Chapter 20 Notes

Music really started out quite simple, yet beautiful, in the years that are known as the medieval period. They typically were homophonous, sometimes with a singular instrument as an accompaniment. They usually stuck to one tonality, either major or minor with the "medieval modes". As music progressed, lines became more complicated and polyphonic. Instruments played more melodic lines, and held their own part rather than staying mostly homophonous. As we get past the medieval and renaissance era and move more towards the classical era, music because extremely more complex, with harmonies becoming more dissonant with stranger harmonies, shifting from different tonalities.  Going into the romantic period/post romantic period, a lot of the music that was coming out was heavily pulsed, making it very catchy. There were different meters being used, with the pulse being on different beats. When we get into more modern music in the 20th century, there was a heavy focus on vocal soloists, with a small ensemble accompanying. Music was evolving to be a lot more upbeat, especially during the world war era, to keep spirits high. Music became more electric as well, with more keyboards, and electric guitars and basses being brought out across everyone's radios. As we get into contemporary music, almost everything was electric, most notably the invention of synthesizers. 

From starting at versions of the Kyrie from the year 500+, you can hear that it starts very simple, in a chant like manner. It is very monophonic, and contains little to no instruments. It doesn't have a huge sense of tonality and no strong rhythmic sensation. As we go to the Kyrie from year 1521, it gets much more complex. More vocal lines are introduced, yet still no instrumentation. There is more rhythmic variation, and has much more pitch and harmony variation. As we go into the baroque more instruments were introduced into the Kyrie variations.  Going into the classical period, the Kyrie's had more of a darker quality to them. More brass was introduced, and the pitches moved in faster intervals, feeling as though it was more fast paced, and the rhythms were diminished. Kyrie variations in the romantic period were felt like they had more rubato, and were more crooned than the other ones. They also introduced soloists here. It felt a lot more sentimental as the time goes on. In the post-romantic versions of Kyrie, they were MUCH more complex, having strange tonalities and dissonance. It felt like each part of the song told a different story, and that there was much more of a novelistic arch to the piece. Some of the later pieces were just down right strange. They seemed chaotic, and sometimes even unpleasant to the ears. 

Period Overview 

Step 1

• What is your first impression/opinions of Altemberg Lieder by Berg

My first impression of Altemberg Lieder, was that there was no sense of tonality. It is very hectic, and I feel like I am in the brain of someone who has major anxiety. As the voice sneaks in, it seems to calm a bit, but still really doesn't have a sense of tonality. 

• Describe musical elements heard in Clouds by Debussy that paint an image of clouds for the listener.

(Musical Elements; Pitch, Rhythm, Dynamics, Tempo, Texture, Timbre, Form, Purpose, Harmony, Melody, Expression, Mood, Language, Style, etc.)

Just from the first few seconds in the song, I felt like I was floating in the air. The pauses between phrases seem "puffy" like a cloud. The dynamic really meander, and I feel like the pitches are floating around, going up and down and all around. The types of clouds portrayed are the big puffy white ones. Clouds are majestic, and mysterious, just as this song is. It doesn't feel necessarily major or minor, and makes you feel peaceful, with a little touch of eeriness. The reed instruments being played seem to represent birds flying within the clouds. The tight harmonies in the strings make this piece really work. It isn't hectic like a storm, but it is peaceful whistful as a cloud. At some points, it gets louder, and more dissonant, representing an impending storm. 

Step 2

• Describe what musical effect a composer can achieve when using the following scales

Pentatonic: In this video, Bobby McFerrin demonstrates how you can create an entire song with just the notes of the pentatonic scale. He uses the audience and creates a "piano" on the floor, where he would jump around and the audience would sing. He eventually got to jumping, creating a bass line in the voices of the audience, and soloed on top of it, creating a really uplifting, pop like song. 

Whole Tone: This scale is used in many shows and movies, when people begin to go into a dream sequence. 

Octatonic Scale: In the example of the prelude, Op. 74 No.3, the octatonic scale is being used to create a very dissonant piece, as a lot of pieces were in this impressionistic time. It lacked a sense of tonality, and was very crunchy throughout the piece. 

Quarter Tone Scale: Right off of the bat, this song is straight out of a horror movie. Everything sounds out of tune, and makes the listener feel uneasy. 

Twelve Tone Row: In Schoenberg Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31, there is a very dissonant feeling, that has been a common theme of the impressionistic era. As the pieces moves forward, it gets louder, and builds and builds into more chaos. The tonality is very confusing, mostly minor. It again, sounds straight out of a horror movie. 

