Since the 1900s Flashcards
Modernism
A spirit that took hold in all the arts, in the early twentieth century, representing a quest for novelty that far exceeded any such drive in the past.
- it disregarded tradition
Neoclassicism
A style of composition in the years after World War I that, although distinctly modern, drew on older (particularly eighteenth-century) uses of melody, harmony, rhythm, and form
- sought to synthesize old and new styles in a more accessible idiom
Postmodernism
A style in music and the other arts, beginning in the mid-twentieth century, in which modern and traditional elements are combined.
Tonal
A style of writing that establishes a central note (the tonic) as a harmonic and melodic center of gravity, which in turn creates the potential for a strong sense of resolution and closure.
Dissonance
The sound of notes that clash, either harmonically or melodically, and do not seem to belong together. Dissonance is a relative concept: what was dissonant in one era is later perceived as consonant.
Consonance
The sound of notes together that our ear finds naturally right. Like dissonance, consonance is a relative concept that can change over long periods of time.
Atonal
A style of writing that establishes no harmonic or melodic center of gravity; without a tonic, all notes are of equal weight and significance.
Ostinato
A short pattern of notes repeated over and over
Pentatonic Scale
A scale consisting of five tones
- captures a folk-like sound
- projects an exotic, non-Western Sound
- brief and repetitive melodies
Polytonality
The juxtaposition of two conventional harmonies in a way that creates new dissonance
Scenario
The story line of a ballet
- dancers present the scenario
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Through-composed form
A form in which each section has its own music, with very little or no repetition between sections
Bepop
New Jazz style of the late 1940s/early 1950s that developed in response to the popularity of big band music. Bepop is characterized by fast tempos, short bursts of melodic phrases, heavy and unexpected rhythmic accents and virtuosic soloing.
Fill
In jazz and popular styles, instrumental response between a singer’s phrases, or a brief solo occupying a musical gap between sections of a peice.
Head
in jazz, the main melody of the song
Improvisation
The technique of embellishing or elaborating on a melody on the spot, spontaneously and unrehearsed.
- free Jazz
- after Parker it became more popular
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Sectional form
A form in which each verse or half-verse receives its own material (for example ABCD)
sequence
A short musical motive that repeats at successively higher or lower pitches.
Register
The range of a pitch or series of pitches, usually described as high, middle, or low.
Twelve-tone composition
A type of serial composition in which twentieth-century composers manipulated a series (“row”) consisting of all 12 notes of the chromatic scale, not repeating any one of these until all other eleven had been sounded, thereby effectively avoiding any sense of tonality.
- allowed freedom beyond tonality
Syncopated Rhythm (syncopation)
A type of rhythm in which the notes run against the regular pulse of the musical meter, with accents on beats other than the ones usually accented.
Ethnomusicology
A sub-field of musicology - the scholarly study of music in general - that focuses on the social dimension of the art and the ways in which is used within and between cultures.
Musicology
The scholarly study of music
Oral tradition
One passed down without the aid of written words or notated music.
Additive form
A compositional technique in which nothing disappears, but new layers are constantly added
Musical
A spoken drama with a substantial amount of singing
Operetta
Italian for “small opera”. A nineteenth-century stage work that incorporated both singing and spoken dialogue, typically on a comic, lighthearted, or sentimental subject. A precursor to the American musical
Orchestration
The manner in which various instruments are assigned to the musical lines
Ostinato
A short pattern of notes repeated over and over
Gamelan
An Indonesian musical ensemble consisting primarily of a variety of pitched gongs and xylophones. The conductor or leader of the ensemble often plays a double-headed drum
Vibraphone
A percussion instrument similar to the xylophone, with resonators that cause the pitches to vibrate
Minimalism
In music, a style in which a brief musical idea or group of ideas is repeated and varied incrementally over a long span of time, with relatively slow rate of change.
Looping
A technique by which a unit of music is sent to a synthesizer and repeated as many times as desired.
Anacrusis
A starting note that falls on a beat before the downbeat. Also called a pickup beat or an upbeat
Rock ‘n’ Roll
A style of music that evolved in the mid-1950s out of R&B and country styles. Rock ‘n’ Roll is teenage music, expressing the concerns of mid-century young people (romance, cars, dancing). The typical rock group consisted of electric guitar, bass, and drums, with the occasional addition of piano or saxophone.
- by 1954, 55% of homes owned TVs
- electric lead guitar, drums, bass, guitar and piano
Shuffle groove (shuffle rhythm)
A mid-tempo rhythmic pattern, typically in quadruple meter, in which each beat is subdivided into 3 pulses.
