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– German opera Composer
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– Born in Leipzig
– Active political figure
– Music-cultural essayist
– “Tristan und Isolde”
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– 1857-59
– Pushed tonality to its limits through chromaticism
– Famous “Tristan chord”: modernist disintegration of tonality
- unresolved tension
- ambiguity of tonal center
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– 1860-1911
– Jewish Austrian composer
– Famous for epic symphonies
- profoundly influenced by Wagner
- “Wagernian scale”: length/size
- Mahler expanded this further with “Symphony of a Thousand”
– Along with Strauss, acted as bridge b/w late Romanticism and early Modernism
– Early symphonies were “programmatics” –> 4th and onward were “absolute”
– Symphony No. 1: “The Titan”
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Symphony No. 1: “The Titan” |
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– 1888
– Movement 1:
- Expansion/suspension of time
- Programmatic (program music)
- Pastoral
- Sounds of nature: atmospheric hum, bird calls (cuckoo motive)
- Fanfares (hunting horns)
- Precise placement of players on/off stage
- Cuckoo: first theme (falling interval connection)
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– 1864-1911
– German composer
– Operas, lieder, orchestral works
– “Sprach Zarathustra”
– “Salome”
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– 1896
– Firmly tonal: example of Strauss harmonic origins
– Based on philosophical novel by Frederick Nietzsche
– In many movies
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– 1905
– Based on Salome by Dorian Gray
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– 1874-1951
– Jewish-Austrian composer
– Father of atonal composition
- One of most polemical figures of 20th century classical music
– “2nd Viennese School” with Berg and Webern
– “Emancipation of dissonance”
– “Freely atonal” period: 1908-23
- Limitations (emergent atonal tonic) leaving burden of emancipation up to the conditioned ear
- Sought a means of order to enable simpler, cleaner, musical textures
– Serialism:
- 12 tone method
- Dodecaphony: 12 pitches of the octave regarded as equal, no 1 pitch/tone/chord given emphasis as dominant
- 12 tone row: set of all 12 pitches in no particular order
- Considered atonal, but not “freely so”
– “Verklarte Nacht” (“Transfigured Night”)
– ” Five Pieces for Orchestra”: III. Farben
– “A Survivor from Warsaw”
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“Verkarte Nacht”: Tranfigured Night |
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– 1899
– Earliest important work; for string sextet
– Inspired by poem of same name by German poet Richard Dehmel
– Heavy influence of Wagner
– Championed by Mahler, but ill-recieved by public
– Sampled in “Hidden Place” by Bjork
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” Five Pieces for Orchestra”: III. Farben |
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– “Summer Morning by a Lake: Chord Colors”
– Klangfarbenmelodie: tone-color melody
– Develops composer’s notion of “total chromaticism”, considered atonal
- “Emancipation of dissonance” ;
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– 1885-1935
– Austrian composer
– Student of Schoenberg’s, member of 2nd Viennese School
– “Romantic” one
– Famous for operas and violin concerto, and orchestral and chamber music
– Embedded “wisps” of tonality/romanticism
- In context of serial work (rows, expression)
– “Three Pieces for Orchestra”: III. Marsch
– “Violin Concerto”
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“Three Pieces for Orchestra”: III. Marsch |
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– 1915
– Mahlerian Romanticism with elements of chaos, extreme orchestration
– Atonal
– 8 tones in brass
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– 1935
– For violin soloist and orchestra
– Best known and most widely performed instrumental work
– Rules of serialism implemented mostly loosely
– Opening theme based on fundamental nature of solo instrument
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– 1883-1945
– Austrian composer
– Member of 2nd Viennese School
- “Strict” one: firmest stance implementing Schoenberg’s techniques
– Most influential of the three w/r/t the advent of post-war “total serialism”
– Famous for sparseness/brevity of works (opposite extreme of Mahler)
– “Five Pieces of Orchestra”: III. Sehr Langram und Aussert Ruhig
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– Focuses on a suggestion and an atmosphere, not an emotion
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– 1862-1918
– French compoaser
– Inspired by Symbolist literary movement in France
– Influenced by Wagner, but distanced self
– “Nonfunctional harmony”, alternative scales, non-Western influences;
– “Prelude a lapres-midi d’un faune” (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun”
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“Five Pieces for Orchestra”: III. Sehr Langsam und Ausserst Ruhig |
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– 1911-13
– Economic use of material (every second essential)
– Atonal
– “Angular”: sudden peaks/valleys
– Elements of pointilism (music as points)
– Extended techniques (ex. flutter tongue)
