Monday, April 7, 2014

17 - 20th Century Classical Music (1890 - 1965)

NOTE that this is part one of two parts covering Classical music of the 20th Century.
Characteristics of “Modern” Classical Music (1900-1965)
  1. Diverse
  2. Conventional instruments
    1. Traditional techniques
    2. Unconventional techniques
  3. Unconventional instruments
  4. Often complex
    1. Blurred tonality
    2. Longer melodies
    3. Difficult, puzzling forms
  5. Timbre and rhythm over melody and harmony
Impressionism: Early 20th Century Music
  1. Style adapted from French painting philosophy
    1. Monet
    2. Renoir
  2. Reaction against intellectual German music
  3. Favored delicate instruments
    1. Flute
    2. Harp
    3. Strings
Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918)
  1. French
  2. Rejected traditional practices
  3. Influenced by
    1. Painters
    2. Poets
    3. Gamelan music of Indonesia
  4. Excelled at works for piano and orchestra
  5. Pianist for Tchaikovsky’s patroness
  6. Well-known music of Debussy
    1. Le Mer
    2. Claire de Lune
Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937)
  1. French
  2. Expanded traditional practices
  3. Musical characteristics
    1. Required a lot of the performer
    2. Virtuosic
  4. Excelled at works for piano, voice, chamber groups and orchestra
  5. Estate earns more royalties than that of any other French musician.
  6. Well-known music of Ravel
    1. Pavanne
    2. Pictures at an Exhibition
Experimental Music
  1. Avant-garde composers in every generation
    1. Experimental works
    2. Varying degrees of success
  2. Two types of composers
    1. Uses proven techniques
    2. Wants to develop original techniques
Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971)
  1. Russian
  2. Became American citizen
    1. Style contributions
    2. Rhythmic complexity
    3. Innovative orchestration
    4. Original uses of tonality
    5. Reinvention of other material
      • Baroque and Classical forms
      • Jazz
      • Russian folk melodies
  3. Representative Works
  4. Ballets
    1. The Firebird
    2. Petrushka
    3. The Rite of Spring
  5. Opera, The Rake’s Progress
  6. Chamber work, The Soldier’s Tale
  7. Opera-Oratorio
    1. Oedipus Rex
    2. Symphony of Psalms
Bela Bartók (1881 – 1945)
  1. Hungarian
  2. Ethnomusicologist
    1. Preserved folk songs of Hungary
    2. Did field recordings
    3. Used Hungarian folk melodies in his compositions
  3. Extended his interest to other parts of Europe/Africa
  4. Representative Works
    1. Mikrokosmos
    2. Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta
    3. Concerto for Orchestra
    4. 6 string quartets
    5. 3 piano concertos
Atonal Music and Serialism
  1. Atonality
    1. Literally means, “No tonality”
    2. Alternative to major and minor keys
  2. Serialism
    1. Uses the 12 tones in a fixed row
    2. No traditional scales
    3. No traditional chords
  3. Row may be altered
    1. Reversed
    2. Upside down
    3. Transposed
    4. Combinations of the above (i.e. reversed and transposed)
Arnold Schoenberg (1874 – 1951)
  1. Austrian
  2. Became an American citizen
  3. Early works post-romantic
  4. Style
    1. Disjunct melodies
    2. Small ensembles
    3. Irregular phrases
    4. Complex and fragmentary sound
    5. Controversial
  5. Representative Works
    1. Verklärte Nacht
    2. Five Pieces for Orchestra
    3. Pierrot Lunaire
    4. Variations for Orchestra
    5. Opera, Moses and Aaron
Neo-Classical Music
  1. Return to structures/aesthetics of the past
    1. Forms of previous periods (Romantic, Classic and Baroque)
    2. Using some modern developments and trends in tonality as well as Jazz
    3. Generally, composer in England stayed away from the strange inventiveness of those from Eastern Europe that migrated to the US
  2. Possible traits
    1. Control
    2. Order
    3. Emotional restraint
    4. Minimal instrumentation
    5. Transparent texture
Ralph Vaughn Williams (1872 – 1958)
  1. Prolific English composer
    1. Symphonies
    2. Chamber music
    3. Opera
    4. Choral music
    5. Band music
    6. Film scores.
  2. Collector of English folk music
    1. Influenced editorial approach to the English Hymnal
      1. Included many folk song arrangements set as hymn tunes
      2. Influenced several of own original compositions.

 Gustav Host (1874 – 1934)

  1. A contemporary of Vaughn Williams
  2. Attended Royal College of Music
  3. Inspired by literature and focused on orchestral works
  4. Highly respected throughout Europe
  5. Most famous composition, The Planets
  6. Tonality of the late Romantic era but experimented with tempo

You Tube video of the First Suite for Military Band by Host

Prof. Songer
JCTC - Downtown
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