History – Third Year

History – Third Year

2 strands of Modernism:-Paleo-modernists (Nietzsche)-a reinterpretation of classicism. There was a fear that losing music’s roots would debase it self

-Neo-modernism (Walt Whitman)-they abhor the high class, classicism and the high brow

Impressionism-Debussy, Ravel

Primitivism-Stravinsky, in Rite of Spring

Nationalism-

Neoclassicism-Stravinsky

Free Atonal-Schoenberg-liberating music from the tyranny of tonality and the barline

Serialism-Schoenberg

Electronic Music-Varese

Musique concrete-taking everyday things, turning them into music

Minimalism-Reich, Glass

Exoticism-mostly from India and China

Aleatoric-R. Murray Schafer-chance music, there is an element of choice

Read Chapter 6 + 391

La belle epoque-The Great Golden Age in Paris-was a wonderful time when artists, writers and composers were closerthan any other time in history-Saint-Saens, Ravel, Debussy, Satie, Granadas, Degas, Latrec were all painters/ sketchers/writers-Baudelaire and such referred to music as the Queen of all the arts-French prided their art, the government made establishments for the arts, but they were very regulated, so the Impressionists banded together (because they could not get hung), made their own exhibition, and the biggest piece was called “Impression: Sunrise”, which is where the mvmt got its name. There is a correlation between the brush strokes on the painters and the way Debussy puts together his pieces in small fragments

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)-born in an area outside of Paris-conseratoire at 11-won many awards for piano-won the Prix de Rome (The Prodigal Son - oratorio)-met Liszt while in Rome-meets a girl, and then he left her for -Rosalie Texieae, and she got dumped too and shot herself aswell-married Emma Bardoch in 1905, she was older and children, very sophisticatedeasy to get along with, witty, all good. Had a daughter (chuchu)-became friendly with symbolist poets (late 19th century poetry from Belgium, using symbols to explain truths, hostile to plain meaning and sentimentality, and matter of fact statements. Meant to evoke, not describe)-hated appearances, hated conducting-loved exiticism, at the World’s Fair in Paris-wrote great Spanish pieces-does not follow the rules of harmony, does not use tension and release-thinks of each chord as an independant unit, not having any relation to the chord next to it-thought in terms of colour-usually has a structure, but it usually falls apart, and it’s not discernable-often mutes instruments in orchestration

Important works:-La mer (for orchestra)-3 Nocturnes (for orchestra)-L’apres midi dans la faun - commissioned by Russian impresario Diaghilev

Caused a scandal, since Diaghilev’s boyfriend was cast, and the faun’s dance is scantily clad-about 8 minutes long, either ballet or symphonic poem-Wrote 2 books of Preludes, a book of etudes, 2 books called Images, a work for 2 pianos, (En blanc et noire)-wrote one opera Pelléas et Mélisande, with the weirdest story ever.-Syrinx (flute piece)-String quartet after Italy-wrote great chansons

La mer - Mvt II. Jeux de Vagues-

“L’apres-midi d’un faune” - Debussy-story of faun who’s been sleeping, sees lovely females, and has his fun, then goes back to bed-never quite climaxes, it’s hard to follow shape-ABA Ternary

386-393

Musical impressionism-washes of colour-uses unusual modes, like hexatonic, whole tone scale-pentatonic used-uses parallelism, (7ths, 8ves, 9ths)

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)-born in the Basques-conservatory at 12-finished 2nd for the Prix de Rom, for no reason-wrote Scheherazade-wrote many songs (song Cycle in 1907 l’histoire natural)-belonged to a group, the Apaches (The Young Lions of the Avante-Garde)-tried to enlist in WWI, but that never worked since he was 5 feet even, but drove a truck on the front line-was discharged because he was believed to have TB-at the end of the war, he was believed to be Jewish-in 1920, he was given the Legion of Honour, but never accepted it-wrote a ballet Daphnis and Chloe for Diaghilev-comissioned to write Diaghalev, La Valse, -he never married, fell in love but was rejected-very childlike and loved children-in 1932, he was in a car accident, and had a nervous breakdown-started losing coordination, couldn’t compose

-agreed to experimental brain surgery in 1937, but -him and Debussy were friends at first, but when Ravel got popular, Debussy was jealous-Ravel kept his thoughts to himself-more of a neo-classicist-works can be compared to Cézanne-

-Uses Hexatonic, and pedal, and colour,-Attracted to exoticism, much more exotic then Debussy-wrote Greek, Jewish, Madagascan songs-wrote non-obscured classical structures-much more dissonant in his language-writes modally, but tends to use older Greek modes-doesn’t use parallelism to the same degree as Debussy-one of the greatest orchestrators of all time-

WORKS:Operas (The Spanish Hour, L’enfant et les Sortilege)Rhapsody Espanol (4-mvt suite for orchestra)Tombeau de Couperin (piano, then orchestra, fairly regularly)Piano Concertos (One for Left Hand, and just an ordinary one)BoleroMother Goose Suite (for piano duet, for the children of 7 and 9, and then orchestrated it)La Valse

Don Quicchote - I. Romanesque-about courtly love-based on guajira-changes between ¾ and 6/8

III.-drinking song-uses a flat 2 in opening for the Spanish feel-uses Islamic prayer feel-strophic

Rhapsody Espanol, mvt. IV-la feria dance-ternary

Gaspard de la nuitScarbo-

Erik Satie (-considered to be the avant-gardist-serialism, multimedia presentations, impressionism, prepared piano, minimalism-born in Normandy, but moved to Paris at 4-sent back to live with grandparents, but moved back-1879, applied to the Paris Conservatoire, didn’t get in, but got in in 1885-joined military, but managed to get out-got involved with the Moulin Rouge society-sttled in Monmartre, -in 1891, he became the composer for the Rosy Cross-started an affair with Susan Beladon?-didn’t last-lived in poverty his whole life-Metropolitan Church of Media and Art and the Christ (was the only member and priest)-in 1899 he became a cabaret pianist-“The Throat”, some songs written for her were bilingual-Ricardo Viniez -1915: Met Jean Cacteau, poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, and filmmaker-Made a movie called Beauty and the Beast, open homosexual-They made something that’s part oratorio, etc, with video including satie and a juggler (Parade)-he withdrew from society in 1918-when he died no one had been in his room in 27 years-referred to himself as a phonometrician