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“Prelude a lapres-midi d’un faune” (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) |
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– 1894
– Symphonic poem for orchestra inspired by poen by Stephanie Mallarme
– Use of chromatic and whole-tone scales
– Considering turning point in history of music
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– 1875-1937
– French composer
– Influenced by Debussy and faun
– Famous for variety of works from solo to large orchestral, including ballet
– One of greatest orchestrators in history of Western art music
– “Daphne et. Chloe”: “Lever du Jour”
– “Bolero”
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“Daphne et. Chloe: ‘Lever du Jour'” |
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– 1912
– Ballet commisioned by Serghei Diaghilev and premiered by Ballet Russes
– Symphonie choreographique
– Depicts a sunrise (programmatic) through lush harmonies and orchestral effects
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– 1928
– Ravel’s most famous work
– Repeating snare drum rhythm from beginning to end
– Transparent structure
– Constant re-orchestration: evolution of color over time
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– Early 20th century art movement of the European avant-garde;
– Reaction against horrors of WWI
– Rejected reason and logic; prized nonsense, irrationality, and intuition;
– Radical-leftist politics: anti-war, anti-bourgeios;
– Public gatherings, demonstrations
– Starting point for performance art, postmodernism, etc.;
– Laid foundation for Surrealism;
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– Early 1920’s artistic-cultural movement manifesto written by French writer and poet Andre Breton in 1924
– Dreams, automatic writing
– Heavily influenced by Dadaism, Sigmund Freud, Hegel, Marx, Benjamin
– “This is not a pipe” piece
– Salvador Dali
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– 1887-1968
– French artist often associated with Dadaism and Surrealism, but categorization tenuous
– Abandoned Impressionism at early age: it had nothing left to offer
– Challenged conventional thought through subversion and provocation
- Rejected art in absence of thought
- Forced confrontation through subjective
– “Readymades” (objet trouve)
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– French composer, member of early 20th century avant-garde
– Significant influence on Ravel
– Collaborated with members of Dada and Surrealism
– Precursor to minimalism
– “Gymnopedie No. 1”
– “Vexations”
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– 1888
– Solo piano
– Gentle wandering, unusual for classical music of the day
– Static quality, lack of development
– Precursor to ambient work
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– Solo piano, 1 pg. of music
– Published posthumously
– “…play theme 840 times”
- Radical commitment to repetition
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– 1882-1971
– Russian composer of energetic, visceral music
– Repetition, syncopation, fragmentation
– International fame with 3 ballets commisioned by Sergei Diaghilev
– Folk music
– “L’oiseau de feu” (Firebird)
– “Le Sacre du printemps” (Rite of Spring)
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“L’oiseau de feu” (Firebird) |
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– 1910
– Ballet based on Russian folktales
– Bursts of percussive energy, ebb and flow/sudden jerks of momentum
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“Le sacre du printemps” (Rite of Spring) |
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– 1913
– Ballet with choreography by notorious dancer Nijinsky
– Premiere caused a riot
– Would become icon of new music and codify Stravinsky’s reputation as one side of modernist coin (Schoenberg as oppositional other side)
– Interest in Russian/Lithuanian music
– “Primitivism”, musical fragmentation
– Bitonality
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– 1841-1904
– Czech composer
– Influenced by Beethoven, Wagner, Schubert
– “Fullest recreation of a national idiom with that of a symbolic tradition, absorbing folk influences and finding ways of using them”
- Focused on folk of Moravia and native Bohemia
– Left Europe to direct Conservatory of Music in NYC in 1892
– “Symphony No. 9 ‘From the New World’: II. Largo”;
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Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”: II. Largo |
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– “New World Symphony”
– Influenced by folk music of African Americans and Native Americans
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– 1841-1904
– One of Hungary’s greatest composers
– Ethnomusicality: study of music that emphasizes cultural, social, material, etc. instead of isolated souns component
– Driving kinetic energy and use of folk elements
– “Piano Concerto No. 2: I. Allegro, II. Adagio”
– “Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta: IV. Allegra Molto”
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Piano Concerto No. 2: I. Allegro, II. Adagio |
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– 1930-1931
– For piano soloist/orchestra
– Most popular/most difficult pieces
– 1st movement shows driving kinetic energy, 2nd shows orchestration
