Main Stylistic and

Characteristic features
20th Century music evolved both stylistically and characteristically,
some of the overarching changes were outlined in the first blog post
– this post aims to explore some of the style specific features – such
as the characteristics of impressionism, expressionism, and
neoclassicism.
• Firstly going into some more detail on the major changes in 20th
century music compared to that of the 19th century
• Rhythm became much more developed in the 20th century as it
was often complex and irregular
• Melody became of secondary importance, they were often
unpredictable with wide leaps, irregular rhythms, and
unexpected phrases.
• In the words of Schoenberg, harmony was freed from
“the tyranny of tonality”. Keys and tonal centres
became of less importance as atonality gained
popularity.
• Timbre was explored in further depth. New playing
techniques were developed on traditional instruments
which expanded their tonal range. New electronic
instruments were created that were unique to ethnic
music.
• The capabilities and availability of recording technology
greatly increased in the 20th century, changing the way
that musicians created music and made a living.
 impressionism
• Impressionism refers to music whose intention is to evoke a
mood, place, and natural phenomena (in other words, to
leave an impression of something).
• The pioneers of Impressionism were Claude Debussy, and
Maurice Ravel.
• Impressionist music often contained non-functional
harmonies
• Rich textures
• Ambiguity of form
• Unresolved dissonances
• Whole-tone scales, use of 9th chords, frequent use of
modality, and exotic scales
 Expressionism
• Expressionism music, is music that was written to
strongly express intense feelings and emotions. It is
separated from other genres by its frequent atonality
and fragmented style.
• The pioneers of Expressionism were (and are) Arnold
Schoenberg, and Milton Babbitt.
• Expressionist music contained dissolution of tonality
• Extreme contrasts of dynamics
• Constantly changing textures
• ‘Distorted’ melodies and harmonies
 Neoclassicism
• Neoclassical music refers to music that sought to return
the aesthetic precepts associated with the broadly
defined concept of “classicism”, namely order, balance,
clarity, economy, and emotional restraint.
• The main pioneers of neoclassicism were Igor Stravinsky
and Dmitri Shostakovich
• Neoclassical music often contained complex/quirky
rhythms
• Large amounts of chromaticism
• Dissonances
• Tonal centers
• Clarity of form
• Melodic shape