music exam 4, chap 7-8

Expressionism

– Style of composition where composers intentionally use atonality. Arnold Schoenberg devised a system of composing using twelve tones. His students Alban Berg and Anton Webern composed extensively in this twelve-tone style.

 Impressionism

– music composed based on the composer’s impression of an object, concept, or event. This style included the use of chromaticism, whole-tone scales and chords, exotic scales, new chord progressions, and more complex rhythms

 

Musique Concrète

a type of electro-acoustic music that uses both electronically produced sounds (like synthesizers) and recorded natural sounds (like instruments, voices, and sounds from nature)

Neoclassicism

– A musical movement that arose in the twentieth century as a reaction against romanticism and which sought to recapture classical ideals like symmetry, order, and restraint. Stravinsky’s music for the ballet Pulcinella (1920) is a major early neoclassical composition. 

Polytonality

– a compositional technique where two or more instruments or voices in different keys (tonal centers) perform together at the same time

 

Primitivism

– A musical movement that arose as a reaction against musical impressionism and which focused on the use of strong rhythmic pulse, distinct musical ideas, and a tonality based on one central tone as a unifying factor instead of a central key or chord possesion

 Serialism

– composing music using a series of values assigned to musical elements such as pitch, duration, dynamics, and instrumentation. Arnold Schoenberg’s 12-tone technique is one of the most important examples of serialism.

Ballads

– a song form used often in folk music, which is used to tell a story that usually contains a moral or lesson.

 

Bebop

- a style of small group jazz developed in the late 1940s, which featured fast moving harmonies, angular melodies, and highly complex rhythms 

Big Band

– large jazz ensembles (15-20 members) popular in the 1930’s and 1940’s. The term “Big Band” also refers to the era in which these bands were popular.

Bluegrass

– a variation of country music featuring fiddle, guitar, mandolin, bass guitar, and the five-string banjo that developed largely in the Appalachian region

Blues

– a style of music that, at the turn of the twentieth century, began to form out of African American work songs, field hollers, and spirituals. Today, the word “blues” is used loosely and can refer to feeling sad or down, to any song played in a bluesy style, or more specifically, to a song that follows a blues form, which is a twelve-bar strophic song form.

 

Children’s Song

– a type of folk song designed to teach a simple lesson. They are often simple to sing and easy to remember. 

Contemporary Country

– a mixture of rock rhythm sections and a singer singing with a country accent about many of the same topics that traditional country singers have used over the decades.

Folk Music

– a term used to describe a wide variety of musical forms that developed within different cultures, often for different reasons. Folk music is often passed down not through written music, but orally from one generation to another.

Hillbilly Music

– an early form of country music, Hillbilly Music was an alternative to the jazz and dance music of the 1920s and was portrayed as wholesome music of the “good old days.” 

Honky Tonk Music

– a country combo style that became quite popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Originally performed in saloons known as “honky tonks,’ many of the songs dealt with subjects associated with honky tonks such as infidelity and drinking.

Improvisation

– the act of creating melodies and harmonies on the spot without reading the music off a page. 

New Orleans Jazz

– (see Dixieland) Operetta – a “light opera” developed in the nineteenth century that required classically trained singers, but featured less complex music than a typical opera.

 Protest Song

– a type of folk song written to directly, or by suggestion, voice complaints about some injustice.

Ragtime

– a musical genre developed near the turn of the twentieth century that featured syncopated rhythms. The style became nationally popular after being widely published as sheet music. 

Rap

– a form of spoken word delivered over a beat. It can be improvised or written out in advance.

 

Rhythm and Blues (R&B)

– a term originally referring to music recorded by black musicians and intended for use by the African American community. The term has evolved throughout the years and encompasses several different musical styles, including soul, funk and now contemporary R&B. 

Rock and Roll

– a style of music that grew out of Rhythm and Blues and came into prominence during the 1950s. The style features a strong backbeat and often features electric guitar, bass and drums. The style is now known as “rock” has spawned many subgenres

Swing

– a term used to describe the rhythmic bounce that characterizes the jazz style. The term can also refer to the big band music of the 1930s and 1940s. 

Syncopation

– the act of disrupting the normal pattern of accents in a piece of music by emphasizing what would normally be weak beats.

Work Songs

– a type of folk song devised to help groups of people perform physical work. The music usually uses the tempo of the work itself and was sung by lumberjacks, railroad workers, and prison chain gangs, among others.

Debussy

French Composer

- He showed musical talent early on and

was accepted into the Paris

Conservatoire at age 10

- He used unconventional scales (whole-

tone and pentatonic), free-flowing

rhythms, and lush harmonies, influencing

future composers.

- La Mer (The Sea) is a prime example of

musical Impressionism.

Schoenberg

Developed a systematic approach to

atonality by organizing the twelve

pitches of the chromatic scale into a

series – Serialism and 12 tone

Arnold Schoenberg, born in Austria, was

the leading figure of musical

Expressionism.

Glass

American Composer. From Baltimore,

Maryland

- One of the most influential composers in the

minimalist movement

- Known for his “music with repetitive

structures” and emphasis on harmony,

rhythm, and texture.

- Creates evolving patterns that shift subtly

over time

- Use of Cyclic Structures: Layers of melodies

and rhythms building to create complex,

immersive textures

Copeland

American Composer. From Brooklyn, New York

- Helped define a distinctly American musical

Identity

- He emphasized the importance of music in

American culture.

- Combined his European classical training with

jazz, folk, and populist elements.

- Notable works: Fanfare for the Common Man

(1942), and Appalachian Spring (1944).

- Popular Work: Fanfare for the Common Man

Loius Armstrong

Born in 1901 in a rough New Orleans neighborhood

-

- Joined mentor Joe “King” Oliver’s band and later led

his own “Hot Fives” and “Hot Sevens” recordings

- Innovations:

- Elevated jazz to a solo art form rooted in the blues.

- Introduced expressive vocal phrasing and jazz

singing style.

- Defined the rhythmic “swing” feel.

- Expanded trumpet technique to mimic the human

voice.

Duke Elligton

Composer, pianist, and bandleader.

- Created innovative arrangements featuring

musicians’ unique sounds

Elvis Presley

Rock and Roll

Atonal 

not written in any key or mode.