music in the twentieth century

7/31/2019 Music in the Twentieth Century

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Music in the Twentieth

Century and Beyond

Age of Diversity

Age of Eclecticism


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Cultural Background

Age of Diversity

The twentieth century is one of the mostcomplex times of all the historical periods.Changes have been fast and dramatic in

all areas of culture: social, political,scientific, technology, economics.


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Impact of Global Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)


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World War II (1939-1945)


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Cold War (1945-1990)

Founding of the United Nations (end of

WWII)


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Korean War (1950-1954)

Vietnam War (1956-1974)


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Persian Gulf War (1990-1992)

War on Terror (2001-present)


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Afghanistan Conflict (2001-present)

Iraq Conflict (2004-present)


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Challenges to basic assumptions

In the 20th century, philosophers and

scientists formulated theories that disturbedthe basic assumptions upon which peoplebased their way of looking at the world.


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Charles Darwin(1809-1882)

Natural selection

Theory of evolution


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Albert Einstein(1879-1955)

Theory of relativity


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Sigmund Freud(1856-1939)

Nature of man

People are a product of their subconsciousminds, whose actions are caused by theirupbringing or their environment.


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Changing Attitudes

Civil Rights movement beginning around1954

attempt to end discrimination against blacks in

the United States


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Womens movement 1960s and 1970s

challenged traditional ideas about womensroles in society


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Advancements in Technology andCommunications

Radio 1920s

Television 1950s

Computers


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Inventions and Discoveries


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Impact on the arts

Three types of artist Sensationalist The sensationalist tends to break down

convention and overthrow accepted methods and

values. His/her art tends to lack expressive qualitiessince its main purpose is to shock the listener/observer.

Experimentalist The experimentalist seeks newmethods and combinations of materials to expressthemselves. His/her art often lacks unity andcoherence. The price that is paid for experimentalists is

that they seldom perfect what they invent. Synthesist The synthesist combines what is good of

the sensationalist and the experimentalist with what isvalid from the past. His/her art usually is less brilliant;yet is more resilient to the test of time


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Common Principles Among

20th-century Artists

break with tradition (rejection of Romantic)

rejection of subjective emotion as the primary basis for

art. This is a clear influence from scientific research. rejection of concept that art must be realistic or literal

rejection of unnecessary ornaments and attempts todress up art. The motto is form follows function

(architecture). There is a demand for simplicity,terseness and brutality of expression.

There is little attempt to please or entertain; only for adesire to reflect the age directly and unashamedly.


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Visual Arts from 1900-1950

Impressionism Modernism

Expressionism Cubism DadaismAbstract Art Surrealism


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Impressionists

Provided transition to the 20th century

Claude Monet (1840-1926)Impression Sunrise, 1872

Rouen Cathedral, 1894


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Edouard Manet (1832-1883)

Dejeuner sur lherbe, 1863


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Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

The Rehearsal, 1874


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Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

Le Moulin de la Galette, 1897


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Post-Impressionists

Georges Seurat (1859-1891)

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1886


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Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

Starry Night, 1889


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Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)

Day of the Gods, 1894


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Modernism

Flourished from the end of the 19th century untilthe end of WWII.

A reaction to all the rules of the 19th century,which had been called into question by the

events of the 20th century. Doubt was cast upon conventional morality and

traditional authorities. These new ways of looking at the world were

very powerful and evoked a strong response,even if the general public found them hard tounderstand.


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Piet Mondrian(1872-1944)

Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow


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Georges Braque(1882-1963)

Woman with Guitar


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Expressionism (1910-1939)

Centered in Austria and Germany

Influenced by Sigmund Freud and hispsychoanalytic theories

Expressionists were concerned mainlywith expressing their subjects emotionsoften extreme, anguish, hysteria,

nightmare and insanity


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Edvard Munch(1863-1944)

The Scream


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Cubism (1908-1914)

Concerned with reducing their subjects tothe basic elements of form sphere, coneand cylinder.

First to produce non-representational art.


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Pablo Picasso(1881-1973)

Three Musicians


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Marc Chagall(1887-1985)

The Green Violinist


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Dadaism

World War I

Group of painters and poets who tried tobreak down the established rules of art.

Dada means hobbyhorse in French connotes childishness.


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Marcel Duchamp(1887-1968)

L.H.O.O.Q.


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Abstract Art

1920s in Germany, Russia and the

Netherlands

Use of primary colors and painted two-dimensional works of geometricabstraction.


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Piet Mondrian(1872-1944)

Broadway Boogie-Woogie


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Surrealism

Salvador Dali

(1904-1989)

The Persistence of Memory


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Joan Mir (1893-1983)

Ballerina II


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Musical Style from 1900-1950

Musical Centers France, Germany,United States


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Elements of Music

Rhythm

witnesses a revitalization

becomes one of the most striking elements of music

represents the physical nature of life hectic urbanlife, surge and clatter of a highly industrial andtechnical society

increasingly became an outlet for innovation:

complex rhythms, irregular meters and accents,rapidly changing meters, polyrhythms (simultaneoususe of several rhythmic patterns)


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Melody less reliance on melody

irregular unbalanced melodies angular, more instrumental in conception

Harmony a single accepted harmonic language became a thing

of the past.

