Transcript document

Grade 12 Music History
Romantic Period
20th Century
Popular and Canadian Music
The Romantic Era 1820-1900
• Beethoven (1770-1827) was the last great master
of the Classic style and the first important
Romantic composer.
• period of national and colonial expansion, a time
of consolidating the ideas of freedom and
equality.
• Nationalism: composers included folk songs
from their own countries in their music.
The Romantic Aesthetic
• What is an aesthetic?
A philosophical theory or idea of what is aesthetically
valid at a given time and place: the clean lines, bare
surfaces, and sense of space that bespeak the machineage aesthetic. (from dictionary.com)
• Freedom: the artist should be able to say what he/she
wants; freedom from the strictures of previous styles and
disciplines. The first composer to work independently,
free of aristocractic patronage, was Beethoven.
• Individualism: Art/music is seen to be totally free
from the restrictions imposed by earlier ages and
traditions.
Romantic Aesthetic continued…
• Music as the Meeting Place of the Arts: Music was
regarded as the place where all of the arts met, where
ideas from literature and the visual arts found their most
effective expression. There was great interest in
composing music based on literary themes or settings of
poetry. (e.g. Beethoven’s 9th Symphony which was based
on a poem entitled “Ode to Joy”).
• Aesthetic Argument: Musicians in this period were
more involved in debating their positions on aesthetic
questions than ever before. They wanted to have their
opinion heard on where music should be headed.
Themes in the Romantic Period
• The Struggling Hero: a hero’s struggles against
impossible odds to meet a particular challenge.
• Faust: Faust is a medieval scientist who sells his soul to
achieve superhuman illumination, but is saved by his
love for Marguerite. (e.g. The Faust symphony of Liszt,
The Damnation of Faust by Berlioz and others to many
to mention).
• Nature: Romantics thought of nature as an idealized,
magical, and even divine world, the source of either
tranquility and peace or overwhelming demonic power.
(e.g. The Pastoral Symphony by Beethoven).
Romantic Themes continued…
• The Supernatural: artists enjoyed the effect of a shiver
of horror in the audience. (e.g. Carl Maria von Weber’s
opera Der Freischutz, whose midnight scene in the forest
features tolling bells, demonic manifestations, and magic
bullets; also Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain).
• The Exotic: Distant lands, faraway places, glamorous
and mysterious (e.g. the far east – used gongs and
Chinese scales to depict). They were not interested in
actually learning about another culture, they just wanted
ways to suggest other cultures in their music (e.g.
Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, which depicts the
magical world of the Arabian nights).
Romantic Themes continued…
• The Middle Ages: The Romantic artists glorified
the middle ages by suggesting beautiful damsels in
distress, brave and selfless knights, wise kings, and
demonic magicians. The legends of King Arthur and
his knights of the Round Table, the quest for the
Holy Grail, and other medieval tales were revived,
modified to fit Romantic specifications, and used
over and over as thematic material in the arts of the
nineteenth century (e.g. Wagner’s opera’s Tristan
Und Isolde, and Die Meistersinger). The quest in
the Romantic Period was for heroes larger than life,
a shiver of fear, a wrenching tragedy, or a feeling of
peace.
New Musical Developments in the
Romantic Period
• The Virtuoso Performer: A new type of virtuoso
performer emerged, whose displays of unheard of
technical ability appealed to worshipping audiences.
The first of these virtuoso’s was Franz Liszt who
turned his piano sideways so the audience could see
his hands and appreciate his noble profile. Another
was Paganini, a violinist who so astounded people
with his technical agility that some suspected him of
being in league with the devil. Due to this type of
performer, composers had to write music designed
more for technical display than for musical value
(e.g. from today: Classical: Yo Yo Ma; Rock
performers etc.)
• Developments in Instruments:
The Piano: was made heavier and sturdier. It was more capable of a
sustained, singing tone, and a wide range of dynamics. The piano was
widely used, for solos, home use, accompaniment etc.
• The Orchestra
The orchestra in the Romantic period was greatly expanded. Sometimes the
orchestra outnumbered the audience. The brass section became an
independent group, equal with the woodwinds and strings. The addition of
valves to the brass instruments made them much more agile and freed
them from the support role they often played in the Classical period. The
French horn was a particular favourite because of its heroic effect.
Trombone and tuba were added to the orchestra which helped to make
climaxes sound loud and exciting. The English horn, the bass clarinet and
the piccolo all joined the standard orchestra, and only occasionally
saxophones were used. The string section had to be greatly increased to
keep up with the expanded brass and woodwinds. The percussion section
was also expanded from the 2 or 3 timpani of the Classical period. The
Romantic orchestra added a bass drum, a snare drum, cymbals, and
castanests, chimes, gongs, and other exotic instruments for special effects.
Overall the orchestra expanded from 30-40 players in the Classical period,
to 70-80 in the Romantic period.
Romantic Forms
• Symphonies: Became twice as long as Romantic themes
tend to be longer, and the more dramatic section of the
symphonic form are greatly expanded. They tend to have
moody or dramatic introductions, development sections, and
long conclusions. Contains several movements.
