The Twentieth Century was characterized by rapid change and development in the musical world, as well as the musical world in general. The two world wars and the growth of technology made undeniable changes on the world at large.

The music of Richard Wagner, discussed earlier in class, led, in many ways, to the end of tonality (the system of major and minor keys and the chords and harmonies as they functioned within these keys) as it was previously understood. Wagner's music had stretched the limits of the traditional tonal structure to such an extent that composers were left to search for new frameworks on which to build their music. Many composers began to write music which was atonal-in other words, it did not fit into any particular major or minor key.

At the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the Twentieth Century, several composers began composing music which is often described with the term impressionism. Impressionism focused largely around a few composers who were anti-Wagnerians. Their music was restrained and elegant rather than being dramatic and bombastic like that of Wagner. Much of the music associated with impressionism in music was written for the piano or consists of chamber music and relatively short program pieces for the orchestra, in contrast with Wagner's hugely-scaled operas.

The term "impressionism" is borrowed from art criticism, although impressionism in art came earlier. One way to think about impressionism as represented by both music and art is to compare Monet's Haystacks (see http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/monet/haystacks) with the sound of much of the music of Claude Debussy, such as the Nocturnes, Images, the Piano Preludes, and La Mer. (You can find many recordings of Debussy's music at www.classicalarchive.com. Monet painted a very simple, unromantic subject (haystacks), the better to explore the use of color and brushstroke. Likewise, Debussy, rather than creating music that told dramatic stories, focused on the colors he could create and the atmospheres he could evoke. Much of Debussy's music is quiet in its dynamic level, and orchestrated in creative ways so that the instruments, rather than all playing at once, each play a special role in creating the mood of the piece. Maurice Ravel is another composer who is commonly associated with impressionism, although he abandoned this style fairly early in his career and became interested instead in neo-classicism.

Along with Ravel, other major composers, at one time or another, pursued the ideas of neo-classicism. (Neo = new; "new classicism.") Neo-classicism focused around the use of older, easier to follow forms than one finds in the late Romantic period, where form had become stretched to the point of nonexistence. In point of fact, many of the composers modeled their music off of the forms of the Baroque period rather than the Classical sonata form. Often, the neo-classicist composers did not use the tonal structure found in music of the classical period and instead wrote atonal or modal music. In general, the neo-classical composers wrote music that was in contrast to the highly emotional, dramatic music of the Romantic period. Some of the composers who composed in this style include Igor Stravinsky, Richard Strauss, Paul Hindemith, and Benjamin Britten.

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), mentioned above, was extremely influential throughout the twentieth century, mostly as a result of the work he composed before his neo-classical period. Some of Stravinsky's early works, such as Petrushka and The Fire Bird, have been identified with Russian nationalism and incorporated elements of Russian folk music or subject matter. Both were ballets. A third ballet, Le Sacre du Printemps, was written for Sergei Diaghelev's Russian Ballet around the same time, but has had a much wider influence on the musical world than either Petrushka or The Fire Bird. The Rite of Spring has been linked to the artistic idea of primitivism. The ballet includes representations of early Russian pagan rituals and the music is bold and percussive-an example of music from this ballet can be found in the Music Clips. The sets and costumes were primitivist as well-to see some set designs from the premiere of the Rite of Spring, visit http://max.mmlc.northwestern.edu/~mdenner/Drama/plays/spring/1spring.html. The Rite of Spring was premiered in Paris in 1913, and was so shocking to its audience that it provoked a famous riot. Following the creation of these three ballets, Stravinsky went on to compose some other very excellent music, but none that ever surpassed The Rite of Spring in fame or impact.

Nationalism carried over from the Romantic period and continued to play an important role in many composers' work. However, the ways that composers pursued nationalist ideas in their music was different during the twentieth century than it had been previously. Rather that just stereotyping the music of particular countries or cultures as had been done in earlier periods, composers began venturing out into the countryside to scientifically investigate the music. In addition, the invention of recording technologies such as the phonograph and the tape recorder made it possible to transcribe the music very accurately. And finally, composers started using the harmonies of the folk music, rather than just the melodies and/or rhythms, so that rather than trying to fit the folk music into the structure of western tonal music, some of the nationalist composers used the folk music to help stretch the boundaries of tonality.

Bela Bartok (1881-1945) was one of the most influential composers to use the techniques described above. Bartok published almost 2,000 folk tunes that he collected in Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia. In addition, he was a virtuoso pianist and taught piano. Today he is known mostly as a composer, however. Much of his music is based on or includes elements of folk music but he blended these elements with ideas that are more in the tradition of western art music. Bartok frequently used the piano more as a percussion instrument than a melodic one, which was something new, too. A lot of his music uses irregular meters (switching between several meters and using time signatures like 5/8 and 7/8) and unusual rhythms, as well as polytonality, where the music includes more than one key at the same time. You can hear an example of one of his more famous compositions by listening to the clip found on the Music Clips section of the WebCT page.

