America’s Musical Landscape
6th edition
Part 6
Tradition and Innovation in Concert
Music
Chapter 20: Experimental Music: Revolution
© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Tradition and Innovation in
Concert Music

Music for the Concert Hall
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An unprecedented diversity of concert music
styles flourished in the twentieth century
Some American composers took an evolutionary
approach to the composition of music
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Bridging European tradition and a distinctly
American voice
Others had a revolutionary approach

Expanding the known boundaries of music
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert
Music
Chapter 20: Experimental Music: Revolution
2
Tradition and Innovation in
Concert Music

Interaction between the Arts
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Close interaction between visual and literary
artists extended to music and dance
Multimedia Performances
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Interdisciplinary
Inviting the audience to participate in ‘happenings’
Relationships between the Visual Arts and Music

Texture and timbre
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert
Music
Chapter 20: Experimental Music: Revolution
3
Tradition and Innovation in
Concert Music

The Value of Chance
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During the 1950s and 1960s, the idea of leaving
elements of their work to chance appealed to many
visual artists and musicians
American Concert Music


There is no unifying Western musical language
A multiplicity of musical tongues
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert
Music
Chapter 20: Experimental Music: Revolution
4
Experimental Music: Revolution

Charles Ives (1874-1954)
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Owned successful
insurance business
Strong literary interests
Wrote instrumental music – program music
reflecting his New England home
Wrote about 150 songs

often quoting melodies from other musical sources
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert
Music
Chapter 20: Experimental Music: Revolution
5
Listening Example 67
General Putnam’s Camp
(from Three Places in New England)
By Charles Ives (1874-1954)
Listening guide page 357
This exuberant piece from
1914 included snatches of
patriotic tunes which the
composer altered, distorted
and layered to create an
intriguing sound.
TImbre: Symphony orchestra
Texture: Linear polyphony in which each melodic line should
be heard independently. The resulting combination of tones
is not intended to be heard as harmony.
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert
Music
Chapter 20: Experimental Music: Revolution
6
Listening Example 68
At the River
By Charles Ives (1874-1954)
Tune and Text by Robert Lowry (1826-1899)
Listening guide page 359
Texture: Basically homophonic
Form: Verse-chorus
Meter: Quadruple
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert
Music
Chapter 20: Experimental Music: Revolution
Ives borrowed the music
and lyrics for this 1916
song from a hymn titled
“Beautiful River.” He had
used part of this melody
earlier in his Sonata for
Violin and Piano no. 4.
7
Other Characteristics of Ives’
Music
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Unusual tuning that creates the effect of
sounding out of tune
Bitonality – 2 keys at once
Polytonality – many keys at once
Polyrhythm – combination of 2 or more
rhythmic patters
Quarter tones and Microtones
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert
Music
Chapter 20: Experimental Music: Revolution
8
Ives’ Place in History
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Ill health prevented Ives from continuing his musical
explorations after the 1920s
Twenty year later his music came to public attention
His Third Symphony, written about 1904 and first performed
in 1947, won a Pulitzer Prize
Many of his innovations have become part of today’s normal
music experience
 Still sound fresh
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert
Music
Chapter 20: Experimental Music: Revolution
9
Henry Cowell
(1897-1965)
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Early compositions use tone clusters
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Piano experiments
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Inspiration and ideas from Asia
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Rhythms divided by 5, 7 or other unconventional numbers

Collaborated with Leon Theremin and developed the rhythmicon

Founded quarterly journal called “New Music”
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert
Music
Chapter 20: Experimental Music: Revolution
10
musicians are needed
Listening Example 69 Two
to perform this piece – one
The Banshee
By Henry Cowell
Listening guide page 363
seated at the piano while
depressing the damper
pedal, and the other
standing in the crook of the
piano, manipulating the
strings.
Timbre: Piano, played mostly on the strings, the timbre altered
by Cowell’s experimental techniques
Meter: Free
Form: Through composed
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert
Music
Chapter 20: Experimental Music: Revolution
11
Concrete Music

Experimental movement in Paris in the
1940s. Included these compositional
processes:
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Selecting the sounds
to be taped
Recording the sounds
Manipulating the sounds
Mixing the sounds
“Montage” – cutting and pasting the tape
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert
Music
Chapter 20: Experimental Music: Revolution
12
John Cage
(1912-1992)
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Addressed musical problems and questions like an inventor
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Interested in Asian philosophies, religions and musical styles

Was inspired by Gamelan Music
 An Indonesian orchestra of metallophones (sets of keys
suspended over a frame and struck with mallets), gongs and
drums
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert
Music
Chapter 20: Experimental Music: Revolution
13
Listening Example 70
Hudjan Mas (Golden Rain) (excerpt)
Anonymous
Listening guide page 368
This composition for Balinese
Gamelan Gong Kebjar often
Serves as a prelude or
instrumental interlude in a
longer dance composition.
Texture: Linear polyphony
Timbre: A 25-piece orchestra of xylophone-like bronze-keyed
instruments, tuned gongs, cymbals, drums, and flutes
Meter: Free
Form: A series of simultaneous variations over repeated
ostinatos
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert
Music
Chapter 20: Experimental Music: Revolution
14
John Cage: Prepared Piano
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
Prepared piano
 Modified or ‘prepared’ the piano by applying
wood, metal, or rubber to the strings
 Created percussive timbres and indeterminate
pitches
Cage composed several independent
compositions for prepared piano

Sonatas and Interludes – sixteen sonatas and four
interludes, considered his masterwork
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert
Music
Chapter 20: Experimental Music: Revolution
15
Listening Example 71 This piece is organized
according to rhythmically
complex patterns.
Sonata V
(from Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano)
By John Cage (1912-1992)
Listening guide page 370
Timbre: The piano is prepared so as to produce wooden and
metallic sounds similar to those of a gamelan
Meter: Duple
Form: Binary (two-part): aabb
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert
Music
Chapter 20: Experimental Music: Revolution
16