This document provides an overview of Western music in the 20th century, focusing on several major styles and composers. It discusses impressionism and key impressionist composers like Debussy and Ravel. It then covers atonality and the 12-tone technique developed by Schoenberg. Other styles mentioned include primitivism, neo-classicism, and avant-garde music. Specific composers highlighted include Stravinsky, Bartok, Prokofiev, Poulec, and American composers like Gershwin and Bernstein who incorporated jazz elements. Videos are provided as examples of major works for many of the composers and styles.

1. WESTERN MUSIC
(GRADE 9)

7. MUSIC IN THE
20TH CENTURY
Quarter 1

8. REVIEW
1.Who is known as the “Poet of the
Piano” in the Romantic Period?
a.F. Chopin c. R. Schumann
b.L.V. Beethoven d. N. Paganini

10. 2. How will you describe the music of the
Romantic period?
a. highly ornamented
b. simple and elegant
c. passionate and expressive
d. plain and sometimes imitative

11. 3. The composer who reflected the characteristics of
Classical and Romantic music in his compositions for he
was able to live in the middle of both era?
a. W. A. Mozart c. F. Chopin
b. J. S. Bach d. L. V. Beethoven

13. 4. A piano composition often of a
romantic character which is associated
with the night.
a. Nocturne c. Scherzo
b. Ballade d. Impromptu

14. 5. He is known as the greatest piano virtuoso of the
Romantic era who made significant contributions in
piano pedagogy and piano recitals?
a. R. Schumann c. L.V. Beethoven
b. F. Liszt d. N. Paganini

16. NAME THE COMPOSERS AND TITLE OF THE
COMPOSITION
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

17. 1.
2.

18. 20th century saw the rise of distinct
musical styles that reflected a move away
from the conventions of earlier classical
music.

19. IMPRESSIONISM
•preceeds Romantic Period
•dramatic emotionalism of Romantic
Period were replaced in favour of moods
and impressions

20. •Most impressionist works centered
on nature and its beauty, lightness
and brilliance.

21. •Impressionism was an attempt not to depict
reality, but merely to suggest it.
•was meant to create an emotional mood rather
than a specific picture.

22. •In terms of imagery, impressionistic
forms were translucent and hazy, as if
trying to see through a rain-drenched
window.

23. Music compositional characteristics
•use of extended chords, harmonies,
whole tone, chromatic scales and
pentatonic scales.

24. •Sounds of different chords
overlapped lightly with
each other to produce new
subtle musical colors.

25. •Chords did not have a
definite order and a
sense of clear
resolution.

26. •lack of tonic-dominant
relationship which normally
gives the feeling of finality to a
piece, moods and textures,

27. •harmonic vagueness about
the structure of certain
chords
•use of the whole-tone scale

28. Foremost proponents
•French composers:
Claude Debussy
Maurice Ravel

29. •Ottorino Respighi (Italy)
•Manuel de Falla (Spain)
•Isaac Albeniz (Spain)
•Ralph Vaughan Williams (England)

30. CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918)

31. •Primary exponent of the
impressionist movement
and the focal point for
other impressionist
composers.

32. •Changed the course of musical development by
dissolving traditional rules and conventions into
a new language of possibilities in harmony,
rhythm, form, texture, and color.

33. Debussy_ Suite bergamasque - 3. Clair de lune (1890-
1905).mp4
Debussy_ Children's Corner - 6. Golliwog's cake-walk
(1906-1908).mp4
SADDLE Bench 30s (Richard Gomez).mp4
SCULLER Bench (Richard Gomez).mp4

34. MAURICE RAVEL
1875-1937

35. Compositional Style
•Uniquely innovative but not
atonal style of harmonic
treatment.
•Intricate and sometimes modal
melodies and extended chordal
components

36. •demands considerable technical
virtuosity from the performer which
is the character, ability, or skill of a
virtuoso – a person who excels in
musical technique or execution.

37. •Harmonic progressions and
modulations are not only
musically satisfying but also
pleasantly dissonant and
elegantly sophisticated.

38. •His refined delicacy and color,
contrasts and effects add to
the difficulty in the proper
execution of the musical
passages.

