Claude Debussy
1862-1918 French. He studied music in Paris and got in trouble for breaking the rules of conventional music. Won the 1884 Prix de Rome composition contest. Had many scandalous affairs. Died of rectal cancer during WWI.
Orchestration
A piece based on an original piece of music written out for instruments of an orchestra.
Debussy’s Music
IMPRESSIONISM & SYMBOLISM. 3 important works for solo piano. 2 Preludes and 2 Etudes. Prelude on a Farm.
Symbolism
Debussy. A movement in the late 19th C. arts. Belief that art should aim to capture more absolute truths which could only be accessed by indirect methods.
Impressionism
Debussy (Ravel) Harmonies, melodies, & rhythms of the music are clouded, shifting, and obscure.
Scales
MAJOR: W-W-H-W-W-W-H
OCTATONIC: W-H-W-H-W-H-W
WHOLE TONE:W-W-W-W-W-W-W
CHROMATIC: H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H
Chord Planning
Debussy. Harmonic movement (chords) in a stepwise direction, thus “breaking the rules” of functional harmony
Functional Harmony
Harmonic movement based on an established set of rules.
lii-vi-ii/IV-vii/V-i
Non-Functional Harmony
Debussy. Harmonic movement with no set rules.
Polytonality
Debussy. Using two or more keys at the same time. Music with more than one tonal center.
Stravinsky’s music
1882-1971. Russia-France-America. “Inventor” of music. 3 ballets based on Russian folklore and themes. Rite of Spring (made people uncomfortable) & Firebird. Greek Orthodox.
Ostinato
Rhythmic phrase repeated.
Arnold Shoenberg
1874-1951. Austrian & American.
Atonal Music
Music with no tonal center, not in any key.
Sprechstimme
“Speech singing” Schoenburg. A style of singing where the vocalist half-sings and half says the words never staying very long on the pitch of the written notes.
12 Tone System, or Serialism, or Dodecaphonic Music
System of composition that uses all 12 notes of the chromatic scale equally and in a particular order (tone row).
The Second Viennese School
Schoenber & his pupils Berg & Webern (First Viennese School of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven)
The Emancipation of Dissonance
Schoenberg phrase indicating that dissonant melodies need not be resolved.
Klangfarbenmelodie
WEBERN. Tone color melody; a melody made up of tone colors instead of individual notes.
Characteristics of Modern Music: MELODY
*No longer based on major/minor scales *NO scales *Irregular phrases *Could use angular and chromatic leaps *There could be little or no melody*
Characteristics of Modern Music: HARMONY
*New types of chords- all and any type *Tone clusters *Non-Functional harmony
Characteristics of Modern Music: RHYTHM
*Poly-rhythms *Odd meters- 7/4; 5/4; 13/8 *Changing meters in one piece *Ostinatos
Characteristics of Modern Music: TEXTURE
*Tone colors become more important *Extended techniques *Use of odd combos of instruments/voices *No set texture *Heavier use of percussion
Extended Techniques
Having an instrument or voice do something it normally doesn’t do. CAGE
No Set Texture
Can be monophonic, homophonic, or polyphonic.
Bela Bartok
1881-1945 Hungary. Musicologist. Fled Europe in WWII. Wrote Microcosm- full of “messed up” rhythms. Folksongs. String quartets. Harsh dissonances, polychords, tone clusters.
Aaron Copland
American 1900-1990. Breckland. Nadia Boulanche-teacher in paris. Disctinctly American.
William Grant Still
1895-1979. MO, USA. “Dean of African American composers” Harlem Renaissance. Afro-American= 1st to have composition performed by a major orchestra.
Blues Scale
Minor 3rd: 3 half steps
M3-W-H-H-M3-W
Gustav Holst
British composer 1874-1934. “The Planets” Borrowed from Schoenberg, Stravinsky, & Debussy. JUPITER
Milton Babet
Electronic music: composer has full control, new sounds/rhythms, impossible made possible.
Isao Tomita
Tokyo 1932 Composer for film, tv, & theater. JUPITER
Gyorg Legeti
Atmosphere. Tone clusters/microtones
Krystof Penderecki
1933 Poland. Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima 52 strings. Indeterminacny “Chance Music” element of unpredictability. E.g. throwing dice.
Jazz
1987 Congressional Resolution 57 “Hereby designated as a rare & valuable national American treasure to which we should devote our attention”
Jazz Styles
New Orleans (1930-1940s) Swing (1950s) bebop (1950s) Cool Jazz (1960s) Hard Bop (1970s) Free Jazz, Fusion.
Louis Armstrong
Best known New Orleans style Musician. Established “scat” singing. Influenced every jazz musician after him. Consistant style through entire career.
Duke Ellington
Composer, bandleader, interpreter of African American Culture. Father encouraged him to become an artist.
Charlie Parker
Jazz Be-Bop 1920-1955 KC, MO.
Improvisation
Spontaneous creation of musical lines.
Rhythm Section
Bass, drums, and piano (guitar)
Jazz Combo
Small ensemble consisting of a rhythm section and one or a few horns (i.e. trumpet, sax, and trombone)
Be-Bop
Charlie Parker. Type of Jazz music, usually played by a jazz combo, characterized by fast tempos, virtuosic improvisation, and complex harmony and rhythms. Turned jazz from music you dance to to music you listen to.
Cool/Modal Jazz- Hard Bebop
Miles Davis & John Coltrane (Blue Train)
Miles Davis
1926-1991 St. Louis. Jazz Trumpet player. Cool & Modal Jazz & Jazz Fusion. Got his start Be-Bopping with Charles Parker. Influential Arkansas Grandfather
John Coltrane
1926-1967. High Point, NC. Jazz Tenor Sax Player. INnovator of tenor sax playing and improvisation. Got his start playing with Miles Davis. Free Jazz. Blue Train.
Free Jazz
Jazz music that is not based on an existing song or preconceived harmonic structure. The players react to eachother through group improvisation. Usually there is not harmonic structure or time signature.
John Adams
American Minimalist School. 1947-
Minimalism
A reaction to music complexities. Music that uses very simple melodies, motives, and harmonies, usually in a repeitious fashion. Often of short musica phrases, with minimal variations over a long period of time.