modern era - level 9 history

expanded tonality

• the use of extremely chromatic harmony while still maintaining allegiance to a tonal centre

modal scales

• the use of scales (modes) in which the pattern of whole and half steps is different from conventional major and minor scales; for example, Dorian, Lydian, Mixolydian

• common in the music of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

• rediscovered by 20th-century composers

whole-tone scale

• a non-traditional scale employed by composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries

• consists of six different pitches, all spaced a whole tone (whole step) apart

• for example, C – D – E – F sharp – G sharp – A sharp – C

pentatonic scale

• a scale consisting of five different pitches

• for example, C – D – F – G – A

• easily rendered by playing the five black keys on the piano

• common to the folk music of many European and Asian cultures

polytonality

• the simultaneous use of two or more tonal centres

atonality

• the total absence of any tonal centre

• characterized by unresolved dissonances

changing meter

• shift of metrical groupings

• manifested through changes in time signature

polyrhythm

the simultaneous use of two or more conflicting rhythms

impressionism in music

• paralleled the French movement in visual art

• employs expanded harmonic vocabulary:

  • whole-tone, modal, pentatonic scales

  • parallel chords

• suggests images rather than directly depicting them

• features innovative orchestral colors, including individual treatment of instruments and use of muted instruments

• metric pulse is frequently obscured

symbolism

• a French literary movement of the late 19th century

• symbolist writers include Paul Verlaine and Stéphane Mallarmé

• authors sought to suggest subject matter rather than depict it specifically

• stressed the beauty of the word itself

choreography

• the art of designing the dance steps and movements in a ballet (or musical)

primitivism

• an effect created largely through rhythm

• use of strong accents, heavy syncopation, polyrhythms, expanded percussion section

• demonstrated best in Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring

jazz

• a musical style that developed in the early 20th century in the United States

• combined elements of African, popular, and European music

• based on improvisation

verse-chorus structure

• a common song structure in popular music

• verses develop the character/storyline, while the “chorus” acts as a tuneful refrain

hemiola

• a temporary shift of the metric accents (also known as metric shift)

• notes grouped in threes are momentarily grouped in twos or vice versa

• rhythms such as 1-2-1-2-1-2-3 are featured

• an example of a piece is America by Leonard Bernstein

fanfare

• a loud ceremonial tune or flourish

• features brass instruments

• used to herald the arrival of an important person, the launch of an event, or to commemorate someone