20th-Century Music: Impressionism vs. Expressionism

Impressionism marks the first major 20th-century shift in musical style.
Core descriptive words drawn from the recall game:
- Color / Timbre – achieved through inventive orchestration.
- Whole-Tone Scale – every note separated by a whole step; frequently used by Claude Debussy.
- Atmosphere / Mood – music merely hints, suggests, or evokes; it does not narrate explicitly.
Focused on nature’s beauty and a mysterious, often dreamy sonic landscape.

Reaction against Impressionism; term borrowed from visual & literary arts.
First applied to music in $1918$ .
Spread through several German cities before World War I and persisted between the two world wars.
Historical backdrop: political turmoil, anxiety, loss of authenticity & spirituality.
- Artists sought to externalize psychological rather than physical realities—fantasy, violence, anxiety, rage, sorrow, depression.
Real-world link: sonic language of many horror & science-fiction films derives from Expressionism.

Extreme Dissonance (Unstable Sound)
- Example metaphor: the sound of a cat landing on a piano keyboard.
- Listener often cannot locate an obvious key centre.
Atonality – absence of a tonal centre or key; hallmark trait.
12-Tone Method (later codified by Schoenberg) ensures all $12$ semitones of the chromatic scale receive equal emphasis.
Dynamic Extremes – abrupt shifts from $pp$ (pianissimo) to $ff$ (fortissimo) and vice versa.
Continuously Changing Texture – musical layers alter frequently, preventing a stable sonic fabric.
Distorted Melodies & Harmonies – melody lines deliberately twisted to mirror inner turmoil; rarely singable.

Austrian (Vienna); largely self-taught in theory, trained in counterpoint.
Stylistic trajectory: tonal → chromatic → dissonant → atonal.
Founder of the 12-Tone System (a.k.a. dodecaphony):
- Goal: make all $12$ chromatic tones equal; avoid privileging any single pitch.
Key works mentioned:
- “Pierrot Lunaire.”
- “Three Pieces for Piano, Op. 11.”
- “Violin Concerto.”
Music noted for melodic/lyrical interest and formidable complexity.
Emigrated to the USA (settled in Los Angeles, $1934$ ); died $13\,\text{July}\,1951$ .

Russian; born $17\,\text{June}\,1882$ .
First breakthrough: “The Firebird Suite.”
- Revolutionary rhythmic inventiveness; expansion of Russian nationalist idioms.
Prolific: ≈ $127$ compositions spanning concerti, orchestral, instrumental, operas, ballets, solo vocal & choral works.
Died $6\,\text{April}\,1971$ in New York City.
Although his oeuvre transcends strict Expressionism, he contributed crucial new techniques and inspired later modernists.

Centers on nature & beauty; turns away from Romanticism → Impressionism
Music with a high level of dissonance → Expressionism
Intense emotional expression; exploration of the subconscious → Expressionism
Creates a mysterious, atmospheric sound world → Impressionism
Defining feature is atonality/lack of central key → Expressionism

Expressionism prioritizes emotion over objective reality, using dissonance, atonality, dynamic extremes, texture shifts, and distorted melody/harmony.
Schoenberg formalized atonality through the 12-Tone System, influencing generations of composers.
Stravinsky broadened rhythmic and nationalistic vocabularies, producing a vast, genre-spanning catalogue.
The movement was relatively short-lived—often called a “movement of young people”—yet its experimental courage set the stage for countless modern and post-modern explorations.

Teacher Jen invites students to consider their own modes of self-expression: What talents or skills do you share? How might fearless creativity (à la Expressionists) inspire others?

Next lesson promises a time-travel journey to other 20th-century styles—“dance to the groove” of new musical trends. Stay tuned!