Chapter 24—The Changing World of Music Since 1945

Heirs to the Classical TraditionTonal TraditionalismSerial and Non-Serial ComplexityNew Sounds and TexturesMusic of Texture and ProcessThe Avant-GardeMinimalism and Post-MinimalismInteractions with Non-Western MusicThe New Accessibility and Other TrendsQuotation, Collage, and PolystylismNeo-Romanticism

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Heirs to the Classical Tradition

1. Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)a. French composer, organist and ornithologistb. Devote Roman Catholic, which informs his musicc. Study of birdsong also influenced his musicd. Attended the Paris Conservatoiree. Studied with Paul Dukas and Marcel Dupref. Taught Pierre Boulezg. Prisoner of War of the Nazis during WWIIh. Important works

i. Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time) (1940)a. Written while incarcerated and scored for piano, violin,

cello and clarinet, the instruments played by his fellow prisoners

b. Not about the Apocalypse or his incarceration, but derived from the Book of Revelations, Chapter 10

c. Eight movements1. Liturgy of Crystal2. Vocalise for Angel who announces the end of time3. Abyss of the birds (clarinet solo)4. Interlude (Scherzo)5. Praise to the Eternity of Jesus6. Dance of fury, for the seven trumpets7. A mingling of rainbows for the Angel who

announces the end of time8. Praise to the Immortality of Jesus

ii. L’Ascension Symphony (1932-33)iii. Turangalîla-Symphonie (1948)

a. scored for piano solo, ondes Martenot and orchestra of triple winds, 4 horns, 5 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, large percussion section and strings

b. ten movementsc. commissioned by Serge Koussevitsky, premiere conducted

by Bernstein2. Futurama character Taranga Lila derived from Sanskrit, derived from this

symphony’s title

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3. Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)a. One of the most important 20th century British composersb. Life-time partnership with tenor Peter Pears, for whom Britten wrote

many musical works and operatic rolesc. Important works

i. War Requiem—based on Requiem Mass plus the anti-war poetry of Wilfred Owen, and English soldier who was killed in France during World War I. The work reflects Britten’s pacifism.

ii. The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (a didactic work written for the BBC)

iii. Albert Herring (opera)iv. Peter Grimes (opera)—the work tells the story of an individual

who is persecuted by the “mob”, and can be understood as an allegory for the condition of homosexuals in a hostile society. The finale of Act III is an extraordinary application of bitonality

v. The Turn of the Screw (opera—based on a novel by Henry James)vi. Billy Budd (opera)

Tonal Traditionalism

1. Samuel Barber (1910-1981)a. Although Barber did employ some modernist techniques, he was fully

committed to tonalityb. Most famous work is his Adagio for Strings, which is actually the slow

movement of his string quartet. Arturo Toscanini heard it and asked Barber to score it for full string orchestra

c. Barber suffered from depression. The failure of his opera Antony and Cleopatra cause him to become withdrawn.

d. Other major works include three Essays for Orchestra, a Violin Concerto, Piano Concerto and Cello Concerto, Hermit Songs, etc.

2. Alberto Ginastera (see chapter 23)3. Michael Tippett (1905-1998)

a. Tippett was open to both Western and Non-Western styles, incorporating (for example) Javanese gamelan musical influences in his Piano Concerto and Triple Concerto

b. Tippett’s opera The Midsummer Marriage is based directly on Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute, but in also contains Jungian influences.

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Serial and Non-Serial Complexity1. Politics and institutional support

a. Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Musici. Darmstadt was the first German city to force Jews to close their

shops, as early as 1933. Because Darmstadt was central to the Nazi regime, it was heavily bombed, resulting in an extraordinary building campaign after the war

ii. Darmstadt is important as a technology center. It also has a large jazz archive.

iii. The International Summer Course was a Post-WWII music festival in Germany. It was funded by the new German Government with secret assistance of US occupying forces. Almost every major modernist discussed in this chapter (Boulez, Babbitt, Xenakis, Ligeti, Messiaen, Stockhausen) and others have taught there.

b. University composers in the United Statesi. Universities became havens for modernist, serial, electronic and

other experimental musical styles in the mid-century.2. The listener—new difficulties in perceiving themes. Rhythmical pulse,

progression, logical structure, etc.3. The performer—new virtuosity required4. Pierre Boulez (1925- )

a. Studied mathematics at Lyonb. Pursued music at the Paris Conservatory where he studied with Olivier