IMPORTANT WORKS-The Diva of the Empire (rondo)-1ere Gymnopedie

-example of periodicity (music is formed into question and answer phrase)-parallel interrupted period (the piece continues, interrupts itself, then starts

over, then the ending is minor)

Jean Cocteau (1889-1963)-mostly famous as a filmmaker-friend of Satie’s -made lots of money, and would lose it quickly-Coco Chanel was a big benefactor-he was a surrealist-was kind of a magnet for artistic people

Louis Durey (1888-1979) –born in Paris, largely self-taught, auto-didact, left-wing idealist

Germaine Taillferre (1892-1983) –she was the most influenced by impressionism, won lots of prizes at the Paris Conservatoire, in 1931 she had a daughter, had to run to the United States due to Nazis, raised her granddaughter

Georges Auric (1899-1983)-born in Southern France, as a music critic, his music is atonal-wrote the music to the 1950’s Moulin Rouge, among other famous movie soundtracks

Arthur Honegger (1892-1955)-born in Switzerland, went to Zurich Conservatoire-stayed in Paris for WWII, his music was labeled as degenerate-had a series of heart attacks-very Wagner and Strauss like, in a logical wayPacific 231King David

Darius Milhaud (1892-1974)-very good teacher, born in South France, studied Paris Conservatoirevery well educated, discovered Brazilian music in 1917, was Jewish-made a trip to US in 1922, and taught there in 1942-had rheumatoid arthritis-had a great marriage-kind, generous-he taught at Aspen (Steve Reich Zinnouchous, Burt Baccharach) La Creation du Monde -caused a riot, despised by the conservatives for him being on the cutting edgeThe Blue TrainBeef on the RoofScaramouch-commedia delarte

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)-born in Paris-attended the Conservatoire, largely self-taught-hypochondriach-gay, loved dogs-did national service-was addicted to barbituates-wrote tons of songs with Pierre Bernac-very distinctive harmonic language-ends pieces on strange chords and 7th chordsDialogue of the Carmelites-about the nuns who were executed in the French RevolutionLes Biches (for Diaghalev)The Breasts of Tiresias

Le Fiancaille pourir

Igor Stravinsky (1882-197)Married a distant cousin-commisioned by Diaghilev to write the Firebird-originially supposed to have been written for Lyod-Petrushka-he essentially became Diaghilev’s composer-moved to Paris in 1911-in WWI, went to Switzerland, had severe medical problems-played and conducted to make money-very nervous pianist-had an affair with Coco Chanel-met Vera, his true love, was immediately married as soon as his wife died-moved to California-became an American-met Robert Craft, his amanuensis-was multilingual-very courteous and generous with those he respected-spent last 2 years in New York

STYLE AND INNOVATION1.-father of Primitivist Nationalism (Firebird, Petrushka, Rite of Spring)-neo-brutalist-folk elements in his works-uses additive rhythms like 2+3+3 rhythms-bitonality, sometimes polytonality-restless ostinati (and did different things overtop, not using variations)-uses a unique form of motific variation-would add or subtract a note without regard to the meter2.-father of neo-classicism-looking back to Baroque and Classical for melody and rhythm, then modern harmony-Pulcinella (Tunes of Pergolesi)-Symphony of Songs-The Rake’s Progress-wrote the Ebony Concerto (Clarinet) for Benny Goodman-uses old themes3.-became a serialist_Les noces for Diaghilev-uses huge orchestra forces-uses unusual instrumental combinations-invented the Pethruska cho` rd (C major juxtaposed on f# major, 1st inversion)-Primitivist Nationalist was his most popular period

THE RITE OF SPRING

-caused a riot-choreographed by Nijinski-the meeting of tribes and elders-in 2 halves, one of the earth, and one of the sacrifice who dances herself to death

The English Pastoral School

Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)-born in England, from 2 famous families, Darwin and Wedgewood-royal college of music, PhD from Cambridge-married and 1897-learned from Brook in Germany-one of the first ethnomusicologist, collecting songs from the countryside-1904, wrote some tunes for the English hymnals-1908 – went to France and worked with Ravel-1914 – enlisted in Field Medical Corps-1916 – went to fight in Italy and Greece, lost Butterworth-1919 – became a professor of composition at Oxford-then became head of his alma mater-good friends with Gustav Holst-1939 – too old to fight, but wanted to help, so he wrote music for propaganda films-set up a series of concerts where all of the most famous people of the day went and performed -1951, wife died, 1953, married Ursula-after he died, she set up a scholarship to study at the Royal College-one of the founders of the British Folk Music Society-died from a heart attack, buried in Westminster Abbey-profoundly influenced film scores

WORKS-9 symphonies-Sir John in Love (opera)-(most famous orchestral piece) Orchestral Fantasia on Greensleeves-wrote lots of orchestral pieces, but mixes up the groups (orchestra with choir, etc.)-wrote 5 mystical songs for voice and orchestra

-The Lark Ascending-him looking back at the world, as it was destroyed in WWI

STYLE-incorporates folk tunes-very string oriented, and the music is usually dark-writes a lot of mixolydian and dorian-can be quite dissonant-pieces have a typical English melancholy to them-English favour clarinet and oboe