- creates excitement of song
- propels motion forward
Stop time
A kind of musical punctuation between sections, in which the instruments that provide the basic accompaniment strike a single note on a downbeat of a measure together, then remain silent for the rest of the measure.
Hip Hop
A cultural movement of the late 1970s through the turn of the century that included fashion, dance (break dancing), art (graffiti), and music (rap). Hip hop music is characterized by semi spoken lyrics that are recited against an accompaniment often consisting of short, repeated melodic fragments set against a heavily rhythmic beat.
Hook
A short, catchy motive that forms the memorable core of the song.
Sample
To record music or sound from an existing album.
Verse-chorus form
One of the simplest models in popular music. The chorus contains the main idea of the song, usually incorporating the title as well. When the chorus returns, it keeps the same text and music. Verses advance the plot, using the same music each time but different texts. Verse-chorus form can use any combination of verses and choruses, although the last unit will always be a chorus.
Since the 1900s
- increased pace of musical life
- change in style and tech
- Music moved in many different directions, some traditional, some modern
Ragtime, jazz, and blues developed tonal harmonies and traditional meters
Music for mass-audience markets
African-American and Latin composers and musicians gained prominence - texture: homophonic and polyphonic
- Melody/harmony: tonal and atonal, with or without metrical structure.
rhythm: full range, predictable, unpredictable, etc.
timbre: new tech, more possibilities.
form: all earlier forms continue - continue use of program music
Charles Ives
- The Unanswered Question
- Absorbed and rebelled against musical traditions
- Grew up in Connecticut, absorbing many musical influences
- Became wealthy through insurance, composing in spare time
- Compositions rarely publicly performed during lifetime
- At death, recognized as modernist pioneer
The Unanswered Question
- 3 groups of instruments (strings, solo trumpet and wind quartet)
- strings are continuously playing, trumpets and winds come and go. (layered texture)
- Contracting timbres: strings play, solo interjects the “question”, wind quartet provides “answers”
- combines tonal (strings) and atonal harmony (trumpet)
- dissonance
Igor Stravinsky
-The Rite of Spring, Part one.
- Constantly reinvented himself
Early works reflect Russian ancestry
Adopted Neoclassicism around 1917
Emigrated to United States during World War II, settling in Los Angeles
Later embraced 12-tone composition
Stravinsky and Schoenberg regarded as greatest composers of the twentieth century
Successfully connected with audiences
The Rite of Spring, Part one
- Ballet
highly novel music caused a famous riot at its premiere - Audience at premiere of The Rite of Spring in Paris, May 1913, scandalized by the music and dancing
- Stravinsky and Nijinsky, the choreographer, watched the debacle unfold
-Riot turned to Stravinsky’s advantage, audiences across Europe in the coming months greeted the -work with enthusiasm
-Initial rejection help to rally artists of modernist tendencies
Mega-orchestra
Quintuple woodwinds
8 horns, 5 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 tubas
Large percussion and string sections
- by 1900s, orchestra is larger than those during Haydn’s life
Charlie parker
“Ornithology”
- Sat in with local ensembles and practiced obsessively
- Struggled with drug addiction and personal problems
- developed virtuosic solo style
Ornithology
-melodies rise and fall rapidly
- timbre changes that mark the beginning of new sections.
- difficult to dance and listen to
- emerged after WW2
- used more dissonant notes.
melodies or “heads” were the core of the piece. lead instruments play the head together
-head has 3 segments
- each solo, echoes the head
- Important features of bebop melodic style
1. Angular melodic lines
2. Forced sound in high register
3. Prolonged dissonant notes
- 5 sections, called choruses.
- Sectional form: ABA’ (I think?)
A , A’, being the chorus
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Ruth Crawford
-Piano study in mixed accents
- Uncompromisingly modern composer and important collector and arranger of American folksongs
Studied composition with Charles Seeger, later her husband
Studied musical modernism in Europe
Study of folk music motivated by musical, social, and political concerns
Piano study in mixed accents
- No meter, just notes. therefore no rhythm since it relies on meter.
- some notes are accented and those are the notes shaping the piece.
-Texture: monophonic, one line of music - it is shaped going up, down , and back up.
12 semi-notes in an octave, and plays them like math, it is atonal because there is no harmony. - very fast notes or equal value
- different sections occupy diff registers, gives a sense of shape to the piece.
Aaron Copland
“Hoe-down” from rodeo
- desired to write American Music
- trained in European tradition of modernism
- used fold tunes and wrote Hollywood films
“Hoe-down” from rodeo
- composed 1942
- written for dancer Agnes de Mille
- uses actual American folk tunes.
Musical counterpart to the West.
