music

1. Music in the
20th Century

2. 20th Century Culture and the
Arts
 Cultural Background
 Impact on the Arts

3. Cultural Background
• Technology and Scientific Advancements
• Economics
• World Conflict
• Psychological Research
• Age of Diversity, Age of Eclecticism

4. Impact on the Arts
• The arts reflected culture’s diversity,
eclecticism.
• Artists tended to be of three sorts: those
that sought to overthrow the status quo, to
shock; those that experimented and
seldom perfected; those that combined the
two, who honored the past but felt free to
move beyond it.

5. Visual Arts
• Impressionism
Claude Monet
(1840-1926)
French

7. • Cubism, Surrealism
Pablo Picasso
(1881-1973)
Spanish

9. • Abstract
Wassily Kandinsky
(1866-1944)
Russian

11. • Modernism
Henri Matisse
(1869-1954)
French

13. Classical Music in the 20th Century
• Music from 1900 to 1950
– Musical Elements
– Variety of Styles
• Music After 1950

14. Music Elements
• Melody
– Music relied less on melody
– Irregular, unbalanced melodies
– Angular, instrumental in conception
• Rhythm
– Hallmark – one of the most striking elements
– Increasingly complex, irregular meters and
accents, use of polyrhythms

15. • Harmony
– No single accepted harmonic language
– New chords: polychord, quartal, tone cluster
– Atonality – freedom from a tonal center,
greatly dissonant
• Texture
– Homophonic
– Renewed interest in polyphony (counterpoint)

16. • Timbre/Orchestration
– Became more important than ever
– Trend toward smaller orchestra with a leaner sound
(economics)
– Emphasis on percussion
– Less emphasis on a blended sound
• Dynamics
– Gradual, less extreme
• Form
– Divergent
• Genres
– Vocal: Mass, Requiem, art song, opera
– Instrumental: Symphony, Concerto, String Quartet

17. Musical Styles
• Impressionism
• Nationalism
• Neoclassicism
• Expressionism
• Serialism
• Avant-garde

18. Impressionism
• Transition style from late 19th century to
early modernism
• Sought to suggest, rather than to define
• Impacted by impressionist art and
literature

19. Claude Debussy
(1862-1918)
French
“Prelude to the
Afternoon of a
Faun”

20. Nationalism
• Encouraged use of authentic national
songs, dances, stories

21. Aaron Copland
(1900-1990)
American
“Appalachian
Spring”

22. Neoclassism
• Revived the techniques, forms and
musical styles characteristic to
Renaissance, Baroque and Classical
music
• Introduced 20th century elements of sound
within these older styles

23. Igor Stravinsky
(1882-1971)
Russian
“Rite of Spring”

24. Expressionism and Serialism
• Sought to express inner emotions (as
opposed to Impressionism)
• Abandoned tonality, used 12-tone scale
• Total Serialism

25. Arnold Schoenberg
(1874-1951)
Austrian/American
“Vorgefühle” from
Five Pieces for
Orchestra

26. Avant Garde
• Sought to overcome years of neglect in
the musical elements: timbre and rhythm
• Public often disassociated from this style
• Styles: Aleatory (chance), electronic,
multimedia, digital

27. Edgard Varese
(1883-1965)
French
“Poeme Electronique”

28. Classical Music Traditions
Since 1950
• Important Influences: women’s
movement, economics of composing,
computer and digital improvements
• Eclectic, diverse styles: electronic,
computer generated, serialism, romantic
revival (melodically centered)

29. Folk and Popular Styles
• Jazz
• Music Theatre
• Rock

30. Jazz
• America’s Musical Art
• Major contribution of the Black culture to the contemporary
culture
• It was a player’s art.
• Styles:
– Ragtime: 1890’s, keyboard, Scott Joplin
– Blues: 1920’s, Bessie Smith
– New Orleans Dixieland: 1920’s, dance music
– Swing: 1930’s, Big Band, Louis Armstrong
– Bebop: 1940’s, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker
– Cool Jazz: 1950’s, Dave Brubeck
– Latin and Soul Jazz: 1960’s and 1970’s
– Fusion: 1980’s to Present

31. Music Theatre
• Flourished with jazz in the first half of the 20th
century
• Maintains a strong presence today
• Began with operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan
(England)
• Important Composers: George M. Cohan,
Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George
Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Leonard Bernstein,
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Sondheim

32. Rock
• Grew from two streams in the 1950’s: white country
music and black rhythm and blues
• Huge influence of the black culture
• Recording studios of Chicago, St. Louis and New York
were instrumental in the popularization of rock and its
importance as a commodity
• 1960’s: British invasion, soul
• 1970’s: disco, funk, punk, reggae
• 1980’s: new wave, rap
• 1990’s: grunge, pop
• 2000’s: alternative