The Early Twentieth Century: The Classical Tradition (Chapter 32)

  • modernism: self conscious search for identity

  • rise of classics (works that withstand time) in contrast to audiences judging new music via the classics

    • tension of innovation vs tradition

    • adapted tonality to achieve unique style? how to adapt tonality to achieve a unique style

    • composers are drawing on regional traditions to speak to an international audience

      • causes lots of style variation

  • Mahler = german

    • lived as a conductor, composing only in summers

      • wrote 9 symphonies, used voices in 4 of them

    • symphonies often convey “glimpse of life experience” metaphorical weight

    • orchestras have around 90 members, in contrast to the 35ish before

    • increased industrialization and immigration leads to emotional tension state

      • 170: descending chromatic phrases = grief/mourning

      • singer in symphony

      • individual phrases/sparse orchestration

      • “happy” major tonalities with happier text, mismatched with minor more serious texts

  • Strauss = german

    • most successful along with mahler

    • leit motiv = german school tool used by strauss

    • 171: music is unstable (tonally and visually)

      • saturation of chromaticism

      • mixed with “bright” diatonic passages

      • traditional:

        • musicc used to convey emotion

        • music to dilineate characters

      • shocking:

        • dissonance

        • subject matter (sexuality)

  • Debussy = french

    • similar to faure

    • adhered to less of a germanic style

      • restraint: dynamics, texture, orchestration

    • stereotypical traits:

      • fragmented melody

      • ostinato

      • static textures

      • repeated patterns with changing harmonies

      • expansion of opening motive, but without clear sense of direction

      • melody disconnected from, unclear sense of harmonic progression

      • reserved restraint in favor of sonority

    • associated closer with symbolism

  • Ravel (spanish year) - similar to debussy

    • interested in multicultural approach

    • interest in octatonic pitch collections

  • mix of everything: puccini

  • de falla (classical modernism) (spanish traits)

    • combined specific national elements with neo classical

    • national + international, folk and classical

  • Holst

    • wrote for orchestra, band, and chorus

    • rising prominence of band music

  • Rachmaninoff and Scriabin

    • Rach:

      • harmonic wandering = traditional (vs innovative)

    • Scriabin: aligned with debussy, russian composers

      • harmonic wandering = innovative (vs traditional)

        • innovated new complex chord serves as a type of tonic (complex tonic = referential chord = one or two tritones resolving to perfect fifth (instability vs stability) = sonority )

        • plays with texture innovatively

        • influenced by: wagner, chromaticism

  • tone poem = new gerrman school term: evocative title, one movement

  • Sibelius

    • simple rhythms (repetition)

    • ostinatos and pedal points

    • strong contrasts

    • rotational form: repeats/cycles through the same musical ideas

    • clear sections delineated by texture

  • Avant-garde: art that seeks to overthrow accepted

    aesthetics

    • iconoclastic, irreverent, antagonist, nihilistic

  • Satie

    • french nationalist, radical break from tradition

    • pivot chord composer: classical + 20th century radical modernism

    • satirizes debussy and scriabin and other music

      • romantic and classical genres,

    • les six inspiring figure = satie