• Concertos: (Soloist with orchestra) Longer than in Classical
period as time is needed for ample display of technique.
• New Forms: program symphonies: organized around a
literary theme; symphonic poem (tone poem): single
movement work based on a literary or pictorial idea;
overtures: incidental music for dramatic presentations;
songs: a single idea or mood is painted, simply and briefly in a
few pages of music.
Romantic Forms continued…
• Opera: Because opera is a combination of
music, drama, staging, and costume, it truly
represents the union of the arts so sought after
in Romantic thought. Characters became less
mythical and more representative of genuine
human passion. Romantic opera plots are filled
with mad scenes, unrequited love, murder,
infidelity, and tragic death (Biggest composers:
Verdi and Wagner).
Romantic Composer:
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky 1840-1893
• Born in Russia, did not start formal music training until he was 23.
• Matilda von Meck, a wealthy woman, decided to support him so he
would be free to compose. The relationship lasted 13 years; they
never met, but had lengthy correspondence. Tchaikovsky was also
married to a former student, although briefly and this ended in a
legal separation, which caused him great depression.
• He achieved great success in Russia and in America and participated
in the opening ceremonies for Carnegie Hall.
• At the age of 53, he travel to St.Petersburg to conduct his Sixth
symphony; while there he contracted cholera and died.
• Although his training was in the standard European traditions, he
also used folk themes or rhythms in his works (nationalism).
Tchaikovsky’s Works
• Tchaikovsky wrote symphonies (most famous: Sixth entitled:
Pathetique), 10 symphonic poems (most famous: Romeo and
Juliet), 8 operas (most famous: Eugene Onegin), ballet music
(Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker), piano
concertos, 200 songs, piano solos, and chamber groups.
Romeo and Juliet
• Romantic program music
• Symphonic poem (one movement orchestral work, based on a
literary theme)
• Themes: doomed love, conflict between families, tragic
feelings.
• Approximately 20 minutes long
20th Century Music 1900-2000
• Revolutions in the field of transportation and
communication have caused the globe to shrink, so
that developments in one country immediately
affect life in another. Changes take place so rapidly
that we find it easier to characterize separate
decades, rather than generalize about the entire
century.
• Technological Developments
automobile, the airplane, the computer, man walks
on the moon etc…century of war and violence.
Technology revolutionized the way man wages war
(bombing, nuclear war).
20th Century Aesthetic
Individual Fulfillment
• People in this century have been very concerned
with individual fulfillment and lifestyle.
• Choices with how to spend leisure time.
• Self help programs, fitness centres, special
interest groups.
20th Century Themes
• More likely to deal with the victim or the anti-hero
than with the hero
• Anger, confusion, technology, violence.
Characters
• The main character of a novel or film is more likely
to be neurotic than heroic
• Demons with which he struggles are his own fears,
or society rather than the dragons or evil wizards of
the Romantic ideal.
• Setting is more likely a decaying city than an exotic
wonderland.
20th Century Themes Continued
Vestiges of Romanticism
• Still some typical Romantic impulses (themes) in
20th century art, music etc. (e.g. Superman, Star
Wars). These themes are just not as popular.
The City Versus Nature
• importance of our remaining wilderness areas
• background for a story is more likely a city than an
exotic place (some exceptions of course e.g. “Lord of
the Rings”)
Other important issues…
Technology and the Arts
• new art media: film, photography and television
• new industries: the movie business, the recording
industry, the television industry
Fragmentation of the Audience
• Variety provides access but also splinters the audience
into a bewildering array of special interest groups.
People no longer watch the same things or listen to the
same music. The choices are so varied that it fragments
us.
20th Century continued…
Elitism
• the artist or composer no longer feels the need to appeal
to a wide segment of the population. There is an elitist
attitude that to produce a work of art that has a large
appeal is to fail one’s responsibility to art. It is now
possible to produce works of intellectual interest,
removed from the demands of the popular market.
Anti-Romanticism
• One characteristic common to all of the arts in the 20th
century is an attempt to move away from the premises of
Romanticism and to discover new ways of organizing,
structuring and judging artistic works. Constant change
and discovery are the rule.
20th Century Music
• 20th Century compositions are typically for
smaller groups (e.g. chamber groups)
• Percussion instruments come into prominence
• Jagged rhythm (more percussive performance,
less lyrically)
20th Century Techniques
• the piano: can reach inside instrument and pluck the
strings, or use fists and elbows to create “clusters” of
notes, or add materials to the strings (e.g. paper, clips)
so that the piano sounds like a percussion section
• violin: can be asked to bow in strange places (e.g. on the
bridge, below the bridge), use body of instrument as a
percussion instrument
• wind players: produce “multiphonics” (two sounds at
once), or percussive key clicks.
• Brass players: asked to speak through their instruments
• Also many instruments become electrified (guitar, violin,
piano)
20th Century Musical Style
• Melody: melodies are now marked by wide leaps, irregular
phrasing, and a conscious effort not to be stepwise and lyrical
• Rhythm: much more of a crucial element; jagged, staccato rhythm
patterns.
