20th-Century Music – High-Yield Review

Impressionism

• Late 19th–early 20th-c. French trend; aimed to suggest rather than depict reality.
• Musical trademarks: extended chords, parallel motion, whole-tone, chromatic, pentatonic scales; blurred tonality; translucent, hazy textures.
• Leading composers: Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel.

Claude Debussy (1862–1918)

• “Father of the Modern School of Composition”; rebelled against Romantic rules.
• Hallmarks: free rhythm, avoidance of metric pulse, innovative harmony & tone color; influence of Javanese $gamelan$ and Impressionist painters/poets.
• Key works: $L'\,Enfant\,Prodigue$ (Prix de Rome, $1884$); orchestral, piano, opera, ballet output (≈$227$ works).

Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)

• Precise, classical craft; modal melody, rich extended chords; demands virtuosity.
• Frequent “water” imagery; admired Russian music, Liszt, Chopin.
• Signature pieces: $Boléro$, $Daphnis\,et\,Chloé$, $Gaspard\,de\,la\,Nuit$.

Expressionism & Atonality

• Reveals inner psyche; intense emotion, anxiety; abandons tonal center.
• Twelve-tone / dodecaphonic system by Arnold Schoenberg.

Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951)

• Progressed from Wagnerian chromaticism to atonality; created $12$-tone method.
• Notable works: $Verklärte\,Nacht$, $Pierrot\,Lunaire$, $Gurrelieder$; ≈$213$ compositions.

Primitivism

• Emphasizes rhythm, percussive dissonance; often folk/raw materials.
• Key figures: Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók.

Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971)

• Early Russian ballets: $Firebird$, $Petrushka$, $The\,Rite\,of\,Spring$ (extreme rhythm, bitonality).
• Later shifted to Neo-classicism (e.g., $The\,Rake's\,Progress$). ≈$127$ works.

Béla Bartók (1881–1945)

• Collected Hungarian folk songs; fused with modern harmonies, changing meters, harsh dissonance.
• Masterpieces: $6$ String Quartets, $Concerto\,for\,Orchestra$, $Mikrokosmos$; ≈$695$ works.

Neo-Classicism

• Returns to Classical forms with 20th-c. harmony/rhythm; clear structure, restrained emotion.
• Practitioners: Stravinsky, Bartók, Sergei Prokofieff, Francis Poulenc, “Les Six.”

Sergei Prokofieff (1891–1953)

• Stylistic mix of neo-classic, nationalist, avant-garde; driving rhythms, sharp dissonance.
• Highlights: $Classical\,Symphony$, ballets $Romeo\,and\,Juliet$, children’s $Peter\,and\,the\,Wolf$.

Francis Poulenc (1899–1963)

• Member of “Les Six”; elegant, witty, lyrical; blends Classical balance with modern harmony.
• Noted works: $Concert\,Champêtre$, $Concerto\,for\,Two\,Pianos$, operas $Dialogues\,des\,Carmélites$.

Avant-Garde & Minimalism

• Questioned form & sound; mobility in score, improvisation, electronic media.
• Major names: Olivier Messiaen, John Cage, Philip Glass, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez.

George Gershwin (1898–1937)

• Bridged jazz & classical; “Father of American Jazz.”
• Landmark pieces: $Rhapsody\,in\,Blue$, $An\,American\,in\,Paris$, opera $Porgy\,and\,Bess$.

Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)

• Conductor-composer; tonal advocate.
• Stage successes: $West\,Side\,Story$, $Candide$, $Mass$; famed educational TV lectures.

Philip Glass (1937– )

• Commercially successful minimalist; repetitive “cell” patterns, amplified keyboards.
• Operatic trilogy: $Einstein\,on\,the\,Beach$, $Satyagraha$, $Akhnaten$.

Electronic Music

• Utilizes synthesizers, tape, amplified noise; subtype $musique\,concrète$ (environmental recordings manipulated).
• Pioneers: Edgard Varèse ("Father of Electronic Music"; coined “organized sound”), Karlheinz Stockhausen (total serialism, spatial music).

Chance (Aleatory) Music

• Indeterminacy; performance outcome varies.
• John Cage: prepared piano, $4'33''$ (ambient sound as music), advocated real-life sounds on stage.

Modern Nationalism

• Combines folk elements with modern techniques; flexible stylistic approaches.
• Examples: Bartók’s Hungarian cross-rhythms, Prokofieff’s Russian themes, Russian Five’s chromatic folk infusion.

Quick Comparative Snapshot

• Debussy vs. Ravel: free-form color vs. precise classical craft.
• Stravinsky vs. Bartók: rhythmic drive/bitonality vs. folk-based shifting meters.
• Schoenberg vs. Neo-classicists: total atonality vs. tempered dissonance within form.

Key 20th-c. Styles (Essence)

• Impressionism: mood, color, whole-tone.
• Expressionism: atonality, $12$-tone, psychological depth.
• Neo-Classicism: classical forms + modern harmony.
• Primitivism: raw rhythm, folk impulse.
• Avant-Garde/Minimalism: new sound spaces, repetition, indeterminacy.
• Electronic & Chance: technology or randomness as core of composition.
• Modern Nationalism: folk identity merged with contemporary technique.