Music in the 20th Century

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Music in the 20th Century
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20th Century Culture and the Arts

• Cultural Background
• Impact on the Arts

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Cultural Background

• Technology and Scientific Advancements
• Economics
• World Conflict
• Psychological Research
• Age of Diversity, Age of Eclecticism

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Impact on the Arts

• The arts reflected cultures diversity,
  eclecticism.
• Artists tended to be of three sorts those that
  sought to overthrow the status quo, to shock
  those that experimented and seldom perfected
  those that combined the two, who honored the past
  but felt free to move beyond it.

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Visual Arts

• Impressionism
• Claude Monet
• (1840-1926)
• French

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• Cubism, Surrealism
• Pablo Picasso
• (1881-1973)
• Spanish

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• Abstract
• Wassily Kandinsky
• (1866-1944)
• Russian

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• Modernism
• Henri Matisse
• (1869-1954)
• French

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Classical Music in the 20th Century

• Music from 1900 to 1950
• Musical Elements
• Variety of Styles
• Music After 1950

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Music Elements

• Melody
• Music relied less on melody
• Irregular, unbalanced melodies
• Angular, instrumental in conception
• Rhythm
• Hallmark one of the most striking elements
• Increasingly complex, irregular meters and
  accents, use of polyrhythms

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• Harmony
• No single accepted harmonic language
• New chords polychord, quartal, tone cluster
• Atonality freedom from a tonal center, greatly
  dissonant
• Texture
• Homophonic
• Renewed interest in polyphony (counterpoint)

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• Timbre/Orchestration
• Became more important than ever
• Trend toward smaller orchestra with a leaner
  sound (economics)
• Emphasis on percussion
• Less emphasis on a blended sound
• Dynamics
• Gradual, less extreme
• Form
• Divergent
• Genres
• Vocal Mass, Requiem, art song, opera
• Instrumental Symphony, Concerto, String Quartet

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Musical Styles

• Impressionism
• Nationalism
• Neoclassicism
• Expressionism
• Serialism
• Avant-garde

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Impressionism

• Transition style from late 19th century to early
  modernism
• Sought to suggest, rather than to define
• Impacted by impressionist art and literature

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• Claude Debussy
• (1862-1918)
• French
• Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

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Nationalism

• Encouraged use of authentic national songs,
  dances, stories

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• Aaron Copland
• (1900-1990)
• American
• Appalachian Spring

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Neoclassism

• Revived the techniques, forms and musical styles
  characteristic to Renaissance, Baroque and
  Classical music
• Introduced 20th century elements of sound within
  these older styles

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• Igor Stravinsky
• (1882-1971)
• Russian
• Rite of Spring

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Expressionism and Serialism

• Sought to express inner emotions (as opposed to
  Impressionism)
• Abandoned tonality, used 12-tone scale
• Total Serialism

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• Arnold Schoenberg
• (1874-1951)
• Austrian/American
• Vorgefühle from Five Pieces for Orchestra

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Avant Garde

• Sought to overcome years of neglect in the
  musical elements timbre and rhythm
• Public often disassociated from this style
• Styles Aleatory (chance), electronic,
  multimedia, digital

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• Edgard Varese
• (1883-1965)
• French
• Poeme Electronique

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Classical Music Traditions Since 1950

• Important Influences womens movement,
  economics of composing, computer and digital
  improvements
• Eclectic, diverse styles electronic, computer
  generated, serialism, romantic revival
  (melodically centered)

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Folk and Popular Styles

• Jazz
• Music Theatre
• Rock

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Jazz

• Americas Musical Art
• Major contribution of the Black culture to the
  contemporary culture
• It was a players art.
• Styles
• Ragtime 1890s, keyboard, Scott Joplin
• Blues 1920s, Bessie Smith
• New Orleans Dixieland 1920s, dance music
• Swing 1930s, Big Band, Louis Armstrong
• Bebop 1940s, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker
• Cool Jazz 1950s, Dave Brubeck
• Latin and Soul Jazz 1960s and 1970s
• Fusion 1980s to Present

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Music Theatre

• Flourished with jazz in the first half of the
  20th century
• Maintains a strong presence today
• Began with operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan
  (England)
• Important Composers George M. Cohan, Jerome
  Kern, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George
  Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Leonard Bernstein,
  Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Sondheim

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Rock

• Grew from two streams in the 1950s white
  country music and black rhythm and blues
• Huge influence of the black culture
• Recording studios of Chicago, St. Louis and New
  York were instrumental in the popularization of
  rock and its importance as a commodity
• 1960s British invasion, soul
• 1970s disco, funk, punk, reggae
• 1980s new wave, rap
• 1990s grunge, pop
• 2000s alternative