Gustav Holst (1874-1934)-Swedish ancestry-father was an accomplished pianist-mother died giving birth to his sibling-born in Cheltenham-brothers were neglected, father was overcome by grief-he was nervous, shy-in1885, things calm down, father married another student-wrote his first opera by 18-he was a trombonist by choice-met Vaughan Willians in 1895-became a socialist, taught at dirt cheap adult education centre-began conducting a working class choir there-met his wife Isabelle there-1901 – became director at Morley College, and became interested in Hindu philosophy-Savitry, an opera, in Sanskrit, and eventually the planets-in 1905, he was appointed for music director at St Paul’s, and wrote the St. Paul Suite-1906 – his health was falling apart, so his doctor sent him to Algeria, and then he wrote the Planets-wanted to help for WWI, and drove ambulances when he could-1903 – slipped of conducting platform, was first okay, but later heard noises that weren’t there, and a whole list of health problems-in 1932, he went to Harvard for a 6 month period-died of heart failure, in the same 6-week span as Elgar and Delius

Mars, The Bringer of War – Holst (1912/13)-5/4-prominent percussion and brass-strong dissonance, but not quite Rite of Spring

Neptune, The Mystic – Holst (1912/13)-first fade out

Peter Worlock (1894-1930)-came from a wealthy family-wrote some of the best English songs ever, only ever wrote the Capreol suite and 50 songs-he had a baleful influence on the men he surrounded, and all of them either killed themselves or drank themselves to death-D.H. Laurence got out quickly

William Walton (1902-1983)-wrote very weird music, such as Façade (when he was 19)

and a viola concerto

Arnold Schoenberg ( 1874 - 1951)-took a few violin lessons at 8-wrote his own songs, basically an autodidact-worked at a bank, but hung out with artistic people and circles-took a few counterpoint lesson with Zemlinsky (The Infanta), the only lessons ever-wrote one of the best books ever on tonal harmony-was a great teacher, married his sister-she died in 1923, remarried to a string player-took a job in Berlin conducting operetta-wrote some early cabaret songs-returned to Vienna in 1903 and began to teach-in WWI, he was in the services between 15-17after the war, he moved back to berlin-in 1923, started composing serialist music-3 periods: early/expressionistc, emphasizes outrageous images, late romantic, then atonal, then serialistic1926: teacher at Prussian State Academy of the Arts-1933: had to leave, since the Nazi’s took power, and moved to California-all music of the Second Viennese School was banned-went to France, then Boston, then California-became a US citizen in 1921-retired in 1944-died a bitter man, aware of his own worth and regretful of his neglect

-saw himself as missionary, and a traditionalisthated no-baroque, folklore school-he wanted to free us all from the tyranny of tonality

Periods:

Early/Expressionist: “The Clear Night” Verklärte NachtEmancipation of Dissonance: Pierrot Lunaire, op. 15, Book of the Hanging GardenSerial: op. 19, Moses and Aaron (opera) Moderated Serial Style: a bit of tonality thrown in – Piano Concerto, A Survivor from

Warsaw (narrator and orchestra)

-uses Set Theory, where each pitch becomes a number (pitch Class Sets)Allan Fort set out the system

Pierrot Lunaire – Schoenberg-came in a time of his trouble with his wife-was a friend of Richard Strauss-poem Albert Giraud (Belgian symbolist)

-morbid, about an artist (based on commedia dellarte)-moonstruck pierrot confronts portions of his own psyche-3s and 7s appear everywhere-first section is about angry and thwarted love-second is guilt crime punishment -third is about homesickness and nostalgia-lots of blood imagery-last song is the listening -for chamber ensemble: piano, flute/piccolo, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin/viola, cellist, singer-each song is a rondo ABaAabAB-sprechstimme – approximate pitch-Schoenberg played viola, and uses it to express himself as Pierrot

Nostalgia Stuff (ON TEST)-moonfleck-totally chaotic, very expressive, and chaotic-trying to rub moonlight off of his jacket, goes up in pitch

Oh Scent of Fabled Yesteryear (Pierrot Lunaire) – Schoenberg-the descending thirds represent things going down-also much downward chromatics

Klangfarbenmelodien – colour melody-created by Schoenberg

Grundgestalt-the basic contour of a piece-Schoenberg felt it was important to feel the overall structure of a piece

SERIALISM-idea was to get rid of any tonality, and be rigorous with structure-takes 12 pitches, and puts them in a row. He then presents it, retrogrades it, inverts it, augments it, etc. JUST LIKE A FUGUE

-Prime form is forward, retrograde is backwards-take the difference that adds to 12, and then that makes it inverted, then that backwards is retrograde inversion

Hexachordal Combinatoriality-the row has been divided into two groups of six (hexachords), and have the same interval between all of the notes

Anton Webern (1883-1945)-started with Schoenberg in 1903-was a communist, conducted a worker’s orchestra

-was released from duty in WWI for poor eyesight-his music was banned in WWII, and was an editor of Universal’s music-was lucky as a communist he wasn’t sent to a concentration camp-was fairly happy, had a successful marriage-Webern’s son-in-law was a seller of contraband, and a soldier thought he was his son, and shot him dead

CHARACTERISTICS-“microcosm”, he uses what he needs, keeps his pieces short-lvoed construction, writing canon and counterpoint-rhythm and dynamics are meticulous-“pointilistic” -used serialism, but not always 12 tones-5 pieces for orchestra-songs and cantatas

Alban Berg (1885-1935)-born into aristocratic and wealthy family-had a weak heart, which killed him-started with Schoenberg in 1903-when he was 17, fathered a child with a servant girl, and he family pushed them away-got poor grades-met his wife in 1907-was dismissed from WWI for bad asthma, nervous breakdowns-superstitious of the number 23

WORKS-violin concerto-some songs-two operas (Wozzeck, Lulu)-Lulu is about a girl who rises up the social ladder, and then she gets to London and is killed by Jack the Ripper-Wozzeck is by Buchner, and was arranged by Berg for opera, and he was hanged for -very strong political elements-he’s attached to the military, and allows himself to be tested on by a horrible doctor, because he has a mistress that he loves-Marie is fond of Wozzeck, but because he’s not quite right, she goes on with the Drum Major-takes Marie for a walk, then kills her, then goes to the tavern, and everyone notices the blood, and then drowns himself in the lake trying to wash it offin 3 acts, and each act has 5 scenes.-act 1 is a suite, 2 is a sonata form, and 3 is an invention(2-3 voices with imitation)-first scene is a rhapsody, then military march, then lullaby, 4th is a passacaglia, and 5th is a rondo-2: 1st is a fantasy, 2nd is a fugue, 3rd is a largo, 4th is a scherzo, 5th is a rondo

