MUSIC OF 20TH CENTURY
II. Sample Composes of Composers in EXPRESSIONISM
EXPRESSIONISM
The term "Expressionism" was originally used in visual and literary arts. It was probably first applied to
music in 1918, especially to Schoenberg because, like the painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), he
veered away from "traditional forms of beauty" to convey powerful feelings in his music. Features of
expressionism music are as follows:
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A high degree of dissonance (dissonance is the quality of sounds that seems unstable) Extreme
contrasts of dynamics (from pianissimo to fortissimo, very soft to very loud)
Constant changing of textures
"Distorted" melodies and harmonies
Angular Melodies With Wide Leaps
1. ARNOL SCHOENBERG (1874–1951) - Arnold Schoenberg was born on September 13, 1874 in
a working-class suburb of Vienna, Austria. He taught himself music theory but took lessons in
counterpoint. His works were greatly influenced by the German composer Richard Wagner as evident in
his symphonic poem Pelleas et Melisande, Op. 5 (1903), a counterpoint of Debussy's opera of the same
title.
His works include the following:
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VERKLARTE NACHT - is a string sextet in one movement composed by Arnold
Schoenberg in 1899. Composed in just three weeks, it is considered his earliest important
work. It was inspired by Richard Dehmel's poem of the same name, combined with the
influence of Schoenberg's strong feelings upon meeting the sister of his teacher,
Alexander von Zemlinsky, Mathilde Zemlinsky [Wikidata] (1877–1923), whom he
married in 1901.] The movement can be divided into five distinct sections which refer to
the five stanzas of Dehmel's poem; however, there are no unified criteria regarding
movement separation. Below is the composition.
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THREE PIANO PIECES FOR PIANO, op. 11 - Drei Klavierstücke ("Three Piano
Pieces"), Op. 11, is a set of pieces for solo piano written by the Austrian composer
Arnold Schoenberg in 1909. They represent an early example of atonality in the
composer's work.
PIERROT LUNAIRE - is a melodrama by Arnold Schoenberg. It is a setting of 21
selected poems from Albert Giraud's cycle of the same name as translated into German
by Otto Erich Hartleben. The work is written for reciter (voice-type unspecified in the
score, but traditionally performed by a soprano) who delivers the poems in the
Sprechstimme style accompanied by a small instrumental ensemble. Schoenberg had
previously used a combination of spoken text with instrumental accompaniment, called
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"melodrama", in the summer-wind narrative of the Gurre-Lieder,[1] which was a
fashionable musical style popular at the end of the nineteenth century.[2] Though the
music is atonal, it does not employ Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, which he did not
use until 1921. Below is the composition
VIOLIN CONCERTO - The Violin Concerto (Op. 36) by Arnold Schoenberg dates from
Schoenberg's time in the United States, where he had moved in 1933 to escape Nazi Germany.
The piece was written in 1936, the same year as the String Quartet No. 4. At the time of its
completion, Schoenberg was living in Brentwood, Los Angeles, and had just accepted a teaching
position at the University of California, Los Angeles. The work is dedicated to Anton Webern.
Schoenberg had made a return to tonal writing upon his 2 move to America and, though the
Violin Concerto uses twelve-tone technique, its neoclassical form demanded a mimesis of tonal
melody, and hence a renunciation of the motivic technique used in his earlier work in favour of a
thematic structure.
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SKANDALKONZERT, A CONCERT OF THE WIENER KONZERTVEREIN The Skandalkonzert ("scandal concert") was a concert conducted by Arnold Schoenberg, held on
31 March 1913. The concert was held by the Vienna Concert Society in the Great Hall of the
Musikverein in Vienna. The concert consisted of music by composers of the Second Viennese
School. During the concert, the audience, shocked by the expressionism and experimentalism of
the music, began rioting, and the concert ended prematurely. Amid the unrest, concert organizer
Erhard Buschbeck was said to have slapped a concertgoer in the face; this would eventually lead
to a lawsuit against Buschbeck. The event also led to an alternate name for the Skandalkonzert:
Watschenkonzert, from the Austrian German for "slap concert". Operetta composer Oscar Straus,
a witness to the alleged assault, testified that the slap had been "the most harmonious sound of the
evening."
Although full of melodic and lyrical interest, his music was also extremely complex, creating
heavy demands on the listener. He experienced Triskaidekaphobia (fear of number 13).
Schoenberg died on July 13, 1951 in Los Angeles, California, the USA, where he had settled
since 1934.
2. IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882–1971) - Stravinsky was born in Lomonosov, Russia on June
17, 1882. In his early music, he reflected the influence of his teacher, the Russian composer
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. But in his first notable composition, "The Firebird Suite (1910)," his
skillful handling of material and rhythmic inventiveness went beyond anything written by his
Russian predecessors. His musical style added a new flavor to his nationalistic musical style. The
Rite of Spring (1913) was another superb work showcasing his new technique.