During the Twentieth century, there were also important composers that have been considered nationalist in the United States (George Gershwin, Aaron Copland) and Brazil (Heitor Villa-Lobos).

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1851) was another very important composer of the twentieth century. Schoenberg's early works are frequently classified as expressionist. Expressionism is an artistic movement, prevalent in the late nineteenth and the twentieth century but still alive today, which focuses on the artist's inner life and psychology rather than abstract or purely artistic ideas. For some examples of expressionist paintings and definitions of expressionism, visit http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/E/Expressionism.html Musically speaking, expressionist composers used dissonance extensively to communicate the psychological states. In addition, Schoenberg developed new sounds during this period, in particular a new style of singing called "Sprechtstimme" which was between speech and singing. One of Schoenberg's most famous expressionist compositions is Pierrot Lunaire.

Schoenberg's later career was extremely important to the development of the world of music in the twentieth century. Schoenberg invented a new method of organizing his music, termed twelve-tone, dodecaphonic, or serial music. While the theory behind this music can be quite complex, the technique can be summarized fairly simply. The composer creates a series including all twelve tones or pitches that fit within an octave arranged in the order of the composer's choice, and then uses this series (sometimes referred to as a "row") to create his/her piece of music. The pitches may be played simultaneously, like a chord, or one at a time to create a melody, but they may not be repeated until the whole row has been played. Schoenberg's first twelve-tone composition was written in 1923. Later, two other very famous composers came to study with Schoenberg in Vienna and learn his method of composing. Anton Webern, Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg thus make up what is sometimes referred to as the "Second Viennese School." If you think back to the Classical Period, you may recall another group of three important composers working in Vienna-Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven thus represent the first Viennese school.

Charles Ives (1874-1954) was perhaps the first influential composer from the U.S.A. Ives's life was very unusual, as was his music; for most of his adult life, Ives worked in the insurance industry and pursued composing in his off time, writing many of his compositions on the train between Connecticut and New York City. Ives's father had been a town band director and had loved to conduct musical experiments, and this experimental tendency continued in Charles Ives as well. Much of Ives's music includes quotations from band music, folk songs, dance music, and hymns, often played simultaneously or against contrasting backgrounds. Polytonality, mentioned above, is prevalent in Ives's music, as are polyrhythms (contrasting rhythms playing simultaneously, for instance, three against four) and tone clusters (several pitches, a whole or half step apart, played simultaneously like a chord). For one example of Ives's music, check the music clips for this course.

Chance music and aleatoric music played important roles in other twentieth century composers' work. John Cage (1912-1992) was probably the most important proponent of chance music. Cage composed many pieces using chance operations; for example, he would use the I Ching to make compositional choices. Cage's most famous (and notorious) piece, 4'33", consists of four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence. During this silence the sounds that are made by the audience or were created by the outside environment become the music. Aleatoric music, which Cage also composed, allowed the performers freedom to improvise within constraints set by the composer.

The final important movement to be discussed here is minimalism. Minimalist music can be said to be influenced by the musics of Asia and Africa. Composers such as Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass composed (and still compose) music that is extremely repetitive and is based upon simplicity and the slow alteration of a repeated idea rather than the continual change and spinning out of new themes and melodies associated with western classical music.

The underlying issue of the twentieth century-in visual art as well as in music-was one of rules. While previous periods developed sets of rules or guidelines within which an artist could work (think of the sonata form, the four movement symphony, the strict rules of painting technique and anatomy in earlier art movements, for example) in the twentieth century all previous rules had been stretched to the point where they ceased to have any meaning. Thus, composers and artists were forced to create their own rules or deal with the chaos that ensues from the lack of any constraint. Different composers dealt with this issue in different ways, however some general trends can be observed. New timbres were sought out, and performers were asked to use their instruments to create new and unusual sounds. The traditional groups of instruments found in earlier music, for example string quartets, piano trios, and symphonies, were often abandoned in favor of new and unusual combinations. Forms such as the sonata form were almost completely abandoned.

Of course, there are many composers alive and working today. Along with such famous stars as John Williams and Philip Glass, other, less well-known composers continue to develop their own voices. To hear some of these composers' works, visit http://www.otherminds.org/shtml/Realaudio.html

Questions:

Everyone must answer the following question:

What are some ways that you think technology has affected music since the beginning of the 20th century? Brainstorm.

Choose one of the following:

1. Listen to the clip of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra found in the Music Clips. Answer the following: -What is your impression of this music? -Which of the elements of Bartok's music described above do you think you can hear in this example?

2. Visit the site listed above to view Monet's haystacks (see "Impressionism" above) and listen to a piece by Claude Debussy (many are available at http://www.classicalarchive.com ) Do you think there is a similarity between the paintings you viewed and the music? If so, describe the similarity. If not, why not?

3. Listen to the clip from Stravinsky's Rite of Spring found in the Music Clips. Can you imagine a ballet using this piece causing a riot today? Why or why not? Why do you think it caused a riot at the time of its premiere?