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Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta: IV. Allegro Molto |
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– 1936
– Instrumentation: ..includes piano
– Uses folk elements
– In famous movies
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– 1947
– For narrator, men’s chorus, and orchestra
– Narration depicts memories of a survivor from Warsaw ghetto during WWII
– Commisioned by the intended to pay tribute to the Holocaust victims of the German Third Reich
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– 1936
– 12 tone piece for solo piano in 3 movements
– Inspired by symmetry in this work (musical palindromes)
– Disjunct expression; each tone a musical event (pointilism)
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– 1935
– Berg
– Best known, most widely performed instrumental work
– Rules of serialism implemented more loosely
– Opening theme based on fundamental nature of solo instrument
– Composed in 4 parts; last of which ends with violin in extreme high register
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– 1874-1954
– American composer, arguably first Experimentalist
– One of most radical composers of 20th centure, but largely ignored during his time
– Inspired by Transcendentalists: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Thoreau
– Patriotic (Nationalism)
– American popular/church music fused with European art music
– The Unanswered Question
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“The Unanswered Question” |
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– 1906
– One of first great works of American classical music, yet unpublished until 1940
– A “collage in 3 distinct layers” : each with own tempo and key
– Trumpt asks question, flutes answer
– Distinct layers -; polytonality
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– 1900-1990
– Most well known American classical composer, popular during his lifetime
– Studied with Nadia Boulanger
– Famous for ballets and orchestral suites incorporating Amerian folk and jazz
– Promoted “American sound”: the pastoral/the big city, American cultural heritage
– Pro Socialist/Society political learnings
– Piano Variations, Appalachian Spring
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– 1930
– Aaron Copland
– For solo piano, considered “first work of genius”
– Combined influences of 2nd Viennese School with Jazz
– Used at parties to empty the room, guaranteed in 2 minutes
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– 1944
– Aaronl Copland
– Ballet for chamber orchestra
– Written in collaboration with choreographer Martha Graham
– Evokes American Pastoral ideal
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– Years of collectivization, industrialization and famine
– How to placate masses? Promise of new comforts and freedoms
– Role of the artist: art as a reflection of the way things are, dissemination through art
– Artists as a population: highly individualistic, anti comformist, prone to reaction against the way things are
– Reformation of art: expression of the individual, in service of the Union, “Formalism”, use of secret police
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– 1906- 1975
– Soviet Russian composer
– Influenced by Gustav Mahler, Sergei Prokofiev, and Igor Stravinsky
– Famous for opera Lady Macbeth, symphonies, chamber music, and film scores
– Experienced periods of both great acclaim and persecution under Stalin’s regime
– Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Symphony No. 5 in D Minor
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“Symphony No. 4 in C minor” |
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– 1936
– Dmitri Shostakovich
– Premiere cancelled half way through rehearsal process: publically withdrawn by Shostakovich
– Not premiered until 1961 (8 years after Stalin’s death)
– Contains strong elements of satire (eg. military march)
– Tonal but saturated in dissonance
– More overtly progressive (modernist) than Fifth Symphony
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“Symphony No. 5 in D Minor” |
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– 1937
– Dmitri Shostakovich
– Intended to mark political rehabilitation, at least to coming up to party expectations
– 4 movement form; more tonal, thematic material more accessible than 4th Symphony
– Premiere was huge success: standing ovation for 30 min
– Triumphant finale: Stalinist victory hymn or parody of one?
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– 1850 pamphlet Das Judentum in der Musik (Jewry in Music): protested Jewification of German music, proposed than Jews undergo “destruction and self-annhilation”
– Wagner’s Bayreuth: point of convergence for anti-Semites, Aryan protests, and social Darwinists
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– Worshipped Wagner from early age: developed close ties to Wagner family; claimed a performance of Wagner’s Rienzi inspired him to enter politics
– Nazi Regime: Reich Culture Chamber – all German artists required to register for membership, promoted Aryan artists whose work was consistent with Nazi ideology
– Reich Music Chamber: Nazification of music
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– French composer
– One of most influential composers and teachers of the 20th century: taught Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis, etc.
