16’54” a tour of the music of the twentieth-century

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