-3: is a theme, an invention of B, have one on rhythm, one on a chord, and one a duration-kind of adopts the idea of leitmotif-023468 is a recurring pitch class-whenever he’s losing it, you hear the celeste

Scene 4, Interlude, Scene 5

CHARACTERISTICS-often spurred by serialists for using tonal elements-used expressionism

‘Murica-JAZZ :Delements:-African singing-slave hollers-minstrel shows-cakewalk, characterized by syncopation (people had to do a funny walk for the dance)-ragging (taking a popular piece and syncopating it) A:||B:||A:||C:||D:||-then came the blues, which were laments from the deep south, with usually 2 lines, and flat 3, 5 and 7-after the blues, there’s the big bands, which erupted from New Orleans (King Creole), clarinet trompone piano, banjo, then trumpets-then comes bebop (deliberately difficult and obscure, to weed out amateurs)-Miles Davis, Coltrane, Gillespie-after that, we get R’n’B, which had the vibe of the big band-from that, rock and roll is born

Scott Joplin(1868-1917)-father was a worker and slave, mom was a higher up piano teacher-mother held the family together-recognized for his talent-moves to Missouri to study music-ends up in New York, wants to write the first Jazz Opera (Treemonisha) about a woman who saves her family-music is good, but there was not much action-was a failure and he lost it (also due to syphilis) and died in an asylum

WORKSThe EntertainerThe Peacherine

Solace

Maple Leaf Rag – Scott Joplin-nothing to do with Canada-based off of a hotel/brothel/bar where he worked-stride (leaping steady left-hand)

Duke Ellington (1899-1974)-born in D.C.-was associated with the higher class, and broke through racial barriers-Johnson-called Duke because he dressed flashy-had some hits when he was a teenager -formed his first group in 1919-in 1923, he moved to Harlem, became a sidesman in the Washingtonians. -1924 first recording-1927-1930, he controlled the residency at the Cottom Club-in 1928, he recorded Mouche, which epitomizes “jungle music”-Black and Tan Fantasy- took the band to Hollywood-spent the rest of his life producing and travelling-wrote the Far East Suite in 1966-New Orleans Suite in 1970

Billy Strayhorn (1915-1967)-born in Ohio, moved to Pittsburg, then was moved to North Carolina-Studied classical music, was hitting the race barrier, and moved into jazz-he was openly gay-active in the civil rights movement-died from esophagus cancer-did a jazz version of the Nutcracker with Ellington-Chelsea Bridge and Take the A Train with Ellington

George Gershwin (1898-1937)-born in Harlem, died in Hollywood-Jewish heritage-at 12, his family bought a piano, and he had lessons with Hanmitzer, showed him Debussy-worked with Goldreich, and Henry Cowell (The Banshee)-never great at reading, but was a great songwriter-at 16, left and went to tin can alley, and he became a songclubber-then he wrote his own songs and god publishedSwanee was his first big hit-Paul Whiteman, in 1924, announced a competition to find the next great composer-it said Gershwin would debut a piece-Rachmaninoff, Gluck, and 2 great violinists

-won the competition with Rhapsody in Blue-was orchestrated by someone else-he decided to study in France (for orchestration), then wrote his Piano Concerto in F-Nadia Boulanger wrote to Ravel, but Ravel wouldn’t teach him, nor Stravinsky-while there, he came up with An American in Paris-he read Porgy and Bess, then wrote music to it, and it got performed on Broadway-divided critical reaction, but he did fuse jazz and opera successfully-his brother Ira was his librettist- ended up in California with Stravinsky-last years were successful, bit of a womanizer, and had a child out of wedlock-started complaining of headaches, and shortly after died of brain tumours-had lots of money even during the Depression, and bought lots of Picassos

WORKS-An American in Paris-Rhapsody in Blue-Summertime

FOR LISTENING-Girl Crazy-Piano Prelude

Aaron Copland (1900-1990)-born I nBrooklyn, but did not immigrate to Cali-parents were also Jewish and Russian immigrants-his father was wealthy, bought a store-studied composition with Goldmarc-liked the French stuff-at 20, he had saved enough to go study in France, and Nadia Boulanger-shared a room with Harold Clurman, art critic (were secretly a couple)-returned to the US in 1924 to establish the league of American Composers-dug up roots, found cowboy songs-twice he toured Latin America on grants-taught at Harvard (Toru Takemitsu, David Deltretache, Chavehcz) -founded a concert series with Roger Sessions-won a Pulitzer prize-in 1950, he won an Oscar -went through 3 stages:Early Impressionistic-Cat and Mouse

Really American Stuff-cowboy music, folk songs, ballades

Serialism

WORKS-worked with Agnes de Mille for choreography-most famous works are ballets-Billy the Kid-Rodeo-Appalachian Spring-Fanfare for the Common Man-Clarinet Concerto for Benny Goodman

Appalacian Spring-its about a pioneer time, a man and woman get married and their neighbours all help them build a cabin, then the sun sets and they all go home

Opening Sections-harp parts, ascending lines reminiscent of sunrise

Scene VII-uses Simple Gifts, and does variations-additive rhythms, constant changes of rhythm

Billy The Kid – Aaron Copland-uses bitonality, using quintal or quartal harmony

Charles Ives (1874-1954)-born in Danbury, Connecticut-received early training from his father, a bandmaster-learned to play melodies in 2 keys at once-decided he wouldn’t be a professional musician, and sold insurance-in 1898 he moved to New York-almost all of his works were written between 1898-1920-married a woman named Harmony, a poet-hated 19th century harmony, McDowell, Tchaikovsky-often polytonal-uses unusual instruments, such as a Jew’s harp-likes to juxtapose different music textures on each other-he’ll divide the orchestra into 3 separate sections-one of the first to use extended techniques-in the Concord Sonata, he uses a 14.5 inch board to hit the keys-lead to Henry Cowell, John Cage

