th
20
Century
Music & Realism
Drama
1900-present
th
20
Century Music
20th Century Music
• Tone Color
–Became a more important element of
music than ever before
–Glissando – rapid slide up or down a
scale
• Harmony
–Dissonance – was treated in the same
way consonance was
20th Century Music (cont’d)
• Rhythm
–Irregular and unpredictable
–Polyrhythm – use of two or more
contrasting and independent rhythms at
the same time, often found in 20th
century music
20th Century Music (cont’d)
–Ostinato – motive or phrase that is
repeated persistently at the same pitch,
used in 20th century music to stabilize a
group of pitches
• Melody
–Melody became more difficult to sing
Impressionism
• Impressionism – musical style which
stresses tone color, atmosphere, and
fluidity, typical of Debussy
(flourished 1890-1920)
Debussy
• 1862-1918
• French Impressionist
composer
• Developed a new
fluidity of form and
explored unusual
harmonic
relationships and
dissonances
Debussy (cont’d)
• Not only among the most important
of all French composers but also a
central figure in all European music
at the turn of the 20th century
• His music virtually defines the
transition from late-Romantic music
to 20th century Modernist music
Ravel
• 1875-1937
• French composer who
became a leading
exponent of
Impressionism
• Along with Debussy
he led French music
away from Wagnerian
Romanticism
Ravel (cont’d)
• He composed highly original, fluid,
symbolic music within the outlines of
classical forms.
• He excelled at piano composition and
orchestration, often scoring his own
piano pieces and works by other
composers.
Neoclassicism
• Neoclassicism – musical style
marked by emotional restraint,
balance, and clarity, inspired by the
form and stylistic features of 18th
century music, found in many works
from 1920-1950
Primitivism
• Primitivism – evocation of primitive
power through insistent rhythms and
percussive sounds
Stravinsky
• 1882-1971
• A Russian-American
composer, is
considered to be the
greatest and most
versatile composer of
the 20th century
• Helped revolutionize
modern music
Stravinsky (cont’d)
• His influence is immeasurable, he
revitalized the rhythms of European
music and achieved entirely new
sonorities and blends of orchestral
colors.
• The Firebird and The Rite of Spring
were both ballets and are known as
masterpieces of modern music.
Expressionism
• Expressionism – musical style
stressing intense, subjective emotion
and harsh dissonance, typical of
German and Austrian music of the
early 20th century
Sprechstimme
• Sprechstimme – in German, speechvoice; a style of vocal performance
halfway between speaking and
singing
Schoenberg
• 1874-1951
• Almost entirely
self-taught by
studying scores,
playing in
amateur groups,
and going to
concerts
Berg
• 1885-1935
• A student of
Schoenberg
• Music is a
unique synthesis
of traditional and
20th century
elements
Webern
• 1883-1945
• Didn’t live to see
the influence of
his music in the
1950s and 1960s
Bartók
• 1881-1945
• Music has an
individual style
that fused folk
elements,
classical forms,
and 20th century
sounds
Shostakovich
• 1906-1975
• One of the leading
composers of the
Soviet Union
• Leningrad, his 7th
symphony, became a
symbol of resistance
against Nazi Germany
Ives
• 1874-1954
• American composer
whose original music
was ahead of its time
• Music rooted in folk
and popular music
from his childhood
• 1898-1937 Gershwin
• A well-known 20th
century American
composer born in
Brooklyn, NY
• He wrote some of the
most original and
popular musical
works produced in the
U.S.
Gershwin (cont’d)
• Wrote scores for several musicals
including: Funny Face and Of Thee I Sing
• Combined traditional musical forms with
jazz and folk themes and rhythms:
Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris,
and Porgy and Bess
• Composed music for Hollywood films
Still
• 1895-1978
• Part of the “Harlem
Renaissance”
• Afro-American
Symphony (1931) was
the 1st composition by
a black composer to
be performed by a
major American
symphony orchestra
Copland
• 1900-1990
• A New York
composer who
used jazz and
American folk
tunes in his
compositions
Copland (cont’d)
• Composed ballets that include Billy
the Kid and Appalachian Spring
• Composed music for films including
Of Mice and Men
• Major orchestral works are El Salon
Mexico and the Third Symphony
• “The Dean of American Composers”
Serialism
• Serialism – method of composing
that uses an ordered group of musical
elements to organize rhythm,
dynamics, and tone color, as well as
pitch
Chance Music
• Chance Music (aleatory music) –
music composed by the random
selection of pitches, tone colors, and
rhythms
Minimalist Music
• Minimalist Music – music
characterized by steady pulse, clear
tonality, and insistent repetition of
short melodic patterns
Quotation Music
• Quotation Music – works which
make extensive use of quotations
from earlier music
tango
• tango – Argentinean dance in
quadruple meter for couples in close
embrace
vibraphone
• vibraphone – percussion instrument
of definite pitch with metal bars,
similar to the marimba, with tubular
metal resonators driven by electronic
impulses
bandoeon
• bandoeon – square accordion used in
tango bands, operated entirely with
buttons
marimba
• marimba – percussion instrument
with tuned wooden bars, similar to
the xylophone, but larger and having
cylindrical acoustic resonators
Realism Drama
Ibsen
• Norwegian playwright
• “Father of Realism”
• Wrote about many controversial
topics that sometimes astonished
theatre audiences of the time
Ibsen (cont’d)
• In his play A Doll’s House, Victorian
audiences were shocked because the
lead character, Nora, leaves her
husband and children
Shaw
• English playwright
• Realistic characters
• Thought of his plays as a way to
educate society and make
improvements that would raise the
social and intellectual level of its
citizens
Shaw (cont’d)
• In 1913, he wrote Pygmalion, a play
that exposed the pretentious and
phony ways of society