Today we spent some time in the primitivism of the 20th century including brief mention of Stravinsky, Antheil, Bartok, Honegger, and Prokofiev. This naturally took us to the use of folk song in 20th century music and yet another discussion of nationalism, with Shostakovitch as the forerunner of the talk. Reminders of the beautiful late Romantic composers--Rachmaninoff, Strauss, Hanson, and countless others including film composers led us to discuss composers whose Romanticism took them into other harmonic regions.
We abruptly jumped backwards into Wagner and his chromaticism. As we understood chromaticism, we found ourselves wondering how to achieve a greater sense of equality of pitch. Arnold Schoenberg's brand of Romanticism ultimately led to experiments in panchromaticism and the 12-tone technique. After a quick look at a matrix and a peripheral but pointed discussion of the various ways to use the 12-tone ideal, we delved into Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Dallapiccola, and Babbitt. It is essential to understand the purist use of the 12-tone concept but just as valuable to know how and when the composers varied from the form. Here is a matrix to show the various forms of a 12-tone row. Give it a try!http://www.dancavanagh.com/music/matrix.php
The second Viennese school of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern embodied the early use of serialism and 12 tone music through their magnificent output of music. With Schoenberg's beauty of line coming through while retaining a pure use of the 12-tone technique, we find music that is new, rich, yet still motivic in the German tradition. In Berg we find greater reliance on tonality in a more conservative and freer use of the technique, and in Webern we see a conciseness of form and structure in strict contrapuntal and pointillistic expression.
I encourage you open your mind and ears and enjoy the music of the 2nd Viennese composers. Listen to different examples and find one that you enjoy. Let me know what it is!
We will now spend a little time in the Romantic period, discuss some harmonic and theoretical concepts of the time, and begin taking some practice tests.
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Dr. Tucker, that link doesn't work. Here's the correct one:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dancavanagh.com/music/matrix.php
I'm still getting used to hearing 12-tone composition. I haven't developed a liking for it, but I don't dismiss it like I used to. I think I like Schoenberg and Webern's compositions best, but I'm not sure why. Possibly because of their rhythmic techniques. Not always, but generally, they don't sound to me to be quite as random rhythmically, so it somewhat compensates for the lack of evident melodic line.
ReplyDelete~Kandice