Messiaen and Rene Leibowitzc. Admired and then attempted to depose Schoenberg, Webern, and

Messiaend. First pursued teaching, then pursued a dual career as a composer and

conductori. First conducting post in Baden-Baden, beginning in 1958

ii. Music Director of the New York Philharmonic (1971-75)iii. Principal Guest Conductor Chicago Symphony (1971-77)iv. Has conducted at Bayreuth

e. Taught at Darmstadt, Basel University, Harvard and College de Francef. Developed integral Serialismg. Important works:

i. Structures Iii. Le marteau sans maître

h. Founded IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique Musique) and the Ensemble InterComtemporain

5. Luciano Berio (1925-2003)a. Studied at Milanb. Married to Kathy Berberian (there were two subsequent marriages)c. Studied with Luigi Dallapiccola, later studied at Darmstadt where he met

Boulez, Stockhausen and Ligetid. Founded and electronic studio in Milan with Bruno Madernae. Taught at Tanglewood and Juilliard, resident composer at Harvard

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f. He was the teacher of Steve Reich and a director of IRCAMg. Important works:

i. Sinfonia (for orchestra and amplified voices; the finale quotes Mahler’s Symphony No.2, La Mer, La valse, and brief snatches of quotations from Schoenberg and Webern)

ii. Made a new completion of Puccini’s Turandotiii. Sequenza, in a series numbered I-XIViv. Un re in ascolta—opera

New Sounds and Textures

1. New Instruments, Sounds and Scalesa. Harry Partch (1901-1974)

i. Repudiated tempered scaleii. Invented a 43-tone scale based on just intonation

iii. Music was inspired by a variety of sources, including Jewish, Native American, Christian, African, rural American music.

iv. He built new instruments that were capable of reproducing these scales

v. Important works include: Oedipus—A Music-Dance Drama, The Bacchae.

b. George Crumb (1929- )i. Studied at the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan

ii. Influenced by Weberniii. Uses electronically amplified instruments and other unusual

techniques, e.g., speaking and blowing into a flute simultaneously, or glass marble poured onto a timpani head.

iv. Uses idiosyncratic notation schemesv. Won the Pulitzer Prize in 1968 for “Echoes of Time and the River_

vi. Other important worksa. Ancient Voices of Children—settings of four texts by

Federico Garcia Lorca, with two interludes. Scored for toy piano, musical saw, harmonica, mandolin, Tibetan prayer stones, and electric piano

b. Black Angels—(1970) for electric string quartet using unconventional playing techniques, e.g., striking strings near peg box with bow, bowing between fingers and peg box, etc. The work quotes the Dies irae and Death and the Maiden by Schubert.

2. Non-Western Styles and Instrumentsa. Colin McPhee (1900-1964)

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3. Electronic Musica. Musique concrète

i. Editing together of natural and electronically produced soundsii. Pierre Schaeffer (French radio broadcaster) created early pieces

iii. Later developed by Edgar Vareseiv. Technique taken up by Beatles (Revolution 9), Pink Floyd (Bike)

and Frank Zappa (Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny)b. Theremin

i. Invented in 1919 by Russian inventor Leon Thereminii. Imitated the human voice

iii. Requires no physical contact with instrumentiv. Uses circuits and antennasv. Can be heard on Star Trek and even the Simsons and Futurama (on

which the character Taranga Lila appears)c. Ondes Martenot (French for “waves”)

i. Invented 1928. It can be played in two ways, described in notation as au clavier and ruban. #1—played on a keyboard, a five-octave span similar to that of a piano, with the additional ability of broad vibratos and quarter-tones. #2—the player wears a metal ring on the right forefinger, controlling a ribbon across a condenser to produce the desired pitch, using the keyboard as a visual guide to achieve portamento and glissando effects.

ii. In classical music, used by Messiaen, Honneger (Jeanne d’Arc) and Koechlin, Varèse

iii. In film, used in Ghostbusters, Lawrence of Arabia, and Amélieiv. Popular groups—Radiohead

d. Electronic music studiose. Karlheinz Stockhausenf. Edgard Varèse (1883-1965)

i. Considered the Father of Electronic Musicii. Studied with d’Indy at the Schola Cantorum and later at the Paris