– Famous for study and inclusion of bird calls in music, Quartet for the End of time, and role in emergence of Total Serialism
– Systematic organization to combine complex rhythm with a wide range of harmony, both tonal and atonal
– Devoutly religious
– Quatuor pour la fin du temps, Quatre etudes de rythme
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“Quator pour la fin du temps” |
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– 1941
– Olivier Messiaen
– A piece in 8 movements, written for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano
– Inspired by text from the Book of Revelation
– Composed in a German POW camp during WWII
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– 1941
– “Mode of values and intensities”, for solo piano
– First piece with systematic organization of pitch, duration dynamicsm, and mode of attack (timbre)
– Not yet Total Serialism, but considered the springboard for it
– Order -; row -; serialism: 36 pitches, 24 durations, 12 attacks, 7 dynamics
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– “Integral serialism”
– An extension of Shoenberg’s techniques to most/all parameters of sound
– Messiaen “values and intensities”, but with serial ordering
– Individual note: multidimensional “sculpture”, expressivity in and of itself
– As a response to WWII: role of art, potential implications of decisions as artists
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– French composer and conductor
– Figurehead of Total Serialism in France
– Fierce proponent of Schoenbergian legacy; severe critic of conservation in contemporary music (severe critic of anything not in line with Total Serialism)
– Enormously influential as post-war conductor of contemporary music, Head of Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM)
– Le marteau sans maitre
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– 1955
– Pierre Boulez
– “The Hammer without a Master”: setting of Surrealist poetry by Rene Char for chamber ensemble
– Unconventional instrumentation
– One of most important works of Total Serialist movement
– Continuing revision, elusive explanation..
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– French composer
– Originated musique concrete in early 1940’s: form of electroacoustic music that utilizes recorded sounds as compositional resources
– Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrete (GRMC) in Paris
– Cinq etudes de bruits
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– 1948
– “Five studies of noise”: earliest exmaples of musique concrete
– “Study of railways”: recorded sounds of trains stitched together in a piece
– Premiered via broadcast Concert de bruits: marked a change in musical dissemination (no longer the concert hall)
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Concrete vs. Elektronische |
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-Elektronische: another form of electroacoustic music, but contrasted sharply with musique concrete, along both aesthetic and ideological lines
– Is synthesized entirely from electronically produced sounds: electronic vs. concrete (“real world” sources
– Emerged from Electronic Music Studio of WDR, Cologne in 1953
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Art in Post-War America (NYC) |
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– “The New York School”
– Painting:
– Abstract Expressionism: Mark Rothko, Willem de
Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Philip Guston, Robert
Rauschenberg
– Neo-Dadaism: Jasper Johns
– Structural Film: Tony Conrad (The Flicker 1965),
Michael Snow, Andy Warhol (Sleep 1963, pop art)
-; American Experimentalism: John Cage, Morton
Feldman, Earl Brown, David Tudor, Christian Wolff
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– American composer, theorist, writer and visual artist
– Teachers included Henry Cowell and Arnold Schoenberg
– Perhaps most radical composer of 20th century: “indeterminancy”, silence, performance art, unconventional treatments of instruments, electroacoustic music, graphic notation
– Influenced by Eastern philosophies, studied Zen Buddhism
– Challenged assumptions about musicianship, labor, intentionality and self, limits of what can be called music
– Sonatas and Interludes, Music for Piano
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– 1946-1948
– John Cage
– 16 sonatas and 4 interludes
– Intended to express the 8 permanent emotions of the rasa Indian tradition
– For prepared piano: 45 notes prepared with screws, bolts, rubber, plastic, nuts, and an eraser; 2-3 hours of preparation
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– 1952-1962
– John Cage
– 85 compositions for prepared piano
– Translate imperfections in paper into sound by means of a variety of chance procedures (eg. I Ching, dice)
– Music for Piano I: only pitches are specified
– Durations left to performer, set time allowed for completion
– Music for Piano II: imperfections determine pitches, but durations specified
– Music for Piano III onward: number of events determined by I Ching
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– American composer
– Deeply influenced by Webern: stripping down to essentials
– Deeply influential on future AE composers
– Took great interest in Persian rugs: patterns, small dye lots, (a)symmetry
– Explored memory disorientation: expanded duration (scale), constant re-patterning, rejected monolithic narrative, “secret information” of European tradition
– Why Patterns?
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– 1978
– For flute, percussion, and piano
– Directionality of music ambiguous
– Slowly shifting patterns (pitch, rhythm, timbre)
– Terraced dynamics
– Rhythmic (ir)regularity
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– German composer
– Arguable most influential composer of post WWII European avant-garde
– Figurehead of both the Total Serialist and Elektronische Musik movements in Germany
– Prodigiously inventive: concrete vs. elektronische; investigations into spatialization, amplification, electronic sound synthesis, etc.
