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MUSIC
Quarter 1- Module 5
Music of the 20th Century
About the Module
This module is designed and written to help you appreciate the other musical styles
of the 20th century. These are the Electronic and Chance Music. You will also learn
that the 20th century is the Age of Diversity. The evolution of Popular Music will also
be discussed.
Module 5 will help you explore the following topics:
• Lesson 5: Electronic Music
• Lesson 6: Chance Music

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. relate 20th century music to its historical and cultural background;
2. explain the performance practice (setting, composition, role of
composers/performers and audience) of 20th century music; and
3. explore other arts and media that portray 20th century elements through
video films or live performances.

What I Know

Let us see how much you know about 20th Century Music. Read the statements
below carefully. Write the letter of the correct answer on your answer sheets.

1. What musical style uses synthesizers, amplifiers, tape recorders and loudspeakers
to create different sound?
A. Chance Music C. Electronic Music
B. Avant-garde Music D. Impressionism Music
2. What do you call the musical style that uses the tape recorder?
A. Chance Music C. Concrete Music
B. Impressionism D. Expressionism
3. Who was considered as an “innovative French-born composer”?
A. John Cage C. Edgard Varese
B. Arnold Schoenberg D. Mario Davidovsky
4. Who was known as a central figure in the realm of electronic music?
A. John Cage C. Mario Davidovsky
B. Edgard Varese D. Karlheinz Stockhausen
5. Who invented the term “organized sound”?
A. John Cage C. Mario Davidovsky
B. Edgard Varese D. Karlheinz Stockhausen

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6. What is another term for Edgar Varese’s use of tape-based sound proving
revolutionary music?
A. Chance Music C. Juxtaposed songs and anthems
B. Musique Concrete D. Stratospheric Colossus of Sound
7. Who was the “Father of Electronic Music”?
A. John Cage C. Mario Davidovsky
B. Edgard Varese D. Karlheinz Stockhausen
8. What musical style in which the piece sounds different at every performance?
A. Chance Music C. Expressionism
B. Impressionism D. Concrete Music
9. Whose musical style was initially met with resistance due to its heavily atonal
content with practically no clear melodic or rhythmic sense?
A. John Cage C. Mario Davidovsky
B. Edgard Varese D. Karlheinz Stockhausen
10. Which of Stockhausen’s works pushed the tape machine to its limits?
A. Gruppen B. Kontakte C. Hymnen D. Study II
11. Which of Stockhausen’s works reached 2 hours of juxtaposed songs and
anthems from around the world?
A. Gruppen B. Kontakte C. Hymnen D. Study II
12. Which of Stockhausen’s works was done for 3 orchestras that moved music
through time and space?
A. Gruppen B. Kontakte C. Hymnen D. Study II
13. What is the English term for LICHT?
A. Like B. Line C. Light D. Listen
14. Who experimented by manipulating musical instruments to have new sounds
that came to be known as “chance music”?
A. John Cage C. Mario Davidovsky
B. Edgard Varese D. Karlheinz Stockhausen
15. Why do you think the combination of random external sounds cannot be
duplicated?
A. It was by accident. C. It was carefully planned.
B. It happens by chance. D. It happened with a purpose.

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 Lesson

5 Electronic Music

In this lesson, you are expected to:

1. identify the devices/objects that can be used in creating electronic music;
2. be creative in visualizing your chosen improvised electronic instrument
through a drawing; and
3. explain the process in manipulating your chosen improvised electronic
instrument.

What’s In

Look at the picture on the left. Read the

questions and pause for a few seconds to answer
it quietly.
What do you see? Yes, you are right! These are
different musical instruments. But how do they
produce sound? This is what we are going to
tackle in this lesson.

https://www.britannica.com/art/electronic-instrument

What’s New/What Is It
You live in a world of technology in which everything comes with convenience.
Machines touch every part of your lives. It is not surprising that music has also been
influenced by technology.

New inventions and discoveries of science and technology have led to continuing
developments in the field of music. Electronic devices such as the early cassette tape
recorders; players for compact discs (CDs), video compact discs (VCDs), and digital
video discs (DVDs); MP3 and MP4 players; the ipod; karaoke players; mobile and
android phones; and synthesizers have been increasingly used for creating and
recording music that are meant to be added to or to replace acoustical sounds made
with traditional instruments.

