Chapter 20:The Twentieth Century: Early Modernism

Expressionism

Key Terms

Expressionism

“Emancipation of dissonance”

Sprechstimme

Passacaglia

Second Viennese School

Ragtime

“Master rhythm”

Expressionism

A music of increasing emotionality•Debussy & Stravinsky rejected Romanticism•Expressionists took it to ultimate conclusion

Exploited extreme psychological states•Hysteria, nightmare, even insanity – reflected a

fascination with Freud’s work

Similar to parallel movement in art•Subjective expression of inner turmoil•Distorted & exaggerated melody & harmony•Fascination with tone color & color theory

Second Viennese School (1)

Schoenberg attracted two star students•Alban Berg & Anton Webern

All three shared in many innovations•The “emancipation of dissonance”•The breakdown of tonality•Seeking solutions to the problem of coherence

in an atonal, expressionist idiom

Three very different personalities•Schoenberg developed 12-tone music•But each one explored it in his own way

Arnold Schoenberg(1874-1951)

The leading expressionist composer

Largely self-taught in music•But wrote important books on music theory•Gifted amateur expressionist painter

Early music tonal, à la Mahler & Brahms

Began writing atonal music in 1907-08•Erwartung, 5 Orchestra Pieces, Pierrot lunaire

Developed 12-tone method in early 1920s•A Survivor from Warsaw, Piano Concerto

Taught at UCLA last 15 years of his life

Schoenberg, Pierrot lunaire

Highly influential song cycle•21 poems by symbolist poet Albert Giraud

Pierrot is the eternal sad clown•Lunaire refers to the moon & the bizarre

hallucinations & adventures it inspires

Written in an expressionist idiom•Kaleidoscopic scoring for voice & 5 players on

8 instruments•Flute (or piccolo), clarinet (or bass clarinet),

violin (or viola), cello, & piano•Each song uses a different combination

Sprechstimme

Voice uses Sprechstimme (“speech-song”)•The soprano does not really sing or speak•She does something in between the two•Schoenberg notated approximate pitches•Singer must speak in an exaggerated, quasi-

melodic manner•Sprechstimme technique magnifies, distorts,

parodies, & haunts these bizarre poems The actress who commissioned Pierrot requested a

set of melodramas – works for a speaking voice with instrumental accompaniment!

No. 8: “Night”

•For voice, piano, bass clarinet, cello

Evokes expressionism’s nightmarish side•Uses low instruments in low register•Dense polyphonic texture

Schoenberg called this a passacaglia•Recurring 3-note ostinato used throughout•Many overlapping versions, freely transposed•The soprano even sings the motive at the word

verschwiegen (secret silent)

No. 18: “The Moonfleck”

•For voice, piano, piccolo, clarinet, violin, cello

Starts with piano introduction•Dense, dissonant, & alarmingly intense

The song depicts Pierrot’s obsession & the flickering moonfleck on his jacket•High-pitched, quicksilver motives used

throughout the ensemble•Schoenberg uses fugues & canons•We hear a fantastic lacework of atonal sounds

Second Viennese School (2)

Anton Webern (1883-1945)•His life revolved around his composition,

though he held low-profile conducting posts•Avoided Romantic grandiosity – favored low

dynamics, abstract, pointillistic textures, & brief but concentrated musical structures

•Some expressionist works are very short•Composers of the second phase of modernism

revered his vision of abstraction & the brilliant sophistication of his later serial works

Symphonie, Cantatas 1 & 2, String Quartet

•Accidentally killed by an American soldier

Second Viennese School (3)

Alban Berg (1885-1935)•After Schoenberg, the most powerful exponent

of expressionism in music•Looked back to Romantic tradition more than

Schoenberg & Webern, especially to Mahler•Use tonal references in Wozzeck & his Violin

Concerto•His expressionist opera Wozzeck was an

immediate success•Later 12-tone opera Lulu now also a classic•Died of an infected insect bite

Berg, Wozzeck

Based on an 1837 play by Georg Büchner•An almost paranoid vision of the helpless poor

Opera completed in 1923

Conceptually a Wagnerian work•Relies on orchestra for musical continuity• It uses leitmotivs & contains no arias

Influenced by earlier expressionist works•Sprechstimme borrowed from Pierrot lunaire

Berg pays much attention to musical form•Each scene uses a different, specific form

Story

Wozzeck is a poor, downtrodden soldier•Troubled by visions•Tormented by his captain •Human guinea pig in bizarre experiments

carried out by his regimental doctor•Beaten up by the drum major who is having an

affair with Wozzeck’s lover, Marie

Wozzeck is finally pushed over the edge•He murders Marie, goes mad, & drowns himself•Their young child is left an orphan

WozzeckAct III, Scene iii (1)

Invention on a rhythm•A “master rhythm” is used throughout in many

different tempos

Wozzeck is in a tavern after killing Marie•The two opening chord crescendos happen

immediately after the murder•Timpani are first to play the master rhythm –

just after the first chord•Distorted ragtime piano introduction follows

WozzeckAct III, Scene iii (2)

Ragtime introduction & Margret’s song make use of the master rhythm

WozzeckAct III, Scene iii (3)

Margret sees blood on Wozzeck’s hand•So do the others – a crescendo of accusations

(using master rhythm) chases Wozzeck away

WozzeckAct III, Scene iv

Invention on a chord of six notes•B-flat, D-flat, E-flat, E, F, G-sharp•Stated throughout, both as chord & as melody

Wozzeck goes back to the murder scene•Orchestra creates eerie nighttime sounds

Wozzeck’s mind has finally cracked•Obsessed with blood, he looks for the knife •He drowns while trying to hide it in the pond•Vivid orchestral gurgles accompany his death•Doctor & Captain happen by – but do nothing

WozzeckAct III, Orchestral Interlude

Invention on a tonality•Orchestral music for the blackout after

Wozzeck’s drowning•Based on a D minor tonality, but loosely, in a

late Romantic idiom influenced by Mahler•A mourning lament for Wozzeck, Marie, &

humanity at large•D minor often used for serious, tragic subjects

Bach’s Toccata & Fugue in D minor Mozart’s Don Giovanni, final scene with statue Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony