Music of the 20 th

Century
Expressionism
LESSON 2
What is Expressionism?
Expressionism is an art movement that began in Germany
during the 20th century.

The term Expressionism was originally borrowed from

painting which intended to express strong emotion such as
anxiety, anger, and feeling of isolation.
What is Expressionism?
• In, music, it is characterized by subjectivity, dissonance, and atonality .

• It made use of polytonality ( simultaneous use of two or more keys),

and the twelve-tone scale which was established by Arnold
Schoenberg, the central figure of expressionism and one of the
members of the Second Viennese School.
Characteristics of Expressionistic Music
Musical Element Style in Impressionism What It Feels Like

It uses atonality or lack of tonal center.

The lack of tonal center and the use

It uses twelve-tone scale.
of dissonance can create a feeling of
Harmony
anxiety, rage , alienation, and other
It does not have any stable harmony and it generally
strong emotions
uses dissonance. Dissonance refers to the use of
intervals that cause tensions.

Like in Impressionism, it does not

Rhythm It is unbalanced and generally understated.
encourage swaying in music.

The strong synthesis of melodic

Tone Color Polyphonic I Expressionism is usually dense.
lines can arouse a strong emotions
EXPRESSIONIST
COMPOSER
WHO IS ARNOLD SCHOENBERG?
Arnold Schoenberg was an
American-Austrian composer known
for his modern method of musical
compositions such as atonality and the
dodecaphonic or the twelve-tone scale.

Schoenberg was also an influential

musical teacher and theorist.
WHO IS ARNOLD SCHOENBERG?
He mentored numerous remarkable musician
and published music books that became
influential in contemporary music.

Schoenberg was born in a low-class family,

and he received his formal music education
through the help of his influential friends.

He started as a violinist and his first musical

composition was influenced by Romanticism
but with unconventional harmony.
WHO IS ARNOLD SCHOENBERG?
Schoenberg’s compositions was
the removal of traditional keys and
tonal centers.
He created the twelve-tone scale
that marked his legacy in music.
Arnold Schoenberg is one of the
famous musical expressionists in
his time.
The Twelve-tone Scale
The twelve-tone scale or dodecaphonic refers to the use of chromatic
scale that makes the note indistinguishable from one another. In this
technique, there is no emphasis on any note. These twelve tones serve as
the backbone for a musical composition.