WORKS-Concord Sonata (conceived as orchestral work – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Hawthorne, The Alcotts, Thoreau, each mvmt based off these writers – initially intended to be comedic)

-Three Places in New England (orchestral suite in 3 mvmts)-Central Park in the Dark (symphonic tone poem)-The Unanswered Question (no resolution, just leaves you hanging)-wrote some great songs (The Cage, The Songs Our Fathers Loved)

The Country Band – Charles Ives-an ABABA rondo, polytonal-American band, jazz, and classical (ballet) mix of genres-uses Yankee Doodle, London Bridge is Falling Down, etc. tunes

REVIEW

Grundgestalt – basic contour/outline of the piece, coined by Schoenberg

Sprechstimme – song speech, coind by Schoenberg – Pierrot Lunaire – vocal line indicating approximate pitch, with x on head or stem

Klangfarbenmelodien – melody created by changes of colour, can be the same note played by different instruments – Schoenberg’s Five Pieces for Orchestra

Polytonality – Country Band – Ives – Use of multiple keys

Polyrhythm – using multirhythmic figures against each other, different time signatures, Rite of Spring - Stravinsky

Bitonality – use of two keys simultaneously Rite of Spring - Stravinsky

Symbolism – reaction to realism and naturalism, used to clarify the characters‘’Apres-midi un faun

Expressionism – showing reality by distorting it , like the Scream-Pierrot Lunaire

Impressionism – moving away from clarity and structures-Debussy

Surrealism – juxtaposition of two completely different thingsParade – Erik Satie

Les Six – a group of French artists that were against impressionism and Wagner – Poulenc, Milhaud, Honegger, Durey – Poulenc – Les biches

Parallelism – Using parallel 5ths and 8ves, 9ths, The Sunken Cathedral – Debussy

Exoticism – using foreign themes, languages and imagery

Madagascan Folk Songs – Ravel

Neoclassical – using modern harmony and classical structuresTombeau de Couperin – Ravel

Set Theory – Developed by Alan Forte, which cannot be analyzed using traditional theory – Pierrot Lunaire

Serialism – using twelve tones, and istreated fugally, set it up as a row-Schoenberg – Pierrot Lunaire

Commedia dell’arte – using stock characters from French Comedic Theatre

Petruska – Eb minor against a C major chord, bitonal, motive for the character of Petruska

Pointilism – when you use dots in art and when you step back, it makes a clearer image – Symphony, 2nd mvt., Webern

IMPORTANT PEOPLE

Diaghilev – Russian aristocrat who funded almost every important ballet in early 20th

Nijinsky – choreographer who did Rite of Sring

Jean Cocteau – filmmaker, poet, composer who worked with Satie

Giraud – poet of Pierrot Lunaire

Buchner – wrote Wozzeck, writer

Mallarme – poet for l’Apres Midi

Duke Eliington – big band leader, composer, co-wrote Take the A-Train

Billy Strayhorn – composer and arranger for Ellington

Charles Ives – extended piano technique, used bi and polytonality

Satie – putting serialism into music,

Mihaud – introducing Brazilian

Poulenc – French theatre music

Gershwin – jazz and opera

Vaughn Williams – English National Pstoral School

Holst – First fade out, father of film music?

ESSAYS

Impressionism-Piano, muting, parallelisms, pentatonics, exoticism, lasting influence (Berg, Copland, Albeniz, Louie, Dukas), with mention to specific works

Serialism-Schoenberg wanted to asve music, used atonalism, decided it needed a system, then he modded it for more tonal elements, Op. 33-A, Piano Concerto, Survivor from Warsaw, Berg used modified, lots of tonal elements he used, elements of impressionism, neoclassicism, Webern organized 12 tones, rhythms, structures, pointillism, and the sould of brevity

American Musical Nationalism-Gershwin, Joplin, etc interested in finding their own voice, Copland, Ives, interested in finding their own voice, Concord Sonata using American transcendental philosophers, jazz, using porgy and Bess

RAVEL

Don Quichotte - Orchestral Songs, Film ScoreFeria – Orchestral SuiteRite of Spring – BalletPierrot LunaireHolst – MarsA-Train – BigBandJoplin – Rag, A:||B:||A:||C:||D, stride piano styleGershwin – AriaCopland – BalletIves – Symphonic Poem

William Grant Still (1895-1978)-parents were mutts-father was a bandleader, and his mom remairred and they moved to Arkansas-stepfather nourished his interests, took him to see concerts, took violin lessons,

-taught himself bass, viola, -mother wanted him to be a doctor-went to New England Conservatory, and Oberlin-in 1918, he enlisted and served in the Navy-started working as an arranger for W.C. Handy-moved to LA, did film scores-Pennies from Heaven-his wife was a concert pianist-died of heart failure

INNOVATIONS-first black man to receive major attention when he had his Symphony 1 directed-first to conduct a major orchestra (LA – 1936)-first to have a nationally televised opera (Trouble Island)-received honorary doctorates

WORKS5 symphones4 balletslots of piano music-wrote television themes (Jim Crow laws) (Gun Smoke, Perry Mason)

Suite for Violin and Piano, mvt. 3-resembles Gershwin-uses lots of American folk tunes-mixing jazz idiom with contemporary classical music

Ruth Crawford-Seeger (1901-53)-died of cancer-teacher , composer, folk music specialist-collected music like Williams-originially taught by her mother, eventually moved to Chicago Conservatoire-teacher was from Scriaben-attracted to Serialism, serialized other things besides notes-she was the first woman to receive a Guggenheim scholarship-studied in Europe-married Pete Seeger’s father-had several children, many were involved in music-in36, they moved to DC-died, and was buried in Florida

WORKSPiano SOntata9 Piano Preludeswrote 5 songs on poems by Carl Sandbergwrote 2 ricercare (1932) based on Tsaing, Sacco and Vanzetti