Acclaimed works by Stravinsky includes:
 BALLET PETRUCHKA (1911) - is a ballet and orchestral concert work by Russian
composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1911 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's
Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Michel Fokine and stage designs
and costumes by Alexandre Benois, who assisted Stravinsky with the libretto. The ballet
premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet on 13 June 1911 with Vaslav Nijinsky as Petrushka,
Tamara Karsavina as the lead ballerina, Alexander Orlov as the Moor, and Enrico Cecchetti
the charlatan. Petrushka tells the story of the loves and jealousies of three puppets. The three
are brought to life by the Charlatan during the 1830 Shrovetide Fair (Maslenitsa) in Saint
Petersburg, Russia. Petrushka loves the Ballerina, but she rejects him. She prefers the Moor.
Petrushka is angry and hurt, and challenges the Moor. The Moor kills him with his scimitar.
Petrushka's ghost rises above the puppet theatre as night falls. He shakes his fist at the
Charlatan, then collapses in a second death.
THE NIGHTINGALE (1914) - is a Russian conte lyrique in three acts by Igor Stravinsky.
The libretto, based on the 1843 tale "The Nightingale" by Hans Christian Andersen, was written
by the composer and Stepan Mitusov. It was first performed on 26 May 1914 by the Ballets
Russes at the Palais Garnier in Paris. Stravinsky had begun work on the opera in 1908, but put it
aside for several years after he had received the commission from Sergei Diaghilev for the ballet
The Firebird. He completed it in 1914, after he had completed his other two major ballets for
Diaghilev, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring. Because the time between the writing of the first
and second acts extended over six years, stylistically the work reflects Stravinsky's significantly
changed approach to composition, and this can clearly be detected when performances are given.
Stravinsky subsequently turned aside from large productions to concentrate on chamber music
and the piano. See below.
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THREE TALES FOR CHILDREN (1917) - The Miracle of Fatima, also known as the
Miracle of the Sun, happened between May and October of 1917. Three shepherd children,
Lucia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto, reported visions of a luminous
lady believed to be the Virgin Mary.
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PULCINELLA - Pulcinella is a one-act ballet by Igor Stravinsky based on an 18th-century
play, Quatre Polichinelles semblables ("Four identical Pulcinellas"). Pulcinella is a stock
character originating from commedia dell'arte.The ballet premiered at the Paris Opera on 15
May 1920 under the baton of Ernest Ansermet. The dancer Léonide Massine created both the
libretto and choreography, and Pablo Picasso designed the original costumes and sets. The
ballet was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev, impresario of the Ballets Russes. A
performance of the work typically lasts 35 minutes. The ballet score was revised by
Stravinsky in 1965.
DUO CONCERTANT (1932) - is a 1932 composition for violin and piano by Igor
Stravinsky. The impetus for this piece came from neo-classical literature[1] and this is
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reflected in the names of the movements. Stravinsky dedicated Duo Concertant to Samuel
Dushkin, a well-known violinist he met in 1931. The composer premiered the work with
Dushkin in Berlin in 1932, and the pair gave recitals together across Europe for the next
several years. In 1972, George Balanchine choreographed Duo Concertant to Stravinsky's
score for the New York City Ballet Stravinsky Festival.
THE RAKE'S PROGRESS (1951) - is an English-language opera from 1951 in three
acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester
Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings A Rake's Progress (1733–
1735) of William Hogarth, which Stravinsky had seen on 2 May 1947, in a Chicago
exhibition. The story concerns the decline and fall of one Tom Rakewell, who deserts Anne
Trulove for the delights of London in the company of Nick Shadow, who turns out to be the
Devil. After several misadventures, all initiated by the devious Shadow, Tom ends up in
Bedlam, a hospital for the insane at that time situated in the City of London. The moral of the
tale is: "For idle hearts and hands and minds the Devil finds work to do."
Stravinsky wrote approximately 127 works, including concerti, orchestral music, instrumental
music, operas, ballets, solo vocal, and choral music. Concerti or concerto is a musical
composition for a solo instrument or instruments accompanied by an orchestra, especially one
conceived on a relatively large scale. He died in New York City on April 6, 1971.Stravinsky
wrote approximately 127 works, including concerti, orchestral music, instrumental music,
operas, ballets, solo vocal, and choral music. Concerti or concerto is a musical composition
for a solo instrument or instruments accompanied by an orchestra, especially one conceived
on a relatively large scale. He died in New York City on April 6, 1971. Schoenberg's style in
music reformed from time to time. From the early influences of Wagner, his tonal preference
gradually revolved to something dissonant and atonal, as he explored the use of chromatic
harmonies. He was responsible for the establishment of the twelve-tone system.