– Influence extended far beyond European avant-garde
– Klavierstuck X, Gesang der Junglinge, Kontakte
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– 1958-1960
– Karlheinz Stockhausen
– Piano, percussion, and tape
– Produced in WDR Cologne’s Studio for Electronic Music
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– 1961
– Karlheinz Stockhausen
– “Piano Piece 10”
– Reconceptualizes the piano & its identity: percussive energy, glissando, cluster, pedal resonance
– “Gesture” replaces melody: physicality of sound, physical phenomena
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– 1955-1956
– Karlheinz Stockhausen
– “Song of the Youths”, for tape
– “First masterpiece of electronic music” (Bryann Simms)
– Produced in WDR Cologne’s Studio for Electronic Music
– Synthesizes musique concrete and elektronische musik as complementary elements: integration of electronic sound with the human voice
– Text from a biblical story in the book of Daniel
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– Greek composer, architect-engineer
– Post-war European avant-garde
– Student of Olivier Messiaen: who encouraged Xenakis to pursue affinity for higher level math in his compositions
– Pioneer of stochastic music: implemented set theory, game theory, and Markov chains; research was influential on development of electroacoustic music
– Spatialization of sound, players’ locations
– Music was capable of tremendous energy: eg. significant contributions to percussion repertoire
– Metastasis
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-1953-1954
– Iannis Xenakis
– For orchestra
– Inspired by Einstein’s view of time and composer’s memories of the sounds of war
– Explored sound mass as a focus of attention: 61 players, no two parts the same
– Use of stochastic processes: physics modeling applied to sound, statistical distribution of points on a plane
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– Hungarian composer
– Highly innovative/individualistic
– European avant-garde, but no “membership”
– Joined Stockhausen at the Cologne Studio after fleeing Hungary during 1956 Soviet-supressed revolution
– Instrumental works inspired by sounds he heard: texture, clusters, sound mass, micropolyphony
– Attained international fame for Kubrick’s use of his work in 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, and Eyes Wide Shut
– Musica ricercata, Atmospheres
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– 1953
– Gyorgy Ligeti
– “Researched” music in pursuit of the composer’s voice
– A cycle of 11 pieces for piano: macro structure
– 1st piece: motoric rhythm, energy, sycopation, heirarchy (tonic dominant)
– 2nd piece: establishing the familiar and the alien, a new kind of tonality
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– 1961
– Gyorgy Ligeti
– For orchestra
– Focuses on dense sound textures rather than melody or rhythm
– Opening: broad dynamic range of swell and decay
– Over time: individualization of parts -> micropolyphony
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– American composer
– Closely associated with John Cage, Morton Feldman, and other American Experimentalists
– Influenced members of the NY School (notably Jackson Pollock and Alexander Calder)
– Significant contributions to the development of graphic notation
– Work with open forms was great source of inspiration to Downtown NY scene in 1980’s: fixed musical modules whose order is left open to choice
– December 1952
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– 1952
– Earle Brown
– For open instrumentation
– Landmark piece in the history of graphic notation of music: score consists of horizontal and vertical lines with varying width distribution
– Role of the performer: interpret visually and translate the graphical information
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– American composer
– Drew early influence from the Jazz music of Art Tatum and Earl Hines, and from the rhythms of Indian music
– Almost all musical output for player piano
– Explored the humanly impossible, with great energy and rhythmic complexity beyond that of any other composer
– Fought in Lincoln Brigade, fled to Mexico to avoid persecution for Communist Affiliations
– Composed in almost complete isolation from 1940: music achieved international fame only at end of life
– Studies #1-30
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– 1948-1960
– For player piano
– Expored levels of virtuosity and rhythmic complexity impossible for humans to perform
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– American composer
– Studied with Lukas Foss and Aaron Copland at Tanglewood
– Exposure to work of John Cage, Merce Cunningham, and David Tudor
– Along with La Monte Yong, FLuxus, etc, exemplifies post-Cage tradition of American Experimentalism
– Explores acoustic phenomena and auditory perception (science): resonance of sounds, transmission of sound through physical media, phase interference between closely tuned pitches
– I Am Sitting In a Room
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– 1969
– Alvin Lucier’s most famous work
– Process vs. product
– Meta-level commentary (self-reference)
– Observing phenomenological results of itertative process: radical commitment to a single idea, “just” speech and sound of room
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– Reaction vs. chronological exclusion