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Here are some of the modern devices used in creating electronic music:

Music synthesizer or electronic sound synthesizer. This

is a device that electronically generates and modifies
sounds, frequently with the use of a digital computer.
https://www.britannica.com/art/music-synthesizer

Electric Violin. A classical violin has a sound box

that naturally amplifies the sound produced by the
vibration of the strings. While an electric violin does
not have a sound box. To hear the sound that has been
played, electric violins need to amplify it through an
external device such as an amp or speakers.

https://bit.ly/3xaFj8d

MIDI is a communication standard that allows digital

music gear to speak the same language. MIDI is short
for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It’s a protocol
that allows computers, musical instruments and other
hardware to communicate. MIDI never transmits an actual
audio signal—it is information only. That means that if a
MIDI keyboard does not have an onboard sound source
https://blog.landr.com/what-is-midi/
like a synth or sampler, it will not make any sound.

You will love this piano game. Virtual Piano Keyboard is

a piano app that allows you to compose music, play your
own music in a best way you can. Just download Virtual
Piano App, it is free of charge. Create your own music
with your own Virtual Piano Keyboard.
https://bit.ly/3ybEc9J

The capacity of these electronic machines to create different sounds was put to
creative use by the composers like Edgard Varese, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Mario
Davidovsky.

The composers in this period usually uses musique concrete with the use of the
tape recorder to capture sounds in the environment. One example is by playing the
tape recorder in the fastest mode or in reverse. Using this technique, the composer
can experiment with different sounds that cannot be produced by regular
instruments.

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20th Century Music Composers

Here are some of the composers and their contributions on the 20 th century
electronic music:

Edgard Varese (1883-1965)

He was considered an “innovative French-born composer.” He
invented the term “organized sound” which means that certain
timbres and rhythms can be grouped together to capture a whole
new definition of sound. He earned the title, “Father of Electronic
Music.” The Stratospheric Colossus of Sound as his musical
compositions were described with his advanced techniques in
https://bit.ly/3rF tape-based sound proving revolutionary.
PuQR

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-Present)

He is a central figure in the realm of music. The climax of his
composition came in 1977 when he announced the creation of
LICHT (Light).
Some of his works include:
• Gruppen (1957)- a piece for 3 orchestras that moved music
through time and space;
• Kontakte (1960)- a work that pushed the tape machine to its
https://bit.ly/2UZ
limits; and
OQlp • Hymnen (1957)- an ambitious 2-hour work of 40 juxtaposed
songs and anthems from around the world.

Mario Davidovsky (1934-2019)

He was a ground breaker in creating music that coupled acoustic
instruments with electronic sounds. He was an American
composer who was noted for compositions combining the live
musical instruments with pre-taped electronic music. He won the
Pulitzer Prize in 1971.

https://bit.ly/2V2
0e0b

What I Have Learned

Let Us Think!

On a separate sheet of paper, list down at least 5 (five) other electronic devices you
can think of that can be used in creating electronic music. Describe each in one-two
sentences. Do not include the instruments already mentioned in the lesson.

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 What I Can Do

Invent an Instrument!

If you are an instrument inventor and you are given the chance to create your own
electronic musical instrument, what would it be and how would it look like? It must
be an original idea. Create a name for that instrument. Draw your invention on a
short bond paper and write your explanation/description at the bottom part. It will
be rated according to this set of criteria:

Originality/Creativity 40%
Explanation/Description 40%
Neatness of work 20%
100%

Lesson

6 Chance Music

In this lesson, you are expected to:

1. define chance music;

2. explore other arts and media that portray the elements of chance music; and
3. create and perform your own chance music.

What’s In

In the past lesson, you have learned how electronic music made a great influence in
the modern times. you are now going to discover another interesting musical style
which is the Chance Music.

Chance/Aleatoric Music (from the Latin word Alea meaning “dice”) is music in which
some elements of the composition is left to chance, and/or some primary element of
a composed work’s realization is left to the determination of the performer(s).

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Chance music refers to a style in which the piece sounds different at every
performance. The combination of external sounds cannot be duplicated as each
happens by chance.

What’s New/What is it

One of the famous composers of the 20th century who challenged the very idea of
music by manipulating musical instruments to achieve new sounds was John Cage
(1912-1992). He experimented with what came to be known as chance music. He
was considered more of a musical philosopher than a composer.

An example of chance music is John Cage’s Four

Minutes and Thirty-Three Seconds (4’33”) where the
pianist merely opens the piano lid and keeps silent
for the duration of the piece. Amidst the seeming
silence, the audience hears a variety of noises
inside and outside the concert hall. He became
famous for this. The work was intended to convey
the impossibility of achieving total silence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi_iefmmuu4

In one instance, Cage created a “prepared” piano, where screws and pieces of wood
or paper were inserted between the piano strings to produce different percussive
possibilities.

Click this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maIwkKEWiPs and watch how

Sonata No. 5 is played on a prepared piano.

