Modernism: Gentle and Confrontational

Question 1

Paris was a ___ centre.

Answer 1

Modernist.

Question 2

Why was Paris a modernist centre?

Answer 2

World’s Fair in 1889.

Question 3

___ and ___ became the capitals of modernism.

Answer 3

Paris, Vienna.

Question 4

Which of the capitals of modernism was more international?

Answer 4

Paris.

Question 5

Individual expression was most important in modernism. True or false?

Answer 5

True.

Question 6

Debussy and his influences:

Answer 6

Born and educated in Paris, Child of Romanticism. Influences include Russian nationalists, world music, and Wagner. Important transitional figure.

Question 7

Debussy’s style was ___.

Answer 7

Impressionsim.

Question 8

Impressionism based on painting:

Answer 8

Images implied by fragments of colour.

Question 9

Impressionism based on literature:

Answer 9

References more than direct statements.

Question 10

Debussy prioritized ___ and ___.

Answer 10

Content, colour.

Question 11

Stylistic generalizations of Debussy:

Answer 11

• Orchestra purely colour device,
• Suggestions vs, overt statements.
• Form less important than style.

Question 12

How did Mahler differ from Debussy as far as timbre goes?

Answer 12

Mahler gave every instrument a voice, as equal contributors to a polyphony. Debussy treated each instruments as small contributors to the whole picture.

Question 13

How does Debussy treat melody?

Answer 13

Fragments, hints at melody as reaction against the Romantic. Shortens the melody. Uses melodically definable fragments.

Question 14

How does Debussy treat harmony/tonality?

Answer 14

Pedal tones (insistence), ostinato (repetition), parallel chords (direction). Drown a sense of tonality (DIFFERENT from atonal).

Question 15

Is there a forward momentum in Debussy’s music?

Answer 15

Not as obviously as in previous composers’ music.

Question 16

Stravinsky

Answer 16

Long lived, and influential. Hard-edged, austere, emotionless. Went from Russia to Paris.

Question 17

Describe Stravinsky’s style:

Answer 17

• Timbral effects.
• Motion, tonality: ostinato, pedal tones.
• Distinct rhythmic approach.

Question 18

Background to The Rite of Spring:

Answer 18

Fervour for “primitive” art sweeps through Paris. Fascination with primal and exotic. Pre-historic Russian fertility rituals. Uproar at premiere, Stravinsky becomes a provocative and innovative composer.

Question 19

Style of The Rite of Spring:

Answer 19

• Irregular, unpredictable rhythm. Uses accents.
• Folksong fragments out of context.
• Irregular motives.
• Tonality through pedal tones, ostinato.
• Layering.
• Blocks of sounds juxtaposed.
• Elements rarely line up.