Conservatoryiii. Moved to Berlin where he met Strauss and Busoniiv. Emigrated to New York City in 1915v. Important works:v. Amériques (1921)

vi. Hyperprism, Octandre (1923)vii. Integrales (1925)

viii. Ionisation (1931)—written during Varèse’s long return to Parisix. Density 21.5 (1936)—followed by a hiatus of nearly 20 yearsx. Dèserts (1954)—for wind, percussion and tape

xi. Poéme electronique (1957-8)g. Synthesizers

i. Mark II Electronic Music Synthesizer

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ii. Robert Moog and Donald Buchla. Morton Sobotnik composed Silver Apples for the Moon in 1967 for the Buchla synthesizer.

h. Milton Babbitt (1916- )i. Pioneer in serial and electronic music

ii. Studied violin, clarinet and saxophoneiii. Father was a mathematicianiv. Studied with Roger Sessionsv. Teacher of Charles Wuorinen

vi. Famous article in High Fidelity “Who Cares if You Listen?” made him notorious—title changed without his consent

vii. Developed the all-combinatorial rowviii. Important works include Composition for Twelve Instruments

Music of Texture and Process

1. Iannis Xenakis2. György Ligeti (1923- )

i. Jewish-Hungarian composerii. Put into forced labor by the Nazis, his parents were sent to

Auschwitziii. After the war, studied with Zoltan Kodaly (the associate of Bartok)iv. Ligeti’s life and work was affected by the Communist Regime of

Hungary; he left Hungary to work in Colonne with Stockhausenv. Atmosphéres and Lux Aeterna were used by Stanley Kubrick in

2001:A Space Odysseyvi. He coined the term “micropolyphony” to describe his music. The

term describes the gradual flow of harmonic and melodic materials so that chords changes gradually and new chords emerge slowly out of a blurred sound image.

vii. After about 1970, Ligeti changed to a more melodic and rhythmic style

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Style Trends

1. Modernist—composers who seek to place their music along side the great masterworks

2. Experimentalist—composers who try new methods for their own sake 3. Avant-garde—iconoclasts

The Avant-Garde

1. John Cage (1912-1992)a. American experimental composer who applied Buddhist philosophy to

music. Schoenberg, with whom Cage studied, described Cage as being “not a composer, but an inventor- of genius.”

b. Pioneered:i. Prepared piano and other non-standard uses of instruments

ii. Indeterminacyiii. Aleatoric music

c. Quote: “The strings, the winds, the brass know more about music than they do about sound. To study noise they must go to the school of percussion. There they will discover silence, a way to change one's mind; and aspects of time that have not yet been put into practice. European musical history began the study (of the iso-rhythmic motet) but it was put aside by the theory of harmony… The spirit of percussion opens everything, even what was, so to speak, completely closed.”

d. Important works:i. Music of Changes

ii. Imaginary Landscape (series of works under this title)iii. Variations III

2. Earle Brown3. Digital Technologies

a. Samplingb. Computer music

4. Minimalism and Post-Minimalism—From Avant-Garde to Widespread Appeala. General—in the visual arts and music, minimalism is a movement which

stripped down art to its most fundamental features. Aesthetically, it is rooted in modernism (1890-1910) and can be seen as a reaction to Expressionism

i. Repetition or short musical phrases, figures, motifs and cells, with small variations over time

ii. Dronesiii. Stasis (lack of dynamic direction in the music)iv. Consonant harmony, but not necessarily functional tonality. In

fact, Minimalist music often eschews the functionality of chords in favor of their color

v. Steady pulse

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vi. Just as Debussy rejected “Impressionism” as a term which could appropriately describe his music, Philip Glass has rejected the label “Minimalist” to describe his music (“That term should be stamped out” according to Glass)

vii. Minimalism has an affinity to electronic music and Pop musicb. Steven Reich

i. born 1936 in New York Cityii. Studied philosophy at Cornell, later music at Juilliard

iii. Later studied with William Bergsma, Vincent Persichetti, and Luciano Berio

iv. On being a Minimalist, Reich said, if you dug up Debussy and asked him: “'Excusez-moi Monsieur…are you an impressionist?' he'd probably say 'Merde!' and go back to sleep. That is a legitimate concern of musicologists, music historians, and journalists, and it's a convenient way of referring to me…Basically, those kind of words are taken from painting and sculpture, and applied to musicians who composed at the same period as that painting and sculpture was made.”