Step 1

• Provide approximate dates for Modernism punctuated with notable world/ historical events

The Modernist Period in English Literature occupied the years from shortly after the beginning of the twentieth century through roughly 1965. The year 1900 ushered a new era that changed the way that reality was perceived and portrayed. Years later this revolutionary new period would come to be known as modernism and would forever be defined as a time when artists and thinkers rebelled against every conceivable doctrine that was widely accepted by the Establishment, whether in the arts, science, medicine, philosophy, etc. Although modernism would be short-lived, from 1900 to 1930, we are still reeling from its influences sixty-five years later. By 1900 the world was a bustling place transformed by all of the new discoveries, inventions and technological achievements that were being thrust on civilization: electricity, the combustion engine, the incandescent light bulb, the automobile, the airplane, radio, X-rays, fertilizers and so forth. 

Helpful Link

Explain the major differences between Impressionism and Expressionism in both art and music

Impressionism on left, expressionism on right

Impressionism, which developed after the camera came along and (at least ostensibly) relieved artists from the strictures of realism, asks an artist to give an "impression" of something, rather than a realistic rendering. This can be applied to images of people, or still-lifes, landscapes, or whatever. But the objective is to distill something beyond the mere picture and try to get at the deeper qualities that might be available if only one could be more sensitive to them - the vibrations of light, the trembling of the leaves, the emotions under the skin, and perhaps, the unity of the whole. It places the artist in the position of emotional, as well as aesthetic, analyst. French composers are often associated with impressionism, such as Claude Debussy

Expressionism intends exactly what the word indicates. Its primary intention is the expression of feelings or spirit and it therefore - in effect -gives an artist  permission to distort image or even dispense with image altogether, in order to better convey emotions or spirit. There are those who think that Expressionism has taken art too far - that it is the equivalent of an artistic tantrum. But there are others who consider Expressionism as a more "pure" form of art - of art stripped of its non-essentials, reduced only to the elements of painting and the feelings that the painting itself evokes. German composers are often associated with expressionism, such as Schoenberg. 

Step 2

• Use Listen 8th edition textbook or ebook to answer the following questions

1. What factors influenced art and music between 1890-1940?

The first major avant-garde music phase took place in Paris and Vienna from 1890-1914. Claude Debussy , Igor Stravinsky, and Arnold Schoenberg were the leading figures of this time. The world wars also had a huge effect on music, especially music in the public eye, where people distracted themselves through art and music from the horrors of the warn. The great depression also had a huge influence on art, as well as the roaring 20s. 

Describe some aspects of the 'dark side' of progress 

Some negative effects of the progress of technology include pollution and unsafe working conditions in factories, child labor, unsafe machinery (including the invention of deadly weapons, later resulting in the cold war). The jobs also did not pay well, especially for the amount of injury and illness that came out of it. 

How was Visual Art similar to the Music of this time? 

The art of the time was a lot stranger and abstract than it was in the classical/romantic period, much like the music was as well. It was strange, and an acquired taste for some. 

What characteristics did they have in common? 

They both shared quite strange qualities. Each piece is very unique, where a non-artist/musician may hear/see a pre-romantic piece and think they are all quite similar. Both the art pieces and music of the time broke many rules, which is why so many people may love it, and dislike it, today. 

Stravinsky’s ballet score is an epochal landmark in music. Its French and Russian (Vesna svyashchennaya) titles translate literally as The Coronation Of Spring. Its English title, The Rite Of Spring, lends a suitably chilling dimension, for the scenario is a pagan ritual in which a sacrificial virgin dances herself to death. The work is subtitled Pictures From Pagan Russia.  The idea for the work came to Stravinsky in 1910 when he was composing The Firebird for the impresario Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. In a note to the conductor Serge Koussevitzky in February 1914, Stravinsky described The Rite of Spring as "a musical-choreographic work, [representing] pagan Russia ... unified by a single idea: the mystery and great surge of the creative power of Spring". In his analysis of The Rite, Pieter van den Toorn writes that the work lacks a specific plot or narrative, and should be considered as a succession of choreographed episodes. 

In Disney's remake of the Rite of Spring, the scene depicts two dinosaurs fighting to the death. In the scene, there are other dinosaurs observing. As the music climaxes, the T-Rex kills the Stegosaurus after a very violent battle. Stravinsky's music in the Disney Version, and in the Ballet, adds to the intensity of the animation and dancing itself. The dissonance of the Rite of Spring gives the listener a sense of uneasiness, which is a reason why the Ballet got so much backlash during its time.