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16’54”A Tour of the Music of the Twentieth-
Century
impressionismimpressionism
Claude Debussy Images, “Reflections on
the Water”
tonal sonorities… non-functional harmony… colorful texture…
expressionism Arnold Schoenberg
Book of the Hanging Garden, “Angst und Hoffen”
the dissolution of tonality… full of emotional expression… jagged melodic lines romanticism’s last gasps…
expressionism
Anton Webern (a student of Schoenberg)
Five Movements for String Quartet, Op. 5, No. 4
free atonality… spare gestures… new instrumental timbres…
an early American great Charles Ives
Second Violin Sonata, Mvt. 3, “Revival”
quotation… polymeter, changing meters… polytonality… quintal and whole-tone
chords…
another atonal miniature
Schoenberg Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19
Number 4
this one’s a riot (or caused one) Igor Stravinsky
The Rite of Spring
anti-romantic… abrupt contrasts… narrow melodies… evocation of the primitive…
an expressionist opera
Alban Berg another student of Schoenberg
Wozzeck “Marie’s Lullaby” (Act 1, Scene 3)
a new approach to composition Arnold Schoenberg
Suite, Op. 25, Trio (of a minuet)
based on a twelve-tone row:
return to earlier forms (dance)
E F G Db Gb Eb Ab D B C A BbE F G Db Gb Eb Ab D B C A Bb
…meanwhile… Edgard Varèse
Hyperprism
experiments in musical timbre… winds brass and a whole lot o’ percussion
…meanwhile… Henry Cowell
The Banshee
experiments in musical timbre can you guess the sound source?
…a return to the past… Igor Stravinsky
Symphony of Psalms
1930s neo-classicism psalm text… ostinatos... pitch-centered, non-functional
a more tonal twelve-tone Alban Berg
Violin Concerto
What sonorities did the violin solo first outline?
a gen-u-ine sonata Paul Hindemith
Piano Sonata No. 2, I
more neo-classicism can you hear the sections of an
exposition?
back to the baroque? Anton Webern
Cantata No. 1, Op. 29, I
text painting (thunder!) tone rows chosen to limit chord vocabulary
wartime
Olivier Messiaen quartet for the end of time
“dance of fury, by the seven trumpets”
irregular, additive rhythms what’s the texture?
an American ballet Aaron Copland
Appalachian Spring
unabashed diatonicism… but non-functional…
on pins and needles:a trip to the hardware store
John Cage Sonatas and Interludes for
Prepared piano
exploring new sounds… aleatoric composition
process…
hyperserialism
Pierre Boulez Structures 1a
tone rows and rhythm rows
hyperserialism Milton Babbitt
Semi-simple variations
theme and Var. 1
exceedingly careful control of the presentation of 12 pitches…
take another chance John Cage
Fontana Mix For electronic tape Composed through
indeterminate processes Aria
Written in colored graphic notation
Singer chooses “style” for each colored gesture
May be performed separately. Or together. Whatever.
cluster’s last stand? Krzysztof Penderecki
Threnody (For the victims of Hiroshima)
new sound resources… sound “masses” unusual string timbres
constrained improvisation…
Miniminiminiminiminim-alism Terry Riley
In C
53 measures, each repeated ad lib. any combo, number of instruments this performance 42 minutes
This is excerpt 1 Here’s a second excerpt
phaseshiftinghaseshiftingp
Steve Reich Piano Phase
two performers begin in unison… one gradually pulls ahead… this “gradual process” continues until they rejoin new counterpoint results… [second excerpt]
an homage to an homage of the past
Luciano Berio Sinfonia, III, In ruhig fliessender Bewegung
a masterwork of quotation what music underlies the excerpt? what texts do you hear?
theatrical music George Crumb
Apparitions
less minimilism John Adams
Short Ride on a Fast Machine
includes some of minimalism’s repetitive elements
adds greater local melodic interest faster harmonic rhythm