Before 1900, harmony was based on consonant anddissonant chords, and triadic or tertian harmony.These distinctions became blurred in 20th centuryharmonic practices.

New harmonic practices were brought into existence

to suit compositional needs: polychord, quartalharmony, tone clusters, new scales, polytonality,resurgence of modality, atonality 12-tone


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Texture

Homophonic music is predominant but thereis a resurgence in emphasis on polyphonictextures

Dynamics

gradual, less extreme

Tone color

became more important than ever; especially

evident in the use of percussion


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Orchestration trend toward smaller orchestra with a leaner

sound (economics) string sections loses its traditional leader role

less emphasis on a blended sound

Form divergent, form follows function

Jazz popular style from late 19th century which

directly influences a number of 20th centurycomposers


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Eclectic Musical Styles

Impressionism

Nationalism

Neo-Classicism

Serialism

Expressionism

Avant-Garde


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Impressionism

French movement of the late 19th century toearly 20th century that began in the visual artsbut later extended into literature and music

Paralleled impressionistic paintings: vaguemotives that only suggested a melody; variedtimbre; short, flexible forms; use of modes,pentatonic and whole tone scales; shifting

meters and rhythms which blur rhythmic effects;use of parallel chords and ninth chords (easilywent from major to minor and vice versa).

Cl d D b


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Claude Debussy(1862-1918)

French composer of orchestral music,opera, ballet, piano, chamber music andchansons

Disenchanted with Germanic traditions(strict form, traditional orchestration,tonal/chromatic harmonies, metric rhythms)

Found influence from eastern musicgamelon (Javanese) and bronze percussioninstruments of Indonesia

Influenced by symbolist poets (Mallarme)

Debussys music virtually defines thetransition from late Romantic music totwentieth century modernist music

P l d l idi d f


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Prlude laprs-midi dun faune(1894)

The composition was inspired by the poemLAprs-midi dun faune by StphaneMallarm

It is one of Debussy's most famous worksand is considered a turning point in thehistory of music

It is a work that barely grasps onto tonalityand harmonic function

M i R l


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Maurice Ravel(1875-1937)

Bolero (1928)

Fascination with tonecolor, Spanish music,obsessive rhythmicrepetition

Originally a ballet

Ravel said of this piece(It is) an experiment

consisting of one long,very gradual crescendo


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Nationalism

Reflection of a country by utilizing folksong, stories and dances. This styleencouraged authenticity (scientific method

applied to music). This style reflected both the culture of the

city along with the urban.

Bla Bartk, Aaron Copland, Charles Ives,George Gershwin

Ch l I


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Charles Ives(1874-1954)

Putnams Camp, Redding,Connecticut (1912) FromThree Places in New England

(Orchestral Set No. 1)

The piece is famous for its use ofmusical quotation and paraphrasing.

The piece showcases Ives signaturestyle traits of his style:

layered textures multiple, simultaneous melodies, many

of which are recognizable hymn andmarching tunes masses of sound, and tone clusters sudden, sharp textural contrasts

A C l d


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Aaron Copland(1900-1990)

Appalachian Spring,1943-1944

Originally a ballet

Created at the requestof the choreagrapher,

Martha Graham Rearranged as an

orchestral suite


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Neoclassicism

A revival of the techniques, forms andstyle features characteristic of theRenaissance, Baroque and Classical

periods Originated in Germany

Igor Stravinsky, Bla Bartk, Aaron

Copland

I St i k


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Igor Stravinsky(1882-1971)

Rite of Spring, 1913

Ballet choreographedby Vaslav Najinsky

Regarded as one of the

most influential 20thcentury scores

Innovative use ofcomplex rhythmicstructures, timbres, and

dissonance http://www.youtube.com/watch

?v=bjX3oAwv_Fs


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Serialism

Serialistic or 12-tone atonal music

Originated in Germany

Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Anton

Webern Uses a row (a fixed sequence of the 12

tones of the chromatic scale) as the

unifying basis for a composition's melody,harmony, structural progressions, andvariations

Arnold Schoenberg


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Arnold Schoenberg(1874-1951)

Moondrunk from

Pierrot Lunaire,

1912

A melodrama

Use of

Sprechstimme Atonal


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Expressionism

A style that, like Impressionism, began first inthe visual arts and then moved into literatureand music.

As opposed to Impressionism which lookedoutward Expressionism looked inward andsought to express inward emotions

Originated in Germany

Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Anton Webern

Alban Berg


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Alban Berg(1885-1935)

Wozzeck(1917-1922)

Opera about theinevitability ofhardship and the

exploitation for thepoor


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Avant-garde

This style sought to overcome years of neglectin the elements of timbre and rhythm.

Often this style was not embraced by the public

but promoted by artists. This style included aleatory music (chance

music that exploits randomness), electronic andmultimedia.