39. •Work is programmatic in nature,
visual imagery is either suggested or
portrayed.
•Works deal with water in it flowing or
stormy moods as well as with human
characterizations.

40. Sample works
• - Maurice Ravel BOLERO - Wiener Philharmonic.mp4
• Ravel - Rapsodie espagnole - Barenboim.mp4
• Martha Argerich,Ravel Jeux d'eau.mp4

41. ARNOLD
SCHOENBERG
(1874-1951)

42. Compositional style
•dissonant to atonal, as he explored
the use of chromatic harmonies
•Although full melodic and lyrical
interest, his music is also extremely
complex, creating heavy demands on
the listener.

43. Western Diatonic Scale

44. The Chromatic Scale

45. Atonality
•Music that is not in any key.
•Applies when there is no tonal
centre and all 12 notes of the
chromatic scale are of equal
importance, each of which
functions independently.

46. •Debussy’s music foreshadowed
atonality but it was Schoenberg
who wrote atonal music and
further developed it into the “12-
note” system.

47. •The traditional concept of
consonances and
dissonances do not apply in
atonal works.

48. • The Difference Between Tonal & Atonal Music _ Piano
& Music Tips.mp4
• Bernstein on Schoenberg.mp4
• Bernstein on Schoenberg Part II.mp4
• Glenn Gould-Schoenberg-Pierrot Lunaire opus 21
(HD).mp4
• Arnold Schoenberg - Transfigured Night for String
Sextet, Op. 4.mp4

49. OTHER MUSICAL STYLES
•PRIMITIVISM
- Music is tonal through the asserting of
one note as more important than the
others. New sounds are synthesized from
old ones by juxtaposing two simple events
to create a more complex new event.

50. Primitivism has links to Exoticism
through the use of materials from
other cultures. Nationalism through
the use of materials indigenous to
specific countries, and Ethnicism
through the use of materials from
European ethnic groups.

51. • Eventually evolved in Neo-classicism -Neoclassicism
in music was a twentieth-century trend, particularly
current in the period between the two World Wars, in
which composers sought to return to aesthetic
precepts associated with the broadly defined concept
of "classicism", namely order, balance, clarity,
economy, and emotional restraint

52. IGOR STRAVINSKY
(1882-1971)

53. Compositional Style
•Music reflected the influence of his
teacher, the Russian composer Nikolai
Rimsky-Korsakov
•asymmetrical rhythm.
•nationalistic musical style

54. •Despite its “shocking”
modernity, his music is also very
structured, precise, controlled,
full of artifice, and theatricality.

55. • Stravinsky_ Le sacre du printemps _ The Rite of Spring
- Jaap van Zweden - Full HD.mp4
• Pétrouchka (1947); First Part - Danse Russe by Igor
Stravinsky __ Animation by Victor Craven.mp4
• Stravinsky Petrushka - Yuja Wang.mp4

56. • Stravinsky_ The Firebird _ Gergiev · Vienna
Philarmonic · Salzburg Festival 2000.mp4

57. BELA BARTOK
(1881-1945)

58. Compositional Style
•Neo-classicist, primitivist, and nationalist –
used Hungarian folk themes and rhythms
•Used changing meters and syncopation

59. •Compositions were successful
because of their rich melodies and
lively rhythms.

60. • Béla Bartók, No. 88, Duet for Pipes.mp4

61. NEO-CLASSICISM
•a twentieth-century trend, particularly
current in the period between the two
World Wars, in which composers sought
to return to aesthetic precepts associated
with the broadly defined concept of
"classicism", namely order, balance,
clarity, economy, and emotional restraint

62. •Moderating factor between the
emotional excesses of the
Romantic period and the
violent impulses of the soul in
expressionism.

63. •A partial return to earlier style of
writing, particularly the tightly-
knit form of the Classical period,
while combining tonal harmonies
with slight dissonances.

64. SERGEI PROKOFIEFF
(1891-1953)

65. COMPOSITIONAL STYLE
•regarded today as a combination of neo-
classicist, nationalist and avant-garde
•progressive technique, pulsating rhythms,
melodic directness, resolving dissonance

66. • Yuja Wang - Prokofiev_ Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26
(Claudio Abbado, LUCERNE FESTIVAL).mp4
• Yuja Wang plays Prokofiev _ Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Opus
16.mp4

67. FRANCIS POULENC
(1899-1963)

68. •A member of young French
composers known as “Les
Six”.

