20 th Century Music 1900 2000 Movements in

20 th Century Music (1900 -2000)

Movements in 20 th-Century Music n Modernism n Neo-Classicism n Minimalism n Popular Music-inspired, Folk-music inspired, Jazz Music-inspired Pieces

Modernism n “Assumptions” of music are challenged and/or taken to extremes n Can involve complex rhythms, melodies, and harmonies n “The wierder, the better” n Composers: – Arnold Schoenberg – Igor Stravinsky

ARNOLD SCHOENBERG Mondestrunken (Moondrunk) from Pierrot Lunaire (Moonstruck Pierrot) (1912) Genre: Song Cycle n Super-complex harmonies with lots of dissonance called atonality n Example of weird instrumental effects and scary-sounding half-sung/half-spoken vocal sound called sprechstimme (song-speech) n Example of Expressionism - movement in arts seeking to express innermost extreme feelings (Freud) n

Moonstruck The wine that with eyes is drunk, at night the moon pours down in waves, and a springflook overflows the slient horizon. n Desires shuddering and sweet swim countless through the floods! n The poet, whom devotion inspires made drunk by the sacred drink, toward heaven he turns his entranced head and , reeling, sucks and slurps the wine that with eyes is drunk. n

IGOR STRAVINSKY Part 1 from Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) (1913) Genre: Ballet n Example of Primitivism - recalling the prehistoric power of rhythm and form (Darwin) n From ballet based on story of ancient ritual sacrifice of a maiden n Lots of rhythmic complexity - including n – SYNCOPATION – Complex tone colors (unusual combinations of

NEO-CLASSICISM (includes neo-romanticism, neobaroquism, neo-renaissancism, and neo-medievalism) A reaction against the wierdness of Modernism n A return to the past in thematic material and formal structures n Composers: n – Bela Bartok – Benjamin Britten – Ellen Taffe Zwilich

BELA BARTOK Second Movement: Game of Pairs from Concerto for Orchestra (1943) n Genre: Concerto n A B A’ form - used Classical forms such as sonata and rondo in an established form such as Concerto n Use traditional melodic shapes

BENJAMIN BRITTEN Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (1946) n Genre: (like a ) Concerto (for orchestra) n Theme and Variations Form n Theme is borrowed from a 17 th-century Baroque composer Henry Purcell

MINIMALISM n. A movement in music also against the complexities of Modernism n Composers use simple melodic and harmonic ideas and repeat them over and over with very gradual changes n Composer: – Philip Glass

PHILIP GLASS Knee Play 1 from Einstein on the Beach (1976) n Genre: Opera n Simple melodic, harmonic and rhythmic patterns n These patterns are repeated over and over again with subtle changes

POPULAR MUSIC-INSPIRED, FOLK-MUSIC INSPIRED, JAZZ MUSIC-INSPIRED PIECES n Composers look to popular, folk, and jazz music for inspiration and musical material n Composers: – William Grant Still – Aaron Copland

WILLIAM GRANT STILL Third Movement from Afro-American Symphony (1931) n Genre: Symphony n Inspired by African-American spirituals and Jazz music n Featured lots of syncopation

AARON COPLAND Section 7 from Appalachian Spring: Theme and Variations on Simple Gifts (1943 -44) n Genre: Ballet n Theme is based on early American Shaker folk hymn called Simple Gifts n Theme and Variaitons form

ELLEN TAFFE ZWILICH First Movement from Concerto Grosso 1985 (1985) n Genre: Concerto n Uses instruments from the past (harpsichord) n Modelled after concerto grosso of Handel and Bach n Example of Neo-Classicism (although it goes back to Baroque music models)