v. Phase shifting—A technique developed by Reich, in which one instrumentalist maintains a steady tempo, while the other gradually moves ahead of the first until it becomes “out of phase”, and then gradually returns “into phase.” Reich began doing this with recordings of both parts, but in Piano Phase and Violin Phase (1967), the instrumentalist records the piece, and then plays against him/herself.

vi. Other compositions:a. Tehillim—composed in 1981, the title Tehillim comes from

the Hebrew word for “psalms”. It is the first work by Reich which reflects his Jewish heritage. It is scored for 4 women’s voices, piccolo, flute, oboe, English horn, 2 clarinets, 6 percussionists, 2 electric organs, 2 violins, viola, cello and bass. The winds and strings are amplified. While there is steady pulse in the piece, there is no metre. The composition follows the rhythm of the Hebrew text and has a clear tonal center.

b. Different Trains—Grammy award winning work for tape and string quartet. The work uses recorded speech of people talking about different kinds of trains, including Holocaust survivors who talk about the use of trains during WWII. The recorded speeches were transferred to a digital sampling board and used as the source of the melodies.

c. Desert Music—a large scale work for voices and orchestra based on texts by William Carlos Williams (an American poet often associated with modernism)

c. Philip Glass (1937- )i. born in Maryland of Lithuanian Jewish parents

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ii. Studied at Peabody Conservatory, University of Chicago, and Juilliard. His teachers include Vincent Persichetti and William Bergsma (the same as Reich). Later, he studied with Darius Milhaud and Nadia Boulanger. Glass became a Buddhist in 1972.

iii. Considered the composer, after Leonard Bernstein, to have brought serious art music to the general public.

iv. His collaborators include David Bowie, Robert Wilson (director and lighting designer), Ravi Shankar (Indian sitar player), and Allen Ginsberg (“beat” poet)

v. Important works:a. An opera trilogy:

1. Einstein on the Beach—the opera has a plotless libretto which consists of solfege syllables, numbers, poetry on the theory of relativity, nuclear weapons, and science.

2. Sathyagraha—loosely based on the life of Mohandas K. Gandhi. The libretto, in Sanskrit, usually performed with super-titles, talks about non-violent resistance to injustice. Each act refers to a major related cultural figure: Leo Tolstoy, Rabindranath Tagore and Martin Luther King, Jr.

3. Akhenaton—the opera is about the tragedy of Akhenaton, who’s life and religious convictions led to his downfall. Akhenaton conceived an early form of monotheism. Texts for the opera come from the Egyptian Book of the Dead and Biblical Hebrew. Glass conceived of Einstein, Gandhi and Akhenaten as being driven by an inner vision (science, politics and religion respectively).

b. A second opera trilogy of three operas were inspired by films of Jean Cocteau includes Orphée, La Belle et la Bête and Les Enfants Terrible

c. Important film scores1. Kundun—about the Dalai Lama, directed by Martin

Scorsese, 19972. The Truman Show—directed by Peter Weir and

starring Jim Carrey, 19983. The Hours—directed by Stephen Daldry and

starring Nicole Kidman, 20024. The Fog of War—documentary about Robert

McNamara and the Vietnam War, 20035. The Secret Window—directed by David Koepp,

written by Stephen King and starring Johnny Depp, 2004

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d. John (Coolidge) Adams (1947- )i. Studied at Harvard University

ii. Taught and conducted at San Francisco Conservatoryiii. Became Music Advisor to the San Francisco Symphonyiv. Important works:

1. Nixon in China—opera, 1987a. Directed by Peter Sellarsb. Choreography by Mark Morrisc. Excerpt “The Chairman Dances” has become a

popular concert piece2. The Death of Klinghoffer—based on the murder of Leon

Klinghoffer by Palestinian terrorists on board a Mediterranean cruise ship the Achille Lauro. The work stirred controversy in much the same way as did Stephen Spielberg’s film Munich, in that it seemed to provoke sympathy for some of the terrorists. In fact, the work condemns terrorism. The work is indebted to as diverse pieces as Pierrot Lunaire and Bach’s sacred oratorios.

3. Grand Pianola Music (1982)4. Shaker Loops (1983)5. Short Ride in a Fast Machine (1986)6. Century Rolls (1996)7. Lollapalooza (1995)

1. According to Adams: “Lollapalooza mean something outlandish and not duly refined. H.L. Mencken suggests it may have originally mean a knockout punch. I was attracted to it because of its internal rhythm: da-da-da-DAAH-da. Hence, in my piece, the word is spelled out in the trombones and tubas, C-C-C-Eb-C…as a kind of idée fixe.

