Unit Five: The Modern Era Flashcards
dates
ca 1900 - present?
composers
Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky, Leonard Bernstein, Alexina Louie
musical styles
lack of major/minor tonality, may sound dissonant or unfamiliar. Lack of a tonal centre.
genres cultivated
??
social and historical context of music in society
very accessible
patronage of the arts
practically non-existent
expanded tonality
the use of extremely chromatic harmony while still maintaining allegiance to a tonal center
polytonality
the simultaneous use of two or more tonal centres
modal scales
use of scales (modes) in which the patterns of WS/HS is different from conventional +/- scales (ex. church modes). Rediscovered from Middle-Ages/Renaissance by 20th century composers
atonality
the total absence of any tonal centre, characterized by unresolved dissonances
Impressionism in music
reflects French art movement. Employs expanded harmonic vocabulary: whole tone, modal, pentatonic scales, parallel chords. Suggests rather than directly depicts. Features innovative orchestral colours, and the obscuring of a metric pulse (Debussy)
antique cymbals
small brass disks (finger cymbals), which produce a gentle ringing sound when struck together (Debussy)
glissando
derived from French “glisser”, to slide. On the harp, a quick strumming of all the strings with a broad sweeping hand movement, creates beautiful shimmering effects
Symbolism
French literary movement of the late 19th century. Authors sought to suggest rather than depict, and stressed the beauty of the word itself (Debussy)
symphonic poem
one of the most popular forms of orchestral program music. A single movement work, generally in free-form, with literary or pictoral associations. Invented by Franz Liszt (Debussy)
ballet
highly stylized type of dance which often interprets a story. First developed in the court of Louis XIV, 19th-century ballet reached its zenith in the Russian court. Russian dancers dominated the ballet scene throughout most of the 20th century (Petrushka)
choreography
the art of designing the dance steps and movements of a ballet (or musical) (Petrushka)
primitivism
an effet created largely through rhythm (ex. strong accents, heavy syncopation, polyrhythms, expanded percussion section) (Petrushka)
changing meter
shifting of metrical groupings, manifested through changes of time signature (Petrushka)
folk song
songs of unknown authorship, passed down through oral tradition rather than written down (Petrushka)
musical
a uniquely American genre. A play with spoken dialogue but featuring musical numbers: songs, dances, choruses. Staging is often spectacular (West Side Story)
verse-chorus structure
a common song structure in popular music. Verses develop the character/storyline, and choruses act as a tuneful refrain (West Side Story)
mambo
a dance of Afro-Cuban origins popular in the 40s and 50s. Moderately fast (4/4). Usually characterized by rhythmic ostinatos as well as “riff” passages (short melodic ostinatos) for wind instruments (West Side Story)
cha-cha
popular Cuban dance of the early 50s, derived from the mambo. Its name is derived from the sound of its characteristic rhythm (West Side Story)
hemiola
a temporary shift of the metric accents; notes grouped in threes are momentarily grouped in twos, and vice versa (West Side Story)
tritone
an aumented 4th / diminished 5th. Made up of three (tri) whole steps (tone) (West Side Story)
senza misura
“without measure”. played freely, not in strict time (Alexina Louie)
quasi berceuse
quasi - in the style of. berceuse - french for lullaby (Alexina Louie)
arch form
a sectional structure, based on repetition in reverse order (ex. ABCBA), which imparts an overall symmetry (Alexina Louie)
characteristics
new approaches to rhythm, harmonic language, non-Western influence, innovative orchestration, extra-musical associations, popular influences
