Music of the 20th Century

Week 1
MUSIC OF THE 2OTH CENTURY
th
The start of the 20 century saw the
rise of distinct musical styles that
reflected a move away from the
convention of earlier Western Classical
music
Impressionism

● One of the earlier forms clearly

declaring the entry of 20th
century music was known as
Impressionism.
● This was based on an art
th
movement started by 19
century Paris-based
visual artists.
● The impressionist
movement in music had its
foremost proponents in the
French composers.
CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
● One of the most important and influential of the 20th century
composers was Claude Debussy.
● He was the primary exponent of the impressionist movement
and the focal point for other impressionist composers.
● He changed the course of musical development by evolving
traditional rules and conventions into a new language of
possibilities in harmony, rhythm, form, texture and color.
● He was born in St. Germain-en-Laye in France on August 22,
1862.
● His early musical talents were channeled into piano lessons.
Debussy’s mature creative period were represented by the following works:

● Ariettes Oubliees
● Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
● String Quartet
● Pelleas et Melisande (1895) – his
famous operatic work that drew mixed
reactions for its innovative harmonies and
textural treatments
● La Mer (1905) – a highly imaginative ant atmospheric
symphonic work for orchestra about the sea
● Images, Suite Bergamasque, and Estampes - his
most popular piano compositions; a set of lightly
textured pieces containing his signature work Claire de
Lune (Moonlight)
His musical compositions total more or less 227 which
include orchestral music, chamber music, piano music,
operas, ballets, songs, and other vocal music.
MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937)
● Joseph Maurice Ravel was born in Ciboure, France to a
Basque mother and a Swiss father.
● He entered the Paris Conservatory at the age of 14 where
he studied with the eminent French composer Gabriel
Faure, and here he composed a number of masterpieces
until his early 20s.
● The compositional style of Ravel is mainly characterized
by its uniquely innovative but not atonal style of
harmonic treatment. It is defined with intricate and
sometimes modal melodies and extended chordal
components.
Ravel’s works include the following:
● Pavane for a Dead Princess (1899) – a slow but lyrical
requiem
● Jeux d’ Eau or Water Fountains (1901)
● String Quartet (1903)
● Sonatine for Piano (1904)
● Miroirs (Mirrors) (1905) – a work for piano known for its
harmonic evolution and imagination
● Gaspard de la Nuit (1908) – a set of demonic-inspired pieces
based on the poems of Aloysius Bertrand which is arguably
the most difficult piece in the piano repertoire
● Valses Nobles et Sentimentales (1911) -
● Le Tombeau de Couperin (1917) – a commemoration of the
musical advocacies of the early 18th century
● Rhapsodie Espagnole (1907-1908)
● Bolero (1875-1937)
● Daphnis et Chloe (1912) – a ballet commissioned by master
choreographer Sergei Diaghiley that containede rhythmic
diversity, evocation of nature and a choral ensemble.
● La Valse (1920) a waltz with a frightening undertone that had
been composed for ballet and arranged as well for solo and duo
piano.
● Tzigane (1922) – a violin virtuosic piece
● Two piano concerti (1929)
● These works comprise the relatively meager compositional
output of Ravel, totaling approximately 60 pieces for piano,
chamber music, song cycles, ballet, and opera.
EXPRESSIONISM
● The term Expressionism was originally borrowed
from visual art and literature.
● Artists created vivid pictures, distorting colours and
shapes to make unrealistic images that suggested
strong emotions.
● Expressionist composers poured intense emotional
expression into their music and explored the
subconscious mind.
ARNOLD SHOENBERG (1874-1951)
● Arnold Schoenberg was born in a working-class
suburb of Vienna, Austria on September 13, 1874.
● He taught himself music theory, but took lessons in
counterpoint. His style was constantly undergoing
development.
● He is credited with the development of the
twelve-tone system. Although full of melodic and
lyrical interest, his music is also extremely
complex, creating heavy demands on the listener.
Schoenberg’s works include the following:
● Verklarte Nacht, Three Pieces for piano,
● Pierrot Lunaire
● Gurreleider
● Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night, 1899) – one of
the earliest successful pieces, which blends the
lyricism, instrumentation, and melodic beauty of
Brahms with the chromaticism and construction of
Wagner
Schoenberg’s approximately 213 musical compositions
include concerti, orchestral music, piano music, operas, choral
music, songs and other instrumental music
IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882-1971)
● Igor Stravinsky stands alongside fellow composer
Schoenberg, painter Pablo Picasso, and literary figure James