69. COMPOSITIONAL STYLE
•rejected the heavy romanticism of
Wagner and the so-called imprecision
of Debussy and Ravel
•coolly elegant modernity, tempered
by a classical sense of proportion

70. OTHER MEMBERS OF
“LES SIX”
•George Auric (1899-1983)
•Louis Durey (1888-1979)
•Arthur Honegger (1882-1955)
•Darius Milhaud (1892-1974)
•Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983)

71. • Poulenc - Mouvements Perpetuels No 1 - Zakarij
Laux.mp4
• Gloria (Francis Poulenc).mp4
• Francis Poulenc - Suite Pour Piano.mp4

72. AVANT-GARDE MUSIC
•closely associated with
electronic music
•deals with the parameters or
the dimensions of sound in
space

73. •Exhibited a new attitude toward
musical mobility, whereby the
order or note groups could be
varied so that musical continuity
could be altered.

74. •Improvisation was a necessity
in this style, for the musical
scores were not necessarily
followed as written.

75. •For example, one could
expect a piece to be read
by a performer from left to
right or vice versa.

76. •Or the performer might turn
the score over, and go on
dabbling indefinitely in
whatever order before
returning to the starting point.

77. Avant-garde composers
United States of America
•George Gershwin
•John Cage
•Leonard Bernstein
•Philip Glass

78. •The unconventional method of sound
and form, as well as the absence of
traditional rules governing harmony,
melody and rhythm, make the whole
concept of avant-garde music still
strange to ears accustomed to
traditional compositions.

79. Composers who used this style:
•Oliver Messian
•John Cage
•Philip Glass
•Leonard Bernstein
•George Gershwin
•Pierre Boulez

80. GEORGE GERSHWIN
(1898-1937)

81. •incorporated jazz rhythms with
classical forms
•His “mixture of the primitive and the
sophisticated” gave his music an
appeal that has lasted long after his
death.
Musical style

82. •His melodic gift was
considered phenomenal, as
evidenced by his numerous
songs of wide appeal.

83. •A true “cross-over artist” in the
sense that his compositions
remain highly popular in the
classical repertoire, as his stage
and film songs continue to be jazz
and vocal standards.

84. •considered the “Father
of American Jazz”

85. • MUSIC 10 videosGeorge Gershwin - The Man I Love.mp4
• Norah Jones - Summertime.mp4
• Porgy & Bess _Summertime_.mp4
• Someone to Watch Over Me - Julie Andrews.mp4
• G. Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue, FORTISSIMO FEST 2010.mp4

86. LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918-1990)

87. •endeared himself to his
many followers as a
charismatic conductor,
pianist, composer and
lecturer

88. •His philosophy was that the universal
language of music is basically rooted
in tonality. This came under fire from
the radical young musicians who
espoused the serialist principles of
that time.

89. •Achieved pre-eminence in two
fields: conducting and
composing for Broadway
musicals, dance shows and
concert music.

90. •Best known for his
compositions for the stage:
West Side Story (1957)
Romeo and Juliet
(American version)

91. • West Side Story-Tonight (Ensemble).mp4
• West Side Story-Tonight.mp4
• West Side Story-Somewhere.mp4
• Glee - America.mp4

92. PHILIP GLASS
(1937- )

93. •one of the most commercially
successful minimalist composer
•explored the territories of ballet,
opera, theatre, film, and even
television jingles

94. Musical style
•distinctive style involves cell-like phrases
emanating from bright electronic sounds from
the keyboard that progressed very slowly from
one pattern to the next in a very repetitious
fashion.

95. •Aided by soothing vocal effects
and horn sounds, his music is
often criticized as uneventful and
shallow, yet startlingly effective
for its hypnotic charm.

96. • Knee Play 5 (live) - Philip Glass, _Einstein on the Beach_.mp4
• Philip Glass _Music in Fifths_ by Nicolas Horvath.mp4

97. MODERN NATIONALISM
•A looser form of 20th century
music development focused on
nationalist composers and musical
innovators who sought to
combine modern technique with
folk materials.

