Exam III: Modern Era (Condensed)

Claude Debussy's Origin

France

Prelude a l'apres-midi d-un faune (Debussy)

tone poem based on a French symbolist poem; later used as music for a ballet

What term given to describe the music of Debussy and others (Ravel)?

impressionism

impressionism

harmonies, melodies, and rhythms of the music are clouded, shifting, and obscure

symbolism

a movement in the late 19th century arts; believed that art should aim to capture more absolute truths which could only be accessed by indirect methods

genre

a general category of music

EX of genre

motet, symphony, jazz combo, etc.

orchestration

adaption of original work for a combination of orchestral instruments

With orchestration, _______ of the original work is changed.

very little (if any)

arrangement

adaptation of original work for any group of instruments; music is usually added, subtracted, and/or changed from the original work

major scale

W-W-H-W-W-W-H

whole tone scale

W-W-W-W-W-W-W....

chromatic scale

H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H.....

octatonic scale

W-H-W-H-W-H-W-H....

pentatonic scale

all black keys on the piano

non-functional harmony

harmonic movement with no set rules

chord planing

harmonic movement (chords) in a stepwise direction, thus "breaking the rules" of functional harmony

pandiatonic

all chords in a key treated equally with regard to harmonic function

polytonality

music using two or more keys at the same time

polytonal music

music with more than one tonal center

poly-rhythm

music using two or more rhythms at the same time

atonal music

music that is not in key; without a tonal center

Melody in modern music is not based on:

any major/minor scale

extended techniques

having an instrument or voice do something it normally does not do

Igor Stravinsky's Origin

Russia

sprechstimme (Schoenberg)

"speech singing"; a style of singing where the vocalist half sings/speaks, never staying very long on the pitch of the written notes

klangfarbenmelodie (Schoenberg)

tone color melody; a melody made up of tone colors instead of individual notes

The "Emancipation of Dissonance" (Schoenberg)

dissonant sounds no longer need to be resolved

The 2nd Viennese School

Schoenberg and his pupils Berg and Webern

12 Tone System (Schoenberg)

a system of composition that uses all twelve notes on that chromatic scale equally and in no particular order (tone row)

William Grant Still's Origin

Little Rock, AR

Who was the first African American to have an orchestra performed?

William Grant Still

Bela Bartok's Origin

Hungary

Aaron Copland's Origin

United States

Gustav Holst's Origin

England

The Planets (Holst)

never wrote another piece like this; hated its populatrity

Isa Tomita's Origin

Japan

Wendy Carlos' Origin

United States

Atmospheres (1961): Ligeti

works with slowly changing orchestral clusters or "micro-polyphony"

Kryzstof Penderecki's Origin

Poland

Penderecki's work used

extended instrumental techniques and tone clusters/microtones

microtones

pitches that are smaller than a half step

indeterminacy (chance/aleatory) music

music with an element of unpredictability or music written through chance procedures

What is the most important aspect of jazz music?

group/individual improvisation

improvisaiton

spontaneouss creation of musical lines

rhythm section

bass, drums, piano, guitar

jazz combo

small ensemble consisting of a rhythm section and one or a few horns (trumpet, sax, trombone)

Be-Bop Jazz

usually played by a jazz combo and characterized by fast tempos virtuosic

Charlie Parker's Origin

Kansas City, MO

What style of jazz did Charlie Parker play?

Be-Bop

Miles Davis' Origin

St. Louis, IL

John Coltrane's Origin

High Point, NC

John Adams' Work

- Taught/Conducted at

The Transmigration of Souls (Adams)

choral work commemorating the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks; won 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Music

American Minimalist School

- Philip Glass

minimalism

music that uses very simple melodies, motives, and harmonies; usually in a repetitious fashion (often of short musical phrases with minimal variations over long periods of time)

Minimalism was a reaction to:

music complexities

EX of Impressionism

Prelude a l'Apres-midi d'un faune (Debussy)

EX of Sprechstimme

Pierrot Lunaire (Schoenberg)

Ex of Ballet

The Fire Bird or Le Sacre du Printemps (Stravinsky)

EX of Electronic Music

Poeme electronique (Varese)

EX of Extended Techniques

Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (Cage)

EX of Klangfarbenmelodie

Five Pieces for Orchestra (Webern)

EX of Tone Clusters/Microtones

Atmospheres (Ligeti)

EX of Be-Bop

Shawnuff (Charlie Parker)

Claude Debussy's Life

- Studied Music in Paris

- Got in Trouble in School For

Breaking Rules of Conventional

Music

- Could've Been a Piano Virtuoso

- Winner of 1884 Prix de Rome

Composition Contest

- Had Many Scandalous Affairs

- Died From Rectal Cancer

During World War I Paris

Bombing

Debussy's Music

- Wrote 3 Important Solo Piano

Works

- 2 Sets of Preludes and Etudes

(advanced music/piano play)

Types of Major Scales

- Whole Tone

- Chromatic

- Octatonic

- Pentatonic

Modern Melody Characteristics

- Based On Any Scale Type

- Irregular Phrases

- Could Use Angular/Chromatic

Leaps

- Little to No Melody

Modern Harmony Characteristics

- Non-Functional

- Tone Clusters

- All Types of Chords

Modern Rhythm Characteristics

- Poly-Rhythms

- Odd Meters

- Changing Meters in A Piece

- Multiple Time Signatures

- Ostinatos

Modern Texture Characteristics

- Extended Techniques

- Not Set/Fixed Texture

- More Percussion Instruments