Piano Prelude no. 6 – Ruth Crawford-written on 3 staffs-piano character piece-has ostinato in right hand, and then it hits the left hand

Henry Cowell (1897-1965)-born in Cali-parents were Bohemian-divorced in 1903-stayed in touch with his dad-studied comp at Bwerkley-moved to new york, studied with Leo Ornstein-returned to Cali, moved to esoteric community-developed a tone cluster technique-used 12 tones at onces-did lots of prepared piano-taught John Cage-central figure in a nAvante-Gardist group-influenced Colin McPhee-Ruth Crawford was in the group-he published lots of new music and materials-was bisexual, ended up going to jail (San Quentin)-founded a band and conducted the inmates-had a devastating effect on him, and wrote very little when he gets out-wrote The Banshee, which originially had words, but he determined it was scarier without-first to write a piece exclusively on the strings of a piano

The Banshee (1925) – Henry Cowell-piano character pieceuses slapping strings, and rubbing them for thunderous effects-using nails on strings as well

Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (1864-1953)-tremendous supporter of the arts-commissioned Sam Barber, Bartok String Quartet 5, Poulenc Flute Sonata, Prokofiev String Quartet, SHoenberg String Quartet 4 and 5, Stravinsky Appolon, Musiget-financially supported Locke, Bridge, Britten, Hindemith, Mihaud, Roussel, Rebecca Clark-built concert halls, Yale, Congress-established the Berkshire Music Festival, and the resident string quartet

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)-wasa spoiled brat, grew up in the boonies

-had 2 passions: music, and chess-had his own voice right from the get go-started studying at St. Petersburg rright away-1910: father died, family went broke-had to earn his keep, and entered the piano competition-broke the rules and played his own concerto-met Diaghilev and Stravinsky-wrote the Gamblers-became inspired to write his classical symphony, pre-Stravinsky, inspired by Handel-in 1918, moved to states to be a concert pianist, but kind of got lost in the shuffle-commissioned to write an opera (The Love of 3 Oranges)-premiere didn’t happen until later, and it blew his concert career-went back to Paris in 1920 and met with Diaghilev (Chout, Trapeze, Pas D’acier)-did 2 ballets for him-in 1921, Oranges premiered and it failed1923: married Lina-1929: car accicent, minor injuries to his hands-had to stop, but went back to states and was a hit-1930: Stalin + govt court him, try to get him to come back-finally, he did go back, with awful results-Kije (Russian Story), a commission for the Russian Government-1941: had his first heart attack-composers were terrorized by Stalin-had to be what he liked, or you could be killed-after heart attack, everthing is a slow decline-forced to write propagandist music-met Mira Mendelssohn, fell in love with him and HAD to have him-she has his wife and kids sent to Siberian camps-they got out and settled in London-Lina made well, and died with a bit of wealth-ended up with Mira to save his own ass,-died from cerebral hemmorage-musicians couldn’t go to his funeral due to Stalin’s funeral

WORKS-wrote a couple of scores for Gaye Isestein-Romeo and jUliet, Cinderella – ballets-Alexander Nevsky-5 piano concerto, 2 violin concerto, 3 pieces for violin and orchestra-Gamblers and War and Peace operas-9 piano sonatas (VERY important)-Peter and the Wolf

CHARACTERISTICS-wrote great tuns

-always wrote traditional structures-also had primitivist nationalistic styles-lots of syncopation-wrote great tunes, very dissonant, but always tonal

Troika from Lieutenant Kije, op. 60 – Prokofiev-orchestral suite-rondo-slightly sarcastic feel

Classical Symphony, mvt. I – Sergei Prokofiev

Bela Bartok (1881-1945)-born in Hungary-father died at 7, mom was piano teacher-perfect pitch by 5-first published at 11-stdied at Budapst Academy-1905 discovers folk music, becomes ethnomusicologist-travelled and collected olk tunes-he directly quotes folk tunes-has flavours of folk tunes in his serious pieces-was 58 when Nazi’s came into power-all composers had to fill out form for Universal-went to US and taught at Columbia-had 2 wives-second wife was a good pianist-when he found it difficult to make ends meet, ASCAP paid him-last performance was 1943

WORKS6 string quartetsMusic for percussion, strings, and celesteConcerto for Orchestra6 volumes of MikrokosmosSonata for 2 pianos and percussionBluebeard’s Castle (opera)2 violin sonatas 3 piano concertos

STYLEVery contrapuntalDense texturesFree use of imitationMelodiese are inspired by eastern European folk songsPrimitivist nationalist school for motoristic rhythms and additive rhythms-octatonic and pentatonic scale

essentially tonal, but tonal centres are deliberately obscured

String Quartet no. 4, Final Movement – Bela Bartok

Concerto for Orchestra – Bela Bartok-lots of imitation and counterpoint-rondo, slightly different rondo ABACBA

Gyorgi Ligeti (1923-2006)-Hungarian-Jewish-studied at Liszt Academy in Budapest-survived Nazi Europe-family fled during Hungarian Uprising-moved to Cologne, Germany, worked with West German Radio Experimental Radio-studied there with Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen-was an important teacher-won numerous prizes, Kyoto, the Gold Medal from the London Philharmonic-lived in Hamburg til his death-Requiem Lux Aeternam-opera La Grande Macabre-orchestral work Apparations-two books, 12 etudes for piano-wrote a piece for 100 metronomes

STYLE-like Bartok, folk songy-primitivist with accentuated rhythms-becomes in tereested in micropolyphony-massive clusters,

Disorder, Etudes pour Piano, Book 1 – Gyorgi Ligeti-bitonal-hands start together, gradually come apart, an 8th note at a time-starts in the middle, and gradually works its way up-then octaves, and quasi bells structure-rhythmic study-no tonal center-extension of primitivist nationalist

NIGHT – Ligeti

Carl Orff (1895-1982)-always loved composing-a bit on an entymologyst

-earliest compositions were for piano, violin, and zither-in teens, he composed his own songs, first got published at 16-attracted to Nietschze, started to write a piece but abandoned it-heard Stravinsky and took that up, from somewhere in between Rite and classicism-wrote Carmina Burina, based on Galliard texts, and was much loved by the Nazis-his relationship with the Nazis is questioned, he’s considered grey, since they’re not sure quite where he stood-great educator, still used Orff method-fortune cookie philosophy-felt rhythm was the most important part, and thought you should sing and play at the same time.

