Expressionism
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Became popular during the years 1910-39
It evolved during a time of growing fascination
with the unconscious and people’s inner feelings
Painters and composers tried to focus on inner
states of being and the evocation of extreme
feelings
They may seem to concentrate on anguish,
insanity, fear hatred, etc., but this may be their
reaction against what was perceived as the
prettiness and superficiality of the Impressionists.
Arnold Schoenberg
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Most important Expressionist composer
Most radically innovative composers of the
century
He evolved a completely new approach to
musical harmony, which has had a profound
influence on all music written up to the present
day.
Born in 1874 in Vienna to a poor Orthodox
Jewish family.
He took violin lessons as a child
He began composing around eight years old.
His early works continue in the Romantic tradition
(The works composed before he was 25).
Atonality
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Schoenberg felt that tonality had outlived
its usefulness
He began to develop a completely new
system of musical organization
At first he called this system atonality - a
system without a key, or tonal center
In his atonal works, the feeling of key is
avoided by using many chromatic notes
He wrote many atonal pieces between
1908 and 1915
Atonal music was not well-received.
Years after tonality
For the next several years, he wrote no music
at all – this period coincided with WWI
 He was not sure which direction his music
should take, atonality freed music from the
“straightjacket” of tonality, but it had no
organizing principle
 So far he solved this problem by either
making the pieces short or holding the pieces
together by a text.
 He eventually thought of the twelve-tone
system.
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Twelve-tone system
 Outgrowth
of atonality, but has a strict
unifying principle: the composer uses
all the notes in a strict order, which
must be followed throughout the piece
 12-tone was first used in his Five
Piano Pieces of 1923
 From then on, he used the system in
almost all of his compositions.
Nazis in Power
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When Nazis came to power in 1933, many
Jews lost their jobs, including Schoenberg,
who was dismissed from his teaching job at
the Academy of Arts in Berlin.
As a result, he embraced Judaism – many of
his works are based on Jewish themes
After WWII, he wrote a cantata entitled A
Survivor from Warsaw 1947, which relives the
horror of the Warsaw ghetto (more than
400,000 Jews were systematically murdered.)
This text is based on a personal account by
one of the very few survivors.
Large-scale twelve-tone works
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After he was fired from his job in Berlin, he moved to
the United States (Los Angeles) where he taught
composition at the University of California
This was the period of his large-scale twelve-tone
works. He also wrote 2 “old-fashioned” tonal pieces
for student ensembles.
Schoenberg died in 1951
During his life, his music was not often performed, as
most audiences found it difficult and inaccessible.
He was, however, highly influential in 2 ways: 1st he
was the teacher of Berg and Webern, who both
turned out to be great composers in their own right,
and 2nd his development of the 12-tone system. This
system affected an entire generation of composers
after him.
Schoenberg’s Music
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3 Periods: Early Period, Atonal Period, and 12-tone Period
Early 1890-1907- wrote music in a late Romantic idiom – can
see an increasing use of chromaticism and a dissolving of a
central tonality.
Middle 1908-1915 – developed his idea of atonality, but the
pieces are either short, or have a text that helps to organize
the work.
12-tone 1923 - the end of his life – balanced his
revolutionary ideas with traditional forms (uses sonata form
or minuet – and – trio form) – he later creates works freer in
form
Many later composers modeled their careers and musical
styles on Schoenberg (For an entire generation composers
were required to justify composing music that was not 12tone. Even if they did not use this system, they had
available to them a vocabulary of sounds to enrich their
overall language.
LISTEN
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“Madonna” from Pierrot Lunaire
Composed in 1912 for voice, flute, bass clarinet,
viola, cello, piano
Sets poems by Albert Giraud
Individual movements share the viewpoint of Pierrot,
a deeply troubled clown who seems to have a
fascination with the mysterious powers of the moon.
Expressionist because it reveals the darker side of
human nature.
Abandons tonality and normal singing style (uses
Sprechstimme = speech-song - singer approximates
the written pitches, merges singing with speaking)
“Madonna” – seems to be inspired by some of the
more grotesque figures in cathedrals –lyrics speak of
blood, wounds, redness of the eyes.
LISTEN
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Theme and Sixth Variation from Variations for
Orchestra, Op. 31
Composed in 1928
Employs Schoenberg’s 12- tone method and
features a tone row See page 343
Used 4 times to make up the theme (in
ternary form) 1st section (A) made up of 5 &7
measures – Middle section 5 mm. (B) –
Return is 7 mm (in inversion) (A)
The accompaniment is also numerically based
He uses a large orchestra, but scoring is
sparse (like chamber music in texture)