Originated in France

Edgard Varse, Milton Babbitt, John Cage


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Edgard Varse

Pome lectronique (1958) Composed for the Phillips

Pavillon at the 1958 BrusselsWorlds Fair

The first, electronic-spatial

environment to combinearchitecture, film, light andmusic to a total experiencemade to functions in time andspace

Utilized machine noises,transported piano chords,filtered choir and solo voices,and synthetic tone colorings


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Radical Experimentationand Postmodernism:

The Arts since 1950

Cultural Influences


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Cultural Influences

Politically: establishment of nations,continual struggle for control, third worldvs. major powers

Economically: international trade, globalcommercialization

Socially: mobility of society, human rights,social concerns, drugs, HIV/AIDS

Technologically: world communication,internet, electronics, computer, Palm Pilots


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Other Influences

Radical Experimentation A general sense of restlessness pervaded culture

after WWII. Artists began experimenting with newtechniques, new materials, new ideas (avant-garde).

Postmodernism A new movement that followed Modernism. One aspects of Postmodernism is the attempt to

discover the meaning of art. A second aspect is the concept of cultural relativity

no one culture or idea is better or more worthy thanany other, it all depends on the context. Resulted in blending of Eastern culture, rediscovery

of past styles (tonality).


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Visual Art Since 1950

AssemblageAbstract Expressionism

Pop Art Op Art (Optical Art)


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Assemblage

The technique of putting together constructions fromdifferent media, often pieces of junk.

Robert Rauschenberg

(1925-2008)

Odalisk


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Abstract Expressionism

American movement that grew out ofSurrealisms interest in the sub-consciousand what the mind can do without any

conscious suggestion. Abstract Expressionists produced huge

pictures full of color, energy andspontaneity.

Jackson Pollock Autumn Rhythm,Number 30

Jackson Pollock


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Jackson Pollock(1912-1956)

Autumn Rhythm,Number 30


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Pop Art

Draws inspiration from popular culture and themass production processes

Andy Warhol

(1928-1987)

Green Coca-Cola Bottles


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Op Art (Optical Art)

Refers to artworks that depend on the viewers eyesresponding to the lines and patterns in a certain way

(optical illusions)

Bridget Riley(b. 1931) Current

M sic Since 1950 Gene al


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Music Since 1950: GeneralCharacteristics

Total Serialism Aleatoric Music

Minimalism Music Quotation Tonal Music New Sounds Electronic Sounds Liberation of Sound Mixed Media


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Increased use of 12-tone system duringthe 1950s and 1960s.

Proponent: Aaron Copland

Total Serialism: use of the techniques of

12-tone to organize rhythm, dynamicsand tone color during the 1940s and

1950s.

Proponents: Milton Babbitt, KarlheinzStockhausen, Pierre Boulez


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Aleatoric Music or Chance music:composer chooses pitches, tone colors

and rhythms by random methods, orallows the performer to choose much ofthe music material.

Proponent: John Cage

Minimalism: characterized by a steadypulse, clear tonality and insistent

repetition of short melodic patterns. Proponents: Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip

Glass, John Adams


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Music Quotation: works containingdeliberate quotations from earlier music.

Proponents: Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, GeorgeCrumb, George Rochberg

Tonal Music and a return to tonality:New Romantics

Proponents: David Del Tredici, George

Rochberg


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Electronic Sounds: The development of tape studios,synthesizers and computers in the 1950s and 1960sresulted in potentially unlimited resources for theproduction and control of sound. Composers are nolonger limited by human performers.

Proponent: Milton Babbitt

Liberation of sound: greater exploitation of noise-likesounds. Increased use of microtones. Proponent: Krzysztof Penderecki

Mixed Media: Music (often electronic) is presented

together with visual counterparts (slides, films,gestures, theatrical action


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Music Since 1950:

Representational Pieces

Mil B bbi (b )


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Milton Babbitt (b. 1916)

Semi-Simple Variations (1956)

G C b (b 1929)


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George Crumb (b. 1929)

Ancient Voices of Children (1970) From Where Do You Come, My Love, My Child?

Phili Gl (b 1937)


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Philip Glass (b. 1937)

Einstein on the Beach(1976) Glass first and longest

opera (five hours)

A trilogy of operas: Einstein

on the Beach, Satyagraha,Akhnaten

These three operas serveas "portrait" operas thatportray men whosepersonal vision transformedthe thinking of their timethrough the power of ideasand not arms.

Ell T ff Z ili h (b 1939)


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Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (b. 1939)

Concerto Grosso (1985) Commissioned to commemorate the 300th birthday of

George Frideric Handel Utilizes themes from a Handel Violin Sonata Clear example of quotation music

J h Ad (b 1947)


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John Adams (b. 1947)

Short Ride in a Fast Machine (1986) Example of minimalism

Four important influences


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Four important influenceson 20th/21st century music

Womens movement (1960s): performers to

composers to conductors

Economics of composing

rift between composer and audience

government foundations now waning

Computer/Midi Popular and Classical fusion


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Summary

It is difficult to judge our present musical stylessince history gives us perspective.

Listeners who worry that the music of our timeis no good may be interested to know thatsimilar concerns were expressed about music inWagners time and even in Beethovens time.

20th/21st century music, like music of everyage, effectively mirrors the prevailing patterns ofthe time.

music in the twentieth century

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