98. Composers of this genre
•Bela Bartok
•Sergei Prokofieff

99. “Russian Five”
Modest Mussorgsky
Mili Balakirev
Alexander Borodin
Cesar Cui
Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov

100. SUMMARY
•IMPRESSIONISM
-made use of whole-tone scale
-applied suggested, rather than depicted,
reality

101. - created a mood rather than a
definite picture
- had a translucent and hazy
texture; lacking a dominant-
tonic relationship

102. - made use of overlapping
chords, with 4ths, 5ths, octaves,
and 9th intervals, resulting in a
non-traditional harmonic order
and resolution

103. •EXPRESSIONISM
-revealed the composer’s mind,
instead or presenting an impression
of the environment
-used atonality and the 12-tone scale,
lacking stable and conventional
harmonies

104. •It served as a medium for
expressing strong
emotions, such as anxiety,
rage and alienation.

105. •NEO-CLASSICISM
- partial return to a classical form
or writing music with carefully
modulated dissonances. It made
use of a freer seven-note diatonic
scale.

106. •AVANT-GARDE
- Associated with electronic
music and dealt with the
parameters or dimensions of
sound in space.

107. •Made use of variations of self-
contained note groups to change
musical continuity, and
improvisation, with an absence of
traditional rules on harmony,
melody, and rhythm.

108. •MODERN NATIONALISM
- A looser form of 20th century music
development focused on nationalist
composers and musical innovators
who sought to combine modern
techniques with folk materials.

109. Impressionist composers
•Claude Debussy
•Maurice Ravel

110. Expressionism
•Arnold Schoenberg
•Igor Stravinsky –
also neo-classicist,
primitivist

111. neo-classical, modern nationalist, primitivist
•Bela Bartok
•Sergei Prokofieff – also avant-
garde but not primitivist

112. Neo-classic
•Francis Poulenc and other
members of
“Les Six”

113. 20th Century Musical Styles
•Electronic Music - music being
produced electronically and
recorded on tape. It may refer
to synthesized sounds or
everyday sounds.

114. •Musique concrete or
concrete music – music
that uses the tape
recorder

115. • Mario Davidovsky - Synchronisms No. 5.mp4

116. EDGARD VARESE
(1883-1965)

117. Musical style
•emphasized on timbre and rhythm
•Invented the term “organized sound”,
which means that certain timbres and
rhythm can be grouped together in
order to capture a whole definition of
sound.

118. •Use of instruments and electronic
resources made him the “Father
of Electronic Music” and he was
described as the “Stratospheric
Colossus of Sound.”

119. • Poème Electronique.mp4

120. Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928- )

121. Musical style
•total serialism( influenced by
Schoenberg, Messiaen, Webern)
•heavily atonal content with
practically no clear melodic or
rhythmic sense.

122. • Stockhausen -- Hymnen.mp4
• Karlheinz Stockhausen _Helicopter String
Quartet_.mp4
• Stockhausen Studie II.mp4

123. CHANCE MUSIC
•refers to a style wherein the piece
always sounds different at every
performance because of the random
techniques of production, including
the use of ring modulators or natural
elements that become part of the
music.

124. •Most of the sounds emanate from
the surroundings, both natural and
man-made, such as honking cars,
rustling leaves, blowing wind,
dripping water, or a ringing phone.

125. •As such, the combination of
external sounds cannot be
duplicated as each happens
by chance.

126. JOHN CAGE
(1912-1992)

127. •became one of the most original
composers in the history of western
music
•He challenged the very idea of music
by manipulating musical instruments
in order to achieve new sounds.

128. • John Cage - 4'33_.mp4
• John Cage - Sonatas and Interludes for prepared
piano [1_5].mp4
• John Cage's Prepared Piano w_ Stephen Drury.mp4
• John Cage playing amplified cacti and plant materials
with a feather.mp4
• Tim Ovens plays John Cage · Sonata X for Prepared
Piano.mp4

129. SUMMARY
•New musical styles created by the
20th century classical composers were
truly unique and innovative.
•Experimented with the elements of
rhythm, melody, harmony, tempo and
timbre in daring way never attempted
before

130. •Among the resulting new musical styles
were electronic music and chance music.
These expanded the concept of music far
beyond the conventions of earlier
periods, and challenged both the new
composers and the listening public.