Carmina Burana – Carl Orff-kind of strophic-either AA or BB-tierce de Picardy-coda at the end, on a tonic pedal point

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)STYLE-ranks chords and intervals from most to least dissonant-6 rankings for chords-likes melodies, but tries to avoid outlining triads-largely contrapuntal-neo-classical, clear structures, writes sonatas, dances, binary form-uses quartal and quintal chords-a great violist-great theorist

WORKSLaudis Tonalis for PianoOne sonata for almost every instrument11 pieces for viola and piano2 cello sonatasMathis der Maler

Olivier Messiean(1908-1992)-elements of impressionism-sometimes exotic-Born in Avignon, died in Paris-father was a translator of Shakespeare-entered conservatoire at 11, studying fugue, counterpoint, harmony, and history-first work was 8 piano preludes-became principal organist at Church in Paris1932: married violinist, were very happy-had minor surgery, and then lost her memory, and died in an asylum

-he joined the staff of 2 other schools (Ecole Normale, and the Schola Cantorum)-great rivalry, but he stayed above it-became a very important teacher-taught Pierre Boulez, Stockhausen, and George Benjamin-in 1940, he worked for the resistance, got put in a concentration camp-wrote quartet for the End of Time there-released in 1941, and worked as the professor of harmony at the Conservatoire-Yvonne Loriod was a student, and became his wife-his sister in law was an expert in the Ondes Martineau-profoundly Catholic, and many pieces were inspired by that-won the Legion of Honour, Philharmonic Society Gold Medal-taught in Cologne, Darnschtat, Tanglewood, and in Japan-in 1992, he made the premiere of his unfinished opera, longest opera ever-amateur ornithologist-Catalogue des (based on bird songs)-had an interest in the modes and rhythms of India

WORKSQuartet for the End of TimeSt. Francis of the Assisi (opera)Wrote massive organ worksThe Mass for Pentacost, massive organ pieceNativity of the Lord20 Glimpses at the Infant Jesus (piano)Turangalila SymphonyCanyon of the Stars (orchestral)

STYLE-rhythmically complex-uses Greek and Hindu sources-liked exotic instruments, and uses them-some Japanese and Gamelin influences-serial elements in earlier works-was synestaesic, -influenced but Surrealism (Reflections in the Winds)

Vocalise, Quartet for the End of Time – Olivier Messaien-piano violin cello and clarinet, 8 movements-ternary

Turangalila Symphony

Pierre Boulez (b. 1925)-studied math before music, but snapped out of it-studied at the conservatoire with Messiaen

-he’s gay-moved towards greater extractions-wrote intense pure serial music (integrated)-Stuctures for Two Pianos was awfully boring-jazz Japanese, gamelan influences-became a well renowned conductor-taught at the experimental German centre-he was asked by the French president to set up a place for musical experimentation, created I. S. C. A. M.-wrote some aleatoric music-wrote lots of essays-seemed to control the discourse-did a collab with Zappa-2002, won Glenn Gould Prize- The Hammer without a Master is probably his most famous work

Arvo Pärt (b. 1935)-born in Estonia-studied in Tulin-became recording manager at the EBM-wrote what would be considered “formalist”-moved to Vienna in 1980-went to Berlin in 82, still lives there-early compositions were serialin 1968, he wrote Credo, and wrote religious works-some neoclassical elements-studied and worked on Gregorian chant-in1976, he developed his own style, tintinnabulilots of repetition, minimal tempo, minimal elements-Tabula Rasa was one of his most famous pieces-Frattes-Cantus in memoriam: Benjamin Britten-4 symphonies-St. John passion-Magnificat

Cantate Domino canticum novum – Arvo Pärt-elements of minimalism-imitates Gregorian chant-only 2 actual voices, stepwise, contrary motion

Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (1883-1965)-born in Paris, raised in Burgundy-massive attachment to his maternal grandmother-related to Alfred Corteau-his relationship with his father was full of hatred

-family to to Turin in 1893, where he had first lessons-1895 wrote his first opera-1904: studied in Schola Cantorum-studied under Roussell-1907: moved to Berlin-married an actress and had a daughter-became acquainted with Strauss, Debussy Satie during the war-got invalided out to the united states-founded an international composers guild-devoted to classical music-took american citizenship in 1927lived in New York til 1943-then moved to San Fran and LA

WORKS-Ionization – work for 13 percussionists-Poeme Electronique-offrandes for Soprano and chamber orchestra-Integrales – for wind and percussion

STYLESLike playing with timbre-felt it was the most important structural elements of music-music concrete-loves dealing with non-traditional instruments-wanted the sound of the city-influences Robert Lamm, and Frank Zappa-true father of elecronique music

Ionisation – Varese -music concrete-use of thunder sheets, cowbells-snare ties it all together

MIX AND MATCHProko Bartok Hindemeth Part Ligeti,Messaein, Boulez, Orff

STYLE CHARACTERISTICS-prim nat-used folk tunes-never used additive rhythms-wrote greart tunes-would later make them ugly-lots of elements of satire

Bartok

-prim nat-influenced by folk music-add rhythms-uses classical structures-ethnomusicologist-did dissonances based on major second

Messaean -eastern exoticism (hindu rhyms)-added 6ths to chords-bird notation-could write really beautiful melodies-early serialism, lots is based onreligion-ondes martinot-uses tonal centres, in a way that doesn’t sound tonal

Boulez-integrated serialism-hates tonality (politically)

Orff-large scales-percussion-Hungarian folk music

Hindemith-quartal in quintal writing, basing things on the -loved polyphony-wrote sonatas for every instrument