-orchestration varied throughout. Full orchestra with large percussion section versus smaller groupings of instruments
Bright and transparent timbres
Sections and ranges project their own sonic identity - duple meter , occasional use of triple
- high use of syncopation
-Rondo form
Bela Bartok
Concerto for Orchestra, second movement (“Game of Pairs”)
- composer, scholar, and performer
- performed his own works and others’ on piano
- conducted ethnomusicological field work
Concerto for Orchestra, second movement (“Game of Pairs”)
- Ternary form: ABA’
- composed : 1943
- instruments come to fore at different times
- it features woodwinds and brass
- Tonal
Leonard Bernstein
“Tonight” from West Side Story
- major conductor
composer for stage, concert hall, ballet and film, pianist, and educator.
“Tonight” from West Side Story
- 2 contrasting melodies
- homophony(solo) to polyphony (trio then quintet)
- composed: 1957
- retelling of Romeo and Juliet
- uses elements of Jazz
- it is a Musical
- hate and love represented by different melodies
- fast paced melody over an ostinato
- Additive form- two basic melodies distributed among different characters, new layers constantly added.
- ends with 5 monologues sung simultaneously
Gamelan Gong Kebyar of Belaluan, Bali
Keybar Ding III, “Oncang-oncangan”
- Gamelan music originated in Indonesia
- ceremonial type of music
Keybar Ding III, “Oncang-oncangan”
Recorded: 1928
-Gamelan: consists of melody and rhythm instruments, originating in Java and Bali
- Main instruments are gender (bronze-keyed vibraphones) and trompong (bowl-shaped gongs)
- Compositions built on ostinatos
-Gamelan deeply influenced many twentieth-century composers
- Shimmering effect produced by paired instruments tuned slightly apart, Very noticeable effect
- rapid speed achieved by dividing all pitches among players.
Each note “interlocks” with the next to form the melody
- wildly varying dynamics and tempos
- changes mark beginning of new sections
-piece moves without direction
Kebyar
All instruments struck together.
Philip Glass
“Knee Play 1” from Einstein on the Beach
- Moved to New York City in 1960s and established his own ensemble to reach audiences more directly
- Prolific composer
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“Knee Play 1” from Einstein on the Beach
- 3 layers of sound: 1. the bass line (organ), 2,. chorus 3. 2 seemingly independent speaking parts
- simple and strongly tonal repeated.
- composed: 1976
- An opera with little singing and no plot
- No true characters
-minimalism - variation form: on short melodic fragments over an ostinato bass
- ## Variety created through altered rhythms, divided voices, addition of spoken voices
Austin Wintory
“Nascence,” from Journey
- began composing for video games at university
- Also writes film and concert music.
“Nascence,” from Journey
- about one character’s journey
- composed 2012
- Journey atypical as video game: asks players to reflect on its meaning
- Music helps creates the game’s plot
- Immerses players in the game’s atmosphere
- “Nascence” = birth or coming into existence
- combines familiar and unfamiliar instruments
- single melody played 3 times
- Moves through monophony, homophony, and polyphony—provides sense of direction
Chuck Berry
School Day
- absorbed influence of blues, hillbilly and Western Swing.
- Established himself as a multitalented guitar player and songwriter
- Charismatic performer, known for “duck walk”
- Heyday of rock ’n’ roll lasted from 1954 to 1959
- Berry later recorded more hits and toured successfully
School Day
composed: 1957
- Rock ‘n’ Roll created in mid 1950s
- blended blues and honky-tonk with edgy attitude.
capitalized on youth culture and contradictions between general prosperity and social unrest
- strophic song
- each verse in 12-bar blues form
- Guitar solo provides contrast and excitement
Solo builds momentum between verses
Public Enemy
- fight the power
- Brought political commentary to East Coast hip-hop
- Garnered a contract with Def Jam Records in 1986
- Ensemble of musicians and producers unusual for record studios
- Formed self-contained production and entertainment unit
- Unique hip-hop beats reinforced serious, aggressive political message
Fight the Power
-composed : 1990
- written for Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing
- Recording conveyed racial tension in Brooklyn neighborhood
- Rap music combines rhymed speech patterns with hip-hop beats (sampled from 1960s and 1970s albums)
- begins with sample from speech by King
- Groove established by densely layering samples.
-verse-chorus form
syncopated lyrics
-phrase: “fight the power” is the hook.
- word-music RS: connect to audience though references to late-1980s hip-hop culture.
- encourages listeners to join crusade for black nationalism
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Jazz
Popular music style that weds African American rhythms with Eurpean influences.
Rap
African American popular music style, combining rhymed recitations with complex recorded accompaniment.
Impressionism
Music that emphasizes timbre (color) at the expense of line (melody)
