Impressionism, Expressionism, Atonality, Stravinsky, and Bartók: Key Concepts

Impressionism

• Late 19th-century style focused on mood/atmosphere over traditional harmonic progression.

• Emphasizes color, fluidity, and scenes or emotions often inspired by nature.

• Key characteristics: tone color, parallel motion, pentatonic scale, simultaneity.

• Key figure: Claude Debussy (master of musical impressionism).

• Debussy's notable work: Clair de lune.

• Maurice Ravel: orchestral master; refined texture; notable works: Boléro and Daphnis et Chloé.

Expressionism

• 20th-century modernist movement; emphasizes raw, intense emotion; often dark or unsettling; breaks away from Romanticism and Impressionism.

• Characteristics: rejection of traditional tonality; 12-tone technique; Sprechstimme (half-sung, half-spoken); dynamic changes.

Arnold Schoenberg

• Pioneer of atonality and the 12-tone method.

• Notable work: Pierrot Lunaire.

Igor Stravinsky

• Rite of Spring: infamous riot at its premiere due to powerful rhythms.

• Associated with Primitivism; 20th-century movement rejecting Western academic tradition; emphasizes raw primal energy through rhythm; influenced by non-Western cultures (e.g., Asian).

Béla Bartók

• Modernist composer; known for incorporating folk elements; rhythmic complexity.