Rhythmic Complexity Nonsymmetrical patterns based on odd numbers (5,7,11, or 13 beats per measure) ...
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Transcript of Rhythmic Complexity Nonsymmetrical patterns based on odd numbers (5,7,11, or 13 beats per measure) ...
Early Twentieth Century
Music 1900-1930
Rhythmic Complexity Nonsymmetrical patterns based on odd
numbers (5,7,11, or 13 beats per measure) Constantly changing meters Polyrhythm (simultaneous use of two or
more rhythmic patterns)
Musical Characteristics
Composers rejected the neatly balanced phrases of earlier music
Melody was no longer the focus of a composition.
Composers tried to make the instruments sing
Melody is no longer conceived in relation to the voice
Music Clip
The New Melody
Polychords (simultaneous sounding of two or more different chords; creating untraditional harmonies and tension in music.
Music Clip
Tutorial
The New Harmony
Atonal- music with no key center
Polytonal– A composition in two different keys played simultaneously
Twelve-Tone Row (Serialism)- A method of composing by Arnold Schoenberg, where equal importance is given to the 12 tones of the chromatic scale, by placing them in an organized series.
This method shattered all western ideals of tonal harmony by making dissonance (with no resolution to consonance) the norm
Music Clip
New Conceptions of Tonality
A French Movement developed by painters who tried to capture their “first impression” of a subject through varied treatments of light and color
Impression: Sun RisingClaude Monet
Impressionism (1890-1910)
Composers used vague outlines of melody and rhythm to paint pictures with their music
Composers used new scales and harmonies to create mood and atmosphere
Composers began to use dissonance more freely to create tension
Claire de Lune, Debussy
Impressionism in Music
The most important French composer of the early 20th Century. Attended the Paris Conservatory at age 11. Shocked his professors with his bizarre harmonies
that broke the traditional rules of composition Created a distinctive new style of writing for the
piano, using non-western scales Called the “father of modern music” Died during a bombardment in Paris,1918
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
The German response to French Impressionism Sought to represent the world in a distorted way,
to evoke mood, ideas, and extreme emotion Emerged as an avant-garde movement in poetry
and painting.
The Scream, 1893 Edvard Munch
Expressionism
Generally characteristic of Schoenberg’s atonal music and the twelve-tone system
Sought to express the subconscious through highly dissonant music
Expressionism in Music
Born in Vienna, Austria Began to study the violin at 8 years
old, and soon after begin composing
Received only a few months of musical training
Created 12-tone system at age 50 Emigrated to America after Hilter’s
rise to power and taught at UCLA Considered the first “great” teacher
since Bach.
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)
Early music reflected the Romantic style, staying within the boundaries of tonality.
Transfigured Night
In his second period, he abolished the distinction between consonance and dissonance and any sense of a home key. This period marked him as an
atonal-Expressionist. The high point of this period was the piece,
(sprechstimme) Pierrot Lunaire
Schoenberg’s Music
Schoenberg’s Art work
The Gaze (1910) Schoenberg
The Scream (1893)Edvard Munch
Mid Twentieth Century
Music 1930-1960
Continued use Schoenberg’s 12-tone system
Neo-Classicism Electronic Music Aleatoric Music (Chance Music)
Musical Characteristics
Composers returned to forms and techniques from the Baroque and Classical era, as a vehicle for expressing ideas.
Characterized by order, balance, clarity, and emotional restraint
A reaction against the unrestrained emotionalism of the Romantic Period
Brought more order to the increasing experimental forms of the early 20th century
Pulcinella, ballet by Igor Stravinsky
NeoClassicism in Music
Russian composer, who experimented boldly with rhythm
Explored the percussive use of dissonance, polyrhythms and polytonality
His style evolved continuously throughout his career
Composed using Neoclassical and 12-tone techniques Early works are strongly nationalistic, including
his ballet, The Rite of Spring
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Subtitled “Scenes of Pagan Russia” It’s premiere performance in1913 sparked
one of the most famous classical music riotsIn history The choreography was primitive and
sensual The dissonance was percussive The piece featured polyrhythms and
polytonalitySacrificial Dance
The Rite of Spring
The Dance by Henri Matisse
This Matisse painting is suggestive of a primitive dance, inspired by the Rite of Spring
Musique ConcreteBegan in Paris in the late 1940s and usednatural sounds (including musical instruments)recorded on magnetic tape as a new medium forcomposition
Once recorded, the sounds were manipulated by various means (changing the playback speed, reversing the direction of the tape, etc)
Musique Concrete Video
Electronic Music
Electronische MusikBegan in Germany in the early 1950s andcreated compositions using electronicallygenerated sounds
This paved the way to keyboard synthesizers. One of the most widely used was the Moog Synthesizer created by Robert Moog.
Electronic Music- 2
Also referred to as “Chance Music” rebelled against Schoenberg’s stricter organization of the 12-tone system.
Sought to achieve a greater, even total, freedom from all predetermined forms and procedures.
In Aleatoric music some element of the composition is left up to choice or chance (clip)
Composers may opt to throw dice to determine rhythm and melody, or perhaps base their compositions on a series of random numbers
Generated by a computer.
Aleatoric Music
Born in Los Angeles, and attended Pomona College
Exhibited an early interest in non-Western scales A pioneer in aleatoric music (4’33 secs) Cage was a student of Arnold Schoenberg Discovered that the division between
consonance and dissonance had given way to a new opposition between music and noise.
Invented music for “prepared piano”, to resemble the sound of a Javanese gamelan from Indonesia
John Cage (1912-1992)