Look at how the musical score of Water Walk by

John Cage looks like. Try to observe how it is
different from the traditional musical score.

https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/503277327091837194/

What I Have Learned

Read and answer the question carefully. Explain in 2-3 sentences and write it on a
separate sheet of paper. Label it with Q1-M5 L6 What I Have Learned.

How is chance music uniquely different from the other musical styles?

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 Note: If you do not have any available
camera or cellphone at home, contact
What I Can Do your teacher for another related
activity for your output.

Water Walk!

Let Us Watch This! Click the link below and watch

the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vdFesRSfuk

“Water Walk” by John Cage as Performed by Katelyn

King

https://bit.ly/3f8kggm

After watching the video, make your own one-minute “Chance Music Video” using
different materials that you can see around you. You can send this to our Google
Classroom or to your teacher’s Messenger. Your performance will be rated based on
the given set of criteria:

Application of chance music characteristics 40%

Uniqueness/Creativity 30%
Materials/instruments used 30%
100%

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 Assessment

Let us see how much you remembered our lesson for Module 5. Read the questions
carefully and write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.

1. What is another term for Edgar Varese’s use of tape-based sound proving
revolutionary?
A. Chance Music C. Juxtaposed songs and anthems
B. Musique Concrete D. The Stratospheric Colossus of Sound
2. Who was the “Father of Electronic Music”?
A. John Cage C. Mario Davidovsky
B. Edgard Varese D. Karlheinz Stockhausen
3. What do we call the musical style in which the piece sounds different at every
performance?
A. Chance Music C. Expressionism
B. Impressionism D. Concrete Music
4. Whose musical style was initially met with resistance due to its heavily atonal
content with practically no clear melodic or rhythmic sense?
A. John Cage C. Mario Davidovsky
B. Edgard Varese D. Karlheinz Stockhausen
5. Which of Stockhausen’s works pushed the tape machine to its limits?
A. Gruppen B. Kontakte C. Hymnen D. Study II
6. Which of Stockhausen’s works reached 2 hours of juxtaposed songs and anthems
from around the world?
A. Gruppen B. Kontakte C. Hymnen D. Study II
7. Which of Stockhausen’s works was done for 3 orchestras that moved music
through time and space?
A. Gruppen B. Kontakte C. Hymnen D. Study II
8. What is the English term for LICHT?
A. Like B. Line C. Light D. Listen
9. Who experimented by manipulating musical instruments to have new sounds that
came to be known as “chance music”?
A. John Cage C. Mario Davidovsky
B. Edgard Varese D. Karlheinz Stockhausen
10. Why do you think the combination of random external sounds cannot be
duplicated?
A. It was by accident C. It was carefully planned
B. It happens by chance D. It happened with a purpose
11. What musical style uses synthesizers, amplifiers, tape recorders and
loudspeakers to create different sounds?
A. Chance Music C. Electronic Music
B. Avant-garde Music D. Impressionism Music

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12. What do you call the musical style that uses the tape recorder?
A. Chance Music C. Concrete Music
B. Impressionism D. Expressionism
13. Who was considered as an “innovative French-born composer?
A. John Cage C. Edgard Varese
B. Arnold Schoenberg D. Mario Davidovsky
14. Who was known as a central figure in the realm of electronic music?
A. John Cage C. Mario Davidovsky
B. Edgard Varese D. Karlheinz Stockhausen
15. Who invented the term “organized sound”?
A. John Cage C. Mario Davidovsky
B. Edgard Varese D. Karlheinz Stockhausen

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References

Books

Raul M. Sunico, PhD, et..al. 2015. Horizons: Music and Arts Appreciation for Young
Filipinos: Grade 10 Learner's Material pp. 28-33. Tawid Publications.

Online References

Sonata No. 5 Prepared Piano by John Cage Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maIwkKEWiPs
Retrieved on August 22, 2020

“Water Walk” by John Cage Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vdFesRSfuk
Retrieved on August 3, 2020

Google.com Chance Music Retrieved from:

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/chance-music
Retrieved on August 4, 2020

Mario Davidovsky Image Retrieved from:

https://music.colubia.edu/news/mario-davidovsky-1934-2019-0
Rerieved on August 22, 2020

Prepared Piano Image Retrived from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi_iefmmuu4
Retrieved on Augusr 22, 2020

Water Walk Score Image Retrieved from:

https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/503277327091837194/
Retrieved on August 22, 2020

John Cage Performing the Water Walk Image Retrieved from:

http://www.openculture.com/2011/12/john_cage_performs_iwater_walki_on_ive_g
ot_a_secret_1960_.html Retrieved on August 22, 2020

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