1ST QUARTER
MUSIC OF THE 20TH CENTURY
MUSICAL STYLES:
-impressionism, expressionism, neo-classicism, avant-garde
music, modern nationalism
IMPRESSIONISM
-one of the earlier forms clearly declaring the entry of 20th
century music
-they mainly showed & expressed moods & impressions
-there was an extensive use of diff. timbres & effects, vague
melodies, & innovative chords and progressions
-was an attempt to suggest reality not to depict it
-it was meant to create an emotional mood rather than a
specific picture
-impressionistic forms were translucent and hazy, as if trying
to see through a rain-drenched window
-the sounds of different chords overlapped lightly with each
other to produce new subtle musical colors
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
-was born in St. Germain-en-Laye in Framce on August 22,
1862
-1 of the most important & influential of the 20th century
-he was the primary exponent of the impressionist movement
and the focal point for other impressionist composers
-“Father of the Modern School of Composition”
-total more or less 227 music compositions
JOSEPH MAURICE RAVEL
-was born in Ciboure, France to a Basque mother and a Swiss
father
-was a perfectionist and every bit a musical craftsman
-his compositional style is mainly characterized by its
uniquely innovative but not atonal style of harmonic
treatment
-60 works/ compositional output
COMPARATIVE STYLES OF DEBUSSY AND RAVEL
-Debussy was more spontaneous and liberal in form while
Ravel was very attentive to the classical norms of musical
structure and compositional craftsmanship
-Debussy was more casual in his portrayal of visual imagery
while Ravel was more formal and exacting in the
development of his motive ideas
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG
-was born in a working-class suburb of Vienna, Austria on
September 13, 1874
-his music gradually turned to the dissonant and atonal, as he
explored the use of chromatic harmonies
-he is credited w/ the development of the 12-tone system
-his music is extremely complex, creating heavy demands of
hostility & enthusiasism from the audience
-213 musical compositions
IGOR STRAVINSKY
-he was born in Oranienbaum (now Lomonosov), Russia on
June 17, 1882
-he adapted the forms of the 18th century with his
contemporary style of writing
-despite its “shocking” modernity, his music is also very
structured, precise, controlled, full of artifice, and
theatricality
-127 works/ musical outputs
OTHER MUSICAL STYLES
-Primitivism, Neo-classicism, Avant-garde music, Modern
nationalism
PRIMITIVISM
-Primitivistic music is tonal through the stressing of one note
as more important than the others
-primitivism combines two familiar or simple ideas together
creating new sounds
-primitivism has links to Exoticism through the use of
materials from other cultures, to Nationalism through the use
of materials indigenous to specific countries, and to Ethnicism
through the use of materials from European ethnic groups
-two well-known proponents: Stravinsky and Bela Bartok
BELA BARTOK
-was born in Nagyszentmiklos, Hungary (now Romania) on
March 25, 1881 to musical parents
-as a neo-classicist, primitivist, and nationalist composer,
Bartok used Hungarian folk themes and rhythms
-he utilized changing meters and strong syncopations
-his compositions were successful because of their rich
melodies and lively rhythms
-700 musical compositions
NEO-CLASSICISM
-was a moderating factor between the emotional excesses of
the Romantic period and the violent impulses of the soul in
expressionism
-it was a partial return to an earlier style of writing,
particularly the tightly-knit form of the Classical period, while
combining tonal harmonies with slight dissonances
-it adopted a modern, freer use of the seven-note diatonic
scale
SERGEI PROKOFIEFF
-is regarded today as a combination of a neo-classicist,
nationalist, and avant-garde composer
-his style is uniquely recognizable for its progressive
technique, pulsating rhythms, melodic directness, and a
resolving dissonance
-born in the Ukraine in 1891, Prokofieff set out for the St.