Joyce as one of the great trendsetters of the 20th century.
● He was born in Oranienbaum (now Lomonosov), Russia on
June 17, 1882. S
● Stravinsky’s early music reflected the influence of his teacher,
the Russian composer Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
● He adapted the forms of the 18th century with his contemporary
style of writing.
● Despite its “shocking” modernity, his music is also very
structured, precise, controlled, full of artifice, and theatricality.
Stravinsky’s works include:
● The Firebird Suite (1910) – composed for Diaghilev’s
Russian ballet
● Petrouchka (1911) – featuring shifting rhythms and
politonality, his signature device
● The Rite of Spring (1913) – in which a level of dissonance
was reached and the sense of tonality was practically
abandoned
● The Rake’s Progress (1951) – a full length opera
Stravinsky’s musical output approximates 127 works,
including concerti, orchestral music, instrumental music, operas,
ballets, solo vocal, and choral music.
●
Primitivism
● Primitivistic is tonal through the stressing of one note as
more important than the others.
● New sounds are synthesized from old one by placing
side by side two simple events to create a more complex
new event.
● Primitivism combines two familiar or simple ideas together
creating new sounds.
● Primitivism has links to Exoticism through the use of materials
from other cultures, to Nationalism through the use of
materials indigenous to specific countries, and to Ethnicism
through the use of materials from European ethnic groups.
BELA BARTOK (1881-1945)
● Bela Bartok was a proponent of Primitivism, born in
Nagyszentimiklos, Hungary (now Romania) on March
25, 1881 to musical parents.
● He started piano lessons with his mother and later
entered Budapest Royal Academy of Music in 1899. In
1906, with his fellow composer Zoltan Kodaly, Bartok
published his first collection of 20 Hungarian folk
songs.
● As a neo-classicist, primitivist and nationalist
composer, he used Hungarian folk themes and
rhythms
Bartok’s works include the following:
● Six String Quartet (1908-1938) – these represent the greatest
achievement of his creative life
● Concerto for Orchestra (1943) – a five-movement work
composed late in Bartok’s life.
● Allegro Barbaro (1911) – for solo piano is punctuated with
swirling rhythms and percussive chords.
● Mikrokosmos (1926-1939) – a set of six books containing
progressive technical piano pieces.
Bartok’s approximately 700 musical compostions include
concerti, orchestral music, piano music, instrumental music,
dramatic music, choral music, and songs.
Neo-Classicism
● A moderating factor between the emotional
excesses of the Romantic period and the
violent impulses of the soul in expressionism.
● An aesthetic trend rather than an organized
movement; even many composers not
usually thought of as “neo-classicists”
absorbed elements of the style.
SERGEI PROKOFIEFF (1891-1953)
● Sergei Prokofieff is regarded today as a combination of
neo-classicist, nationalist, and avant-garde composer.
● Style is uniquely recognizable for its progressive
technique, pulsating rhythms, melodic directness and
resolving dissonance. Born in Ukraine in 1891, Pokofieff
set out for the St. Petersburg Conservatory equipped with
his great talent as a composer and pianist.
● His early compositions were branded as avant-garde and
were not approved by his elders.
Prokofieff’s most notable works include:
● War and Peace – an operatic version Leo Tolstoy
● Romeo and Juliet - a ballet
● Peter and the wolf – a lighthearted orchestral work intended for
children
● Symphony no. 1 (Classical Symphony) – his most
accessible orchestral work
Prokofieff was highly successful in his piano music, as
evidenced by the wide acceptance of his piano concerti and
sonatas. featuring toccata-like rhythms and biting harmonic
dissonance within a Classical form and structure.
●
FRANCIS POULENC (1899-1963)
● Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was one of the relatively
few composers born into wealth and a privileged social
position. \
● He was a member of the group of young French
composers known as “Les Six.”
● He rejected the heavy romanticism of Wagner and the
so – called impression of Debussy and Ravel.
● His composition had a coolly elegant modernity,
tempered by a classical sense of proportion.
● Poulenc was a successful composer for piano, voice,
and choral music.
Poulenc’s works include:
● Concerto Champetre (1928) – the harpsichord concerto
● Concerto for Two Pianos (1932) – which combines the classical
touches of Mozart with refreshing mixture of wit and exoticism in the
style of Ravel
● Concerto for Solo Piano (1949) – written for Boston Symphony
Orchestra
● Les Mamelles de Tiresias (1944) – a vocal work which explain
light-hearted character
● Dialogues des Carmelites (1956) – which highlighted his
conservative writing style
● La Voix Humane (1958) – which reflects his own turbulent emotional
life.
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