanticism, impressionism and expressionism.
Abstract Expressionist artists reinvented abstract form of art forming a distinctly
American style. This happened because after WWII many artists had emigrate to
the USA and of course had different ideas and backgrounds. For this reason the taste
of the American avant-garde in New York City moved towards Abstract Expressionism
The Second World War overshadowed, for a time, almost all intellectual and artistic
production.

b. Surrealism and Cobra; Dada and Fluxus:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrealism
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/surr/hd_surr.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluxus
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4059997.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COBRA_%28avant-garde_movement%29
Surrealism developed from the Dada activities during World War I

Dada starts with beginning of World War I. For many the movement was a protest
against nationalism and colonialism interests, which they believed were the root
that caused the war. Dadaist were also against the cultural and intellectual
conformity corresponding to the war.
Fluxus originates from the concepts explored by composer John Cage in
his experimental music of the 1950s.
Fluxus was initiated by Lithuanian-born George Maciunas who fled to the NY after
WWII.
COBRA was a European avant-garde movement active from 1948 to 1951. The name
was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home
cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels (Br),Amsterdam (A).

d. Bauhaus, the International Style and modern urban renovation after WWII:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Stijl
http://www.bauhaus-dessau.de/history-of-the-foundation.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Style_%28architecture%29#Regions
Impressionism and cubism arose the attention of the dutch artists. However since
The Netherlands remained neutral in WWI they weren't able to leave the country
and remained a bit isolated from the art world. Theo van Doesburg started De Stijl
as an art movement. Around 1921, the group's character started to change. From
the time of van Doesburg's association with Bauhaus, other influences started
playing a role. These influences were mainly Malevich and Russian Constructivism,
to which not all members agreed.
The Bauhaus had a major impact on art and architecture trends in Western Europe, the
United States, Canada and Israel in the decades following its demise, as many of the
artists involved fled, or were exiled by, the Nazi regime.

3. Traditions of Innovation: Music and (or) Sonic Art: Varse, Schaeffer, Stockhausen Cage.
a. What is the basic difference in their approach to sound between Varse and Schaeffer on the one,
and Cage on the other hand,

inVarse,'thefunctionofthechordsisnolongertraditionallyharmonic,intensity
playsastructuralrole.
Cage introduced chance and indeterminacy to his music in order to abandon subjective control of
music.
b. Distinguish two basic meanings of 'Experimental music': that of Varse and that of John Cage.
Varse's conception of music reflected his vision of "sound as living matter" and of "musical
space as open rather than bounded".
John Cage talks about the term Experimental Music during his famous speech where he states:
'Formerly, whenever anyone said the music I presented was experimental, I objected. Now, on the
other hand, times have changed; music has changed; and I no longer object to the word
experimenial.
For in this new music nothing takes place but sounds: those that are notated and those that are
not. Those that are not notated appear in the written music as silences, opening the doors of
the music to the sounds that happen to be in the environment.'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgard_Var%C3%A8se
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_music
c. What is 'acousmatic listening'?
Is a sound one hears without seeing an originating cause.
d. 'Musique Concrte' and 'Elektronische Musik': what is the difference?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acousmatic_music
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_music#Development:_1940s_to_1950s
stylistically Musique Concrete and Elektronische musik go hand in hand, but in terms of approach, they
actually differ greatly.
Music Concrete used sounds recorded from acoustical sources while Elektronische Musik
conceived the idea to synthesize music entirely from electronically produced signals

e. What are some obvious (dis)similarities between Stockhausen's 'Gesang der Jnglinge' (1956),
Trevor Wishart's 'Tongues of Fire' (1994) and Lachenmann's Pression (1969)?
Similarities: abstract music for all 3
Dissimilarities: Gesang is made with syntethizer and the sounds come from an electronic
device, Tongues of Fire is made from natural sources like instruments and voice while
Pression is made entirely with the cello during the performance. The first two pieces are part
of Elektronic Music.

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4. Traditions of Innovation: Serialism Pro and Contra

a. What is a major difference between the serialism of the second Viennese School and the
serialisms after the Second World War (give 4 famous examples) ?
Second Viennese School:
Schoenberg's Moses und Aron

Anton Webern - Symphony Op. 21

AFTER WWII:
Structure by Pierre Boulez
Karel Goeyvaerts: The Serial Works, Nos. 1-7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serialism
b. How did Xenakis, Ligeti and Murail oppose serialist principles?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iannis_Xenakis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micropolyphony
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_Murail
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectral_music

5. From Experiment to Mainstream: Minimalism, Pop-art and Post-minimalism

a. Summarize the main points of Reich: 'Music as a Gradual Proces'
He is interested in a compositional process and a sounding music that are one and the same thing.
John Cage has used processes but the ones he used couldn't be heard when the piece was performed.
Listening to an extremely gradual musical process opens his hears to it.
While performing and listening to gradual musical processes a person can participate in a liberating
kind of ritual.
b. Try to describe the stylistic influences in Simeon Ten Holt (Canto Ostinato 1976), John Adams:
Harmonielehere, (1985) Louis Andriessen De Stijl, (1985) Reich Tehillim, (1981), Ludovico
Einaudi: Divenire (2006).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_art
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimal_music
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_minimalism