Ligeti-micropolyphony

Varese-father of concrete

Pärt-simplicity of minimalism-tintinnabuli

Cowell-used traditional instruments, with extended techniwues

John Cage (1912-1992)-born in LA studied with Henry Cowell-in 1930s, he began experimenting with prepared piano

-wrote pieces with quarter tones-pianos and interludes-became interested in aleatorism, which led to his falling out with Boulez-married to Xenya, but met a photographer and they got married and were happy from then on-found eastern philosophy-in 58, he became the teacher at Black Mountain College, and wrote 4’33’’-realized there was no such thing as absolute silence-became an expert in mycology

STYLE-“purposeless play”-much was chance-explored electronic and non-conventional instruments-microtonalism

WORKS4’33’’Sonatas and InterludesSuite for Toy PianoMusic for Carillon

Sonata 5 from Sonatas and Interludes – John Cage-prepared piano-very gamelan like, African rhythms

George Crumb (1929)-his a DMA (playing degree) and taught there for 30 years-taught all over the US-had prominent students (Christopher Raus, Jennifer Highdon)-won Pulitizer and Grammy-wrote 4 books of madrigals of Lorca-Black Angels-electric string quartet, bowed goblets, creaking doors-Ancient Voices of Children-Makrokosmos I-IV (books 1 and 2 for solo piano)-piano duet and percussion-was initially a fan of Webern, but grew out of it-uses a lot of traditional instruments in extended ways-makes performers make entrances and exits while playing, which is part of the performance-uses graphic notation, sometimes the scores look like spirals

Minimalist School

John Adams (b. 1947)-BA and MA from Harvard-teaching at San Francisco-worked a lot with Peter Sellers-workerd with Alice Goodman-became composer in residence at Carnegie Hall (2003)-involved in both serialism and minimalism-operas are very political-Death of Klinghofer-Doctor Atomic was written in 2005

WORKSShort Ride in a Fast MachineRoadrunnerShaker LoopsThe Flowering Tree (opera)

Batter My Heart – John Adams-bar form binary

Steve Reich (b. 1936)-went to Cornell for philosophy, then went to Julliard-went to Mills College, masters in music-wrote 12 tone, but he wrote rhythmic stuff later-started adopting a minimalist approach-wrote “Come Out”, which started the phasing technique

WORKSViolin PhaseClapping MusicJudaism and Christian faith exploration – TehillimDrummingThe Cave (opera)

Tehillim – Steve Reich-pre-recorded voice, percussion and organ-minimal-“acceptable” electronic music

Phillip Glass (b. 1937)-born in Baltimore-studied at Julliard-studied with Milhaud in Aspen-studied in Paris, with Nadia Boulanger

-1966, went to India, and became a Tibetan Buddhist-had various jobs, plumber, mover, driver-married 4 imes, and has 4 children-done many film scores as of recently-

WORKSEinstein on the BeachAkhnatenSatyagraha

STYLEUsed serialismCalls himself a classicist

Worked withRavi ShenkarLeonard Cohen

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)-only composer whose focus was primarily opera-very influential, regularly prformed-mom was an amateur singer-had a composer (Frank Bridge) as a teacher-studied piano with Arthur Benjamin-studied comp with John Ireland-studied at the Roal College of Music in London-worked for govt film group as a composer-gay, knew from early on-W.H. Auden wasa friend-met Peter Pears, who was his life-long partner-in 1937, his mom died, and almost had a nervous breakdown-wasa touchy guy, easily insulted-surrounded himself with people who would mother him-was a conscientious objector of the war, and took off to America-he left because he felt he wasn’t truly appreciated in Britain, but realized that was not it, and went back in 1942-in 1947, he founded the Aldeburgh Festival, which is still going today-became a life peer, and Lord Britten of Aldeburgh

STYLE-usually addresses big, huge problems-pacifism, homophobia-eclectic-has a very personal language-moments of sarcasm and irony

-great orchestrator-themes of societal corruption-was religious, id write one act operas-WORKSThe OutsiderCurlu River, The Burning Fiery Furnace, The Prodigal Son, Noye’s Flood – religious worksCeremony of CarolsOpera on Midsummer night’s dreamGloriana (Queen Elizabeth)Turn of the ScrewPeter GrimesAlbert HerringBilly BudRape of LucretiusLullabiesMichaelangelo Sonnets

C Interlude - Peter Grimes – Benjamin Britten-Peter Grimes is on trial, because he an apprentice died in his shop, and he’s acquitted, treated like a pariah, and then the only person who will talk to him is a woman he’s in love with, and then he takes a kid out on a boat, a storm rolls in, the kid drowns, and the town cries murder, and he kills himself

Sunday Morning (Sea Interlude) – Benjamin Britten-Holst/Gershwin/Copland influence at the beginning

Dmitri Shostakovich (1909-1975)-took lessons with his mom, and had a Mozart like memory-entered the St. Petersburg Conservatoire at 13-almost failed his Marxist exam-very uninterested ib politics-wrote his first symphony at 19-was an honorable mention at the first Chopin competition-in 1932, married Nina-in 1936, he fell out of favour due to Stalin seeing Lady Macbeth-avoided death by missing an appointment with a beaurocrat-everyone around him was killed by Stalin-became a hero during the world war. He opted to stay in Leningrad, and premiered his 7th symphony, and premiered it around the world. He then allowed himself to be airlifted out so his kids wouldn’t start-he remarried with disasterous results-1948 – Zhdanov held a congress for musicians, and took a score of Shostakovih’s 4th

symphony and tore it up-in 1960 he koined the communist party

-in the1950’s he left to tour-died of cancer

WORKS15 symphonies (5th, 7th, 13th (Babayar), 14th (songs and Dances of Death)Lady Macbeth of the MsenkThe Nose6 conertoswrote lots of film music, much was propaganda stuff24 preludes and fugues for pianoSongsSonatas15 string quartets

INFLUIENCESBeethovenMahlerCan be extremely dissonant