Notes on 20th Century Music and Developments

Glissando

Unusual playing techniques for sound effects. (A rapid slide up or down a scale).

Polychord

A musical structure consisting of two or more chords played simultaneously.

Atonality

The absence of a tonal center or key in musical composition.

Impressionism

Focused on the light, color, and atmosphere.

Debussy

A french composer associated with imperssionism known for the works like ‘Clair de Lune’.

Neoclassicism

A movement in music that sought to return to the forms and aesthetics of Classical music.

Stravinsky

A Russian composer known for the works like ‘The Firebird’ and ‘The Rite of Spring’, which impacted 20th-century music.

Expressionism

A music movement that emphasizes the expression of emotional experiences rather than physical reality.

Schoenberg

An Austrian composer and a pioneer of atonal music and the twelve-tone technique.

Pierrot Lunaire

A melodrama by Schoenberg, featuring an unconventional structure and use of Sprechstimme.

Sprechstimme

A vocal style tht combines speaking and talking, often used in avant-garde music.

Twelve-Tone

Method of musical composition using a series of all twelve pitches of the chromatic scale.

Composition

Devices and forms of the Classical and Baroque

Aleatory Music

Incorporates elements of chance into its performance, leaving certain aspects up to the performers.

Chance Music

Type of music composition where aspects of the work are left to chance, with little control by the composer.

Cage

An American composer known for his innovative use of silence and chance in music.

Prepared Piano

A piano that has been altered by placing objects on or between the strings, creating new timbres.

4’33”

A composition by Cage that consists of a performer not playing their instrument for that duration.

Minimalist Music

Characterized by the use of repetitive patterns and focus on simplicity.