Turn of the 20th Century
Ravel visits the US in 1928
→ Ravel made his only US trip in 1928 for a North American tour
→ during his visit, he met George Gershwin and befriended him
→ Gershwin influenced Ravel to incorporate more jazz into his music
Piano Concerto in G Major
→ Ravel wanted this piece to not be “profound” but simply entertain.
→ utilizes Spanish and jazz influences
→ example of Gershwin’s influence
→ sonata form deformation
→ polytonality - GM & pentatonic F#M chord
→ produced during slow period in Ravel’s life
Piano Concerto for the Left Hand (1931)
→ written for Paul Wittgenstein who commissioned for the left hand because he lost his right hand in combat
→ Wittgenstein did not like the concerto because of its jazz influence
→ he eventually premiered the piece, but changed many notes without telling Ravel
→ Ravel was furious after the performance
Johannes Brahms (1833-1896)
→ German composer of the mid-Romantic period
→ loved Beethoven’s music
→ people nicknamed Brahm’s symphony “Beethoven’s 10th symphony” b/c of Beethoven’s influence
→ absolute music - Brahms believed that music shouldn’t try to represent anything, music should just be enjoyed
→ music that is not trying to represent anything
→ has roots in the problem of aesthetic theory
→ Kant believed that music is more for enjoyment than for pleasure
→ always a debate if Beethoven’s music is program or absolute
→ Brahms: Beethoven’s music did not need a program, he wrote so clearly you can still follow
→ Wagner: Beethoven’s music is program music b/c there is such a story
Beethoven
→ 5th Symphony - “heroic symphony” → starts in Cm, ends in CM → heroic journey
Wagnerians
→ the “New German School” are composers of the Romantic Era who took Beethoven as their model
→ Wagner believed that music is linked to other arts x(Gesamtkunstwerk) and influenced other composers to think this way
→ these composers are Wagnerians: Franz List, Anton Bruckner, Hugo Wolf, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
→ Austro-German Jewish composer & conductor who was an avid Wagnerian
→ very inspired by the Germanic Romantic tradition
→ wrote almost exclusively songs and symphonies
→ preoccupied with "confessions of the soul, philosophy, and music”
Mahler’s philosophy
→ Mahler search for reassurance for a meaningful existence
→ believed that life had a distinct & higher purpose and that death represented nothing more than a transition
→ always remained deeply skeptical about finding answers to this
→ always had a central dilemma of a seemingly uncaring God
→ out of this conflict, Mahler emerged to formulate a musical response
→ pieces had lots of sacred themes, but were not sacred works
→ Mahler thinks that every symphony after Beethoven is program music
→ Even though Mahler’s symphonies 5-7 are not official program works, there are program themes
→ Mahler’s 5th symphony is extremely influenced by Beethoven’s 5th Symphony (Cm → CM : represents journey of redemption/resurrection; moving from minor to major has a narrative quality)
→ “Beethoven’s 5th symphony provided a blueprint for Mahler’s 5th symphony…” → Mahler’s minor to major implies a hidden story even though there is no program
Symphony as a World
→ “the symphony must be like the world, it must embrace everything’ - Mahler
→ wanted to have philosophical concepts be portrayed in his symphonies
→ composed 9 symphonies
3 Categories of Symphonies
1) Wunderhorn symphonies (1-4)
→ used songs composed to poems from the folk collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn
→ programmatic symphonies
2) purely instrumental (5-7)
→ not programmatic
→ 5th has "hidden program” - story is told through the harmony of the music (redemption/resurrection theme) even though there is no program
3) the rest (8-9)
→ Symphony No. 8: “Symphony of a Thousand”
→ Symphony No. 9: “Song of the Earth” - unfinished
Symphony No. 2 (1897)
→ aka “Resurrection Symphony”
→ program symphony in Cm that features his belief in the beauty of the afterlife
→ uses a heroic concept that has a climax in the final movement
→ ends in Eb major
→ finale paints a vast canvas of redemption giving the audience a reassurance of life
→ similar motifs to Beethoven’s 5th symphony
→ “the increasing tension, working up to the final climax, is so tremendous that i don’t know myself, now that it is over, how I ever came to write it” - Mahler
Symphony No. 3 (1989)
→ 4th and 5th movement text from Friedrich Nietzsche’s “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”
→ the piece is in Dm, ends in DM - could represent the conclusion of the protagonist in Nietzsche’s story for his will to power
→ includes women’s choir, a boy’s choir, and an alto soloist
→ creation story; “My work presents in stepwise ascent each stage of evolution - as an all-inclusive musical poem. it begins with lifeless Nature and rises to the love of God” - Mahler
→ 6 movements:
1) Pan Awakes, Summer Marches In
2) What the Flowers in the Meadow Tell Me
3) What the Animals in the Forest Tell Me
4) What Man Tells Me
5) What the Angels Tell Me
6) What Love Tells Me
1911
→ year Mahler & Debussy died
→ Mahler and Debussy represent two different spheres of people who are trying to change things in Modernism
1) Germanic side → dramatic works; largely Beethoven influenced (Wagner, Mahler)
2) French side → shorter works Debussy, Ravel, Satie
→ After Mahler & Debussy died, two new composers try to continue: Stravinsky & Schoenberg
→ Stravinsky: French modern classical style, shorter works, brief themes
→ Schoenberg (German side): longer works, more academic
Arnold Schoenberg
→ expressionist painter: more dissonant (ie., the Scream)
→ represents the German side of modern classical style (Beethoven, Wagner, Mahler influenced)
→ extremely influenced by Brahms
→ often wrote absolute music
→ Schoenberg’s music is always about problem solving
→ Schoenberg looked at any theme like a problem that needs to be solved
→ in tonal music, there is a theme, there is a problem, and it is resolved (ie., sonata form = solution)
→ in Schoenberg’s music,
→ invented serialism = 12-tone system; (a return to music as the idea of how numbers move in time; intervals, numbers, the way it moves - harkens back to idea of music as one of the 7 liberal arts)
→ 12-tone system (matrices): take all 12 chromatic notes in an octave, number them 1-11, never repeat a number until you are done with the row; no diatonic center
→ the storyline of form is a lot more important than the harmonic story in generla
→ symmetry drives the narrative
→ there is a perfect Idea in conflict with an aesthetic ideal
→ Ideal is marked by the combination of pitches
→ problem = adding a new tone to the previous one, you create more doubt about the key
→ goal = use the form of the piece to get to a climax that reaches a new state of rest
→ look at music to look at the universe - seeing music in different perspectives
→ presents many perspectives of music at once, extremely dissonant - analyze by looking at the form and structure
→ matrix, primary / retrograde ntoes
what is atonality?
→ atonality = no key center; no reliance on a home key
→ solely relies on the notes on the page
→ prime form = the interval class between the notes of a chord
→ ex [3, 7, 9] = Eb, G, A
→ Tristan & Isolde = first step to atonality; half-dimished chord doesn’t resolve until the end; still tonal, but ambiguous tonal key
Igor Stravinsky
→ Russian composer
→ extremely influenced by French music (follows Debussy, Ravel, & Satie)
→ all his major works are premiered by the ballet company