– Principle concerns:
– Subjectivity
– Deconstruction: of presuppositions and ideology, hierarchal values, frames of reference
– Deconstruction -> consideration -> invitation
– Availability, reconceptualization
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Brief History of Composer and Voice |
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- Lingua Franca: Baroque, Classical Periods
- Individual identity: Romantic Period (the Self, one’s country)
- Primacy of Invention: Modernism – urgency to do something new
- Stylistic Pluralism: Post WWI and onward
- “Removal” of Self: Cage, Xenakis – delegating choice to chance procedures/complex algorithms
- Polystylism/Collage/Plunderphonics: Post-Modernism – different languages explored by a single artist within a single work
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– Soviet composer (German-Russian heritage)
– Strongly influenced by Dmitri Shostakovich
– Coined term “polystylism” for approach to composition: pastiche vs. quotation
– One of most influential figures in Postmodernist music
– Well known for string quartets and ballets
– Concerto Grosso #1
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– 1977
– Alfred Schnittke
– For 2 violins, harpsichord, prepared piano and strings
– Instrumentation and form was not arbitrary
– “Form of baroque music”
– Polystylist examples
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– Canadian composer, media artist, dancer
– Best known for postmodernist electronic music (Plunderphonics): form of sound collage, making new music out of previously existing recordings
– Has faced repeated threats of legal action for use of other artists’ works (Led Zeppelin, Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, Stravinsky, Michael Jackson)
– Plunderphonics (Velocity, Dab)
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-1970-present
– John Oswald
– For tape/computer, etc; CD’s commerically available
– Velocity (1994): pushes limits of human perception through minimal duraction of samples
– Dab (1990, by “Alien Chasm Jock”): Bad by Michael Jackson backwards; character portrait (sound collectin as creative/aesethetic decision)
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– Work is set out to expose the essence/identity of a subject through alienating all non-essential forms, features, or concepts
– A reaction against complexity of Total Serialism and cultural elitism of European avant-garde (Modernism)
– A return to: repetition, clarity, immediacy, tonal harmony (influence of African and Indian classical music)
– Terry Riley, La Monte Young, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, John Adams
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– American composer
– Pioneer of Minimalist movement: major influence on Steve Reich, Philip Glass, John Adams, etc
– Deeply influenced by Indian classical music, as well as John Cage, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, etc.
– Explored tape loops, microtonality/alternative tuning systems, open instrumentation, self-organizing structure
– In C
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– 1964
– Terry Riley
– For unspecified performers: “group of 35 desired”
– Repeating C: on piano or percusssion instrument
– 53 short, numbered musical phrases, all in C: may be repeated an arbitrary number of times, each musician can pick which phrase to play
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– American composer
– One of foremost practitioners of American Minimalism
– First “awakening” to experimentalism came upon recieving a copy of the score to Cage’s 4’33”
– Known for exploration of repetition, phasing, and gradual processes
– Come Out, Piano Phase
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– 1966
– Steve Reich
– For tape: commissioned for a benefit for the retrial of the Harlem Six
– Piece derived from one clip: “…come out to show them”
– Repetition of phrase: loss of meaning/lingual function over time
– Phasing: emergent sub-melodies/rhythms
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– 1967
– Steve Reich
– For 2 pianos
– His first attempt to bring phasing technique to live performance
– Rapid 12-note figure played on both pianos: in unison, then one begins to accelerate gradually
– Music consists of results of applying phasing process to intitial 12-note melody – This and Come Out are examples of process music
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– American composer
– Heavily influenced by Terry Riley, Steve Reich, but rejects Minimalist label
– “Composer of music with repetitive structures”
– Most famous living composer of contemporary classical music
– Widely recognized in mainstream culture: television ads (BMW); TV shows (Battlestar Gallectica); Art and Hollywood films (Candyman, The Truman Show, The Illusionist, Watchmen); video games (Grand Theft Auto)
– Broad influence on pop music culture, Hollywood film scoring
– Einstein on the Beach
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– 1975
– Philip Glass
– Directed by radical theatrical producer, Robert Wilson
– Glass’ first, and longest, opera: 5 hours without intermission
– 1st of 3 operas in portrait trilogy
– No characters, plot, or narrative
– 3 main scenes: Einstein’s hypotheses about theory of relativity and unified field theory
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