Petersburg Conservatory equipped with his great talent as a
composer and pianist
-he became prolific in writing symphonies, chamber music,
concerti, and solo instrumental music
-was highly successful in his piano music
FRANCIS JEAN MARCEL POULENC
-was one of the relatively few composers born into wealth
and a privileged social position
-he was a member of the group of young French composers
known as “Les Six”
-his compositions Had A coolly elegant modernity, tempered
by a classical sense of a proportion
-He was a successful composer for piano, voice, and choral
music
-Poulenc’s vocal works reveal his strength as a lyrical melodist
-his choral works tended to be more somber and solemn
-185 musical compositions
OTHER MEMBERS OF “LES SIX”
> George Auric- wrote music for the movies and rhythmic
music with lots of energy
>Louis Durey- used traditional ways of composing and wrote
in his own way, not wanting to follow form
>Arthur Honegger- liked chamber music & the symphony
>Darius Milhaud- was a very talented composer who wrote in
several different styles like jazz. Some of his music uses
bitonality and polytonality
>Germaine Tailleferre - was the only female in the group. She
liked to use dance rhythms, she loved children & animals and
wrote many works about them
AVANT-GARDE MUSIC
-the avant-garde movement dealt with the parameters or the
dimensions of sound in space
-the avant-garde style exhibited a new attitude toward
musical mobility
-IMPROVISATION was a necessity in this style
-the unconventional methods of sound and form, as well as
the absence of traditional rules governing harmony, melody,
and rhythm, make the whole concept of avant-garde music
quite strange to ears accustomed to traditional compositions
-composers: George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Philip
Glass, John Cage, Olivier Messiaen, and Pierre Boulez
GEORGE GERSHWIN
-was born in New York to Russian Jewish immigrants
-his melodic gift was considered phenomenal, as evidenced
by his numerous songs of wide appeal
-he is a true “crossover artist”, in the sense that his serious
compositions remain highly popular in the classical
repertoire, as his stage and film songs continue to be jazz and
vocal standards
-“Father of American Jazz”
-his mixture of the primitive and the sophisticated gave his
music an appeal that has lasted long after his death
-369 musical compositions
LEONARD BERNSTEIN
-Born in Massachussetts, USA
-he endeared himself to his many followers as a charismatic
conductor, pianist, composer, and lecturer
-his philosophy was that the universal language of music is
basically rooted in tonality
-he achieved preeminence in two fields: conductions and
composing for Broadway musicals, dance shows, and concert
music
-he is best known for his compositions for the stage
-around 90 musical compositions
PHILIP GLASS
-one of the most commercially successful minimalist
composers and is also an avant-garde composer
-he explored territories of ballet, opera, theater, film, and
even television jingles
-his distinctive style involves cell-like phrases emanating from
bright electronic sounds from one pattern to the next in a
very repetitious fashion
-his music is often criticized as uneventful and shallow, yet
startlingly effective for its hypnotic charm
-170 musical compositions
MODERN NATIONALISM
-a looser form of 20th century music development focused on
nationalist composers and musical innovators who sought to
combine modern techniques with folk materials
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2OTH CENTURY MUSICAL STYLES:
ELECTRONIC AND CHANCE MUSIC
-the musical styles that evolved in the modern era were
varied
-new inventions and discoveries of science and technology
have led to continue developments in the field of music
-electronic devices have been increasingly used for creating
and recording music that is meant to be added to or to
replace acoustical sounds made with traditional instruments
-electronic devices such as: early cassette tape recorders,
CDs, VCDs, DVDs, MP3 and MP4, ipod, karaoke players,
mobile and android phones, synthesizers
NEW MUSICAL STYLES
-ELECTRONIC MUSIC
-CHANCE MUSIC
ELECTRONIC MUSIC
-electronic machines such as synthesizers, amplifiers, tape
recorders, and loadspeakers to create different sounds were
put to creative use by 20th century composers
-music that uses tape recorder is called MUSIQUE CONCRETE
or CONCRETE MUSIC- the composer is able to experiment
with different sounds that cannot be produced by regular
musical instruments such as the piano or the violin
-the composer records different sounds that are heard in the
environment and these sounds are arranged by the composer
in different ways
EDGARD VARESE
-was born on December 22,1883
-“innovative French-born composer”
his musical compositions are characterized by an emphasis on
timbre and rhythm
-he invented the term “organized sound” which means that
certain timbres & rhythms can be grouped together in order
to capture a whole new definition of sound
-his use of instruments and electronic resources earned him
the title “Father of Electronic Music”
-also described as “The Stratospheric Colossus of Sound”, his
musical compositions total around 50
KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN
-is a central figure in the realm of electronic music
-born in Cologne, Germany
-his music was initially met with resistance due to its heavily
atonal content with practically no clear melodic or rhythmic
sense, still, he continued to experiment with concrete music
-around 31 works/musical compositions
CHANCE MUSIC
-refers to a style in which the piece sounds different at every
performance because of the random techniques of
production, including the use of ring modulators or natural
elements that become a part of the music
JOHN CAGE
-was known as one of the 20th century composers with the
widest array of sounds in his works
-he was born in Los Angeles, California, USA on September 5,
1912 and became one of the most original composers in the
history of Western music
-he challenged the very idea of music by manipulating
musical instruments in order to achieve new sounds
-he experimented with what came to be known as “chance
music”
-Cage also advocated bringing real-life experiences into the
concert hall
-Cage influenced the development of modern music since the
1950s
-he was considered more of a musical philosopher than a
composer
-his conception of what music can and should be has had a
profound impact upon his comtemporaries
-he was active as a writer, presenting his musical views with
both wit and intelligence
-Cage was an important force in other artistic areas especially
dance and musical theater
-229 musical compositions