8. Slonimsky’s Earbox (1996)—modeled after Stravinsky’s Le Chant du Rosignol. Slonimsky wrote The Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns. The piece memorializes Slonimsky’s wit and energy as well as his accomplishments.

9. Dr. Atomic—opera based on a libretto by Peter Sellars

Interactions with Non-Western Music

1. Bright Sheng

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The New Accessibility and Other Trends1. Ellen Taaffe Zwilich

a. Born 1939b. Post-modernist, neo-romantic composerc. First woman composer to win the Pulitzer Prized. Several Grammy nominationse. Teaches at Florida State Universityf. Her works have been performed by most of the major orchestras in the

USA, and many orchestras internationallyg. Important works

i. Symphony No. 1 (1982), a. won the Pulitzer Prizeb. in three movements

ii. Bassoon Concerto (1993)a. Cast in two movementsb. Commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony

iii. Celebration Overture (1984)iv. Other concertos for: Clarinet, Bass trombone, Flute, Horn, Oboe,

Piano, Trombone, Violin, Violin and Cellov. Peanuts Gallery--written because of frequent references to her

music by Lucy in the comic strip2. Arvo Pärt

Quotation, Collage, and Polystylism

1. Alfred Schnittke2. John Corigliano (1938- )

a. Studied with Paul Creston and Vittorio Giannini (two composers who were coincidentally featured on this year’s all-state band concert)

b. Won the Grawemeyer Award in 1991.c. Important works:

i. Symphony No. 1—Corigliano’s “Aids”Symphonya. Movement 1—Apologue: Of Rage and Remembrance b. Tarantellac. Chaconned. Epiloguee. Borrows Albéniz’s Tango and own worksf. Uses spatial music—brass surrounds orchestra in finale

ii. The Ghost of Versailles (opera)a. Based on “La Mère Coupable” by Beaumarchaisb. Main characters are Marie Antionette and Beaumarchais

iii. The Red Violina. Film score written in 1998b. Received the Academy Awardc. Later developed into several concert works

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iv. Altered Statesa. Film starred William Hurt and Drew Barrymoreb. For work, Corigliano developed “event” notation system

3. Peter Schickele and “P.D.Q. Bach (1935- )i. Serious works include 5 string quartetsii. As P. D. Q. Bach written numerous humorous works, for example:

a. “Howdy” Symphony (parodying Haydn)b. Oratorio The Seasoningsc. Cantata Iphigenia in Brooklynd. Opera The Abduction of Figaro

4. Henryk Górecki (1933- )a. Studied with Szymanowskib. Most popular work is 3rd Symphony (1976)

a. For soprano and orchestrab. texts from 15th century lament, words written by a teenaged

girl on her cell wall when she was a Gestapo prisoner, and a folk song

5. Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994)a. Considered the most important Polish composer after Chopinb. Important works

1. four symphonies2. Concerto for Orchestra (comparable to Bartok’s work b the

same title)3. Little Suite

c. Winner of 1st Grawemeyer Award in Music Composition 1. The Grawemeyer is the largest cash award for serious

composers. The award is now for $200,000. 2. It was endowed in 1985. While it is awarded for a single

work, it is considered a lifetime achievement award3. Other winner of the Grawemeyer have been:

a. Ligeti (1986, Etudes for piano)b. Joan Tower (1990, Silver Ladders)c. John Corigliano (Symphony No.1)d. John Adams (1995, Violin Concerto)e. Tan Dun (1998, Marco Polo)f. Pierre Boulez (2001, Sur incises)

Neo-Romanticism

1. Kristof Penderecki (1933- )a. Influenced by Webern, Boulez, and Stravinskyb. Important works:

i. Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshimaii. St. Luke Passion

iii. The Devils of Loudun (opera)

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iv. Paradise Lost (opera)v. Eight symphonies

vi. Two violin concertivii. Polymorphia and De Natura Sonoris (both used in Stanley

Kubrick’s The Shining)2. George Rochberg

a. Used romantic and modernist styles to great expressive effectb. String Quartet (1978)c. Imago Mundi (orchestral work)

3. David Del Tredicia. Initially used atonal and serial methodsb. Later became a Neo-Romanticc. Cycle of “Alice” works including Final Alice

i. Scored for amplified soprano and orchestraii. Uses standard orchestra, plus banjo, mandolin, accordion. Soprano

saxophones

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