• Impressionism: dissonant chords do not lead to resolution, but
are used in series or “streams”. Some Impressionistic composers
also use scales other than the standard Western scales to escape
from their implied harmonic direction.
• Polytonality: two or more tonalities at once, defying the listener’s
ear to keep its sense of harmonic bearings in the traditional sense.
• Pan-diatonic System: no distinction between consonant or
dissonant notes. All notes are equally valid.
20th Century Musical Style continued…
• Atonality: the total absence of a tonal center.
Atonal music is liberated from any sense of
harmony. All notes are equally important; there are
no consonant or dissonant chords.
• Twelve-Tone or Serial Composition: developed
by Arnold Schoenberg; the fundamental principle is
that all twelve notes of the chromatic scale are equal
in importance; none takes the position of tonic or
dominant. The 12 notes are arranged in a series or
row selected by the composer and then appears
always in that order with no note repeated, so that
none takes precedence as a tonal centre
Structure
• Neoclassicism: This style revived the tight,
logical structures of the Baroque and Classic
periods, but in twentieth-century, usually pandiatonic harmonic idiom. Generally fun to
perform and they exploit the possibilities of
unusual combinations of instruments.
• Aleatoric or Chance music: some elements
of the musical structure are left up to the
performers. It restores to the performer a role in
the creative process.
20th Century Forms
• Old Forms: Some forms from the past have
persisted into the 20th century such as the
symphony, concerto (although now showing new
possibilities of instruments), opera (much
different themes: anti-heroes, psychological
drama, violence)
• New forms: Musical Theatre, Popular Music
(jazz, pop, rock, etc.).
20th Century Composer: Aaron Copland
• Best known American Composer of the century
(born in 1900)
• Done a lot to establish an “American” style of music
• Studied in Paris
• Best known works: Appalachian Spring, Rodeo,
Billy the Kid, A Lincoln Portrait. He also wrote
scores for several films in this period, most of which
were based on American literary classics: Of Mice
and Men, Our Town, The Red Pony.
• Unofficial spokesman of American composers and
used his widespread fame to educate American
audiences on 20th Century music.
Copland’s Music
• complex metres, syncopation, and ostinato
patterns
• bitonality (sounding of two different triads at the
same time)
• music is generally diatonic
• melodies contain wide intervals and large leaps
• uses hymn tunes, patriotic melodies, jazz or
ragtime rhythms
“Appalachian Spring”
• first performed in 1944
• Plot: concerns the celebration of a young
couple’s wedding and their moving into their
new home in Western Pennsylvania in the 19th
Century. It is a nostalgic look backwards at an
idealized time when pioneer virtues and
strengths were the guiding principles of people’s
lives.
• Melody has a “hoedown” feeling
Popular Music
Important Characteristics of Popular Music
• Popular music is performer’s music, not composer’s
music. In other words the important person in popular
music is the performer. In record stores, popular music
is listed by group or singer, not by composer like
classical music is.
• Popular music is created fresh and spontaneously each
time it is performed (improvisation), whereas classical
music is supposed to be performed exactly the way the
composer wrote it (composer control). In classical music,
each note is specified in the sheet music, whereas in
popular music one only receives the basic melody,
rhythm and chord patterns in the sheet music.
Other types of Music…
• Folk Music (Music of the People)
• Simple songs whose words tend to be more
important than their melodies. They have simple
accompaniment, usually just one or two acoustic
guitars.
• Traditional songs of an ethnic group that have been
handed down for generations in an oral manner
(passed on by ear, rather than written down).
• Generally performed by amateurs rather than by
professionals, and has a strong tribal or ethnic
significance
Other musics…
Art Musics of Other Cultures
• People of Western cultures often think that Western European music is
the only music that is worthy of study and admiration. However, other
cultures have music that is complex and beautiful, which is performed
by professional musicians.
Western Art Music
• Written and performed by professionals who have undergone long
periods of training to develop the required skill.
• Western art music is composer’s music. With our well-developed
notational system, composers are able to specify the notes that are to be
played, the rhythm, phrasing, tempos, and other elements.
Elements of Music
• Timbre-quality of the sound; tone colour;
Sample adjectives are raspy, clear.
• Melody- a series of individual notes heard as a coherent unit,
which have a specific rhythmic shape. Two identical series of
notes will sound completely different without the identical
rhythmic arrangement.
Some melodies are designed to be remembered and sung easily. These
melodies usually move by step.
• Rhythm-a general term for the way musical events are arranged in time.
METRE – The arrangement of pulses or beats into sets of 2,3,4 or
sometimes in larger sets of complex rhythm patterns. In 4/4 time, the
important accented pulses are on the first and third beat of each unit or
measure. In ¾ time, the major pulse is on the first beat in every set of three.
The waltz is an example of this type of metre
Elements of Music Continued
• TEMPO – how fast or slow a piece is to be played. This can be very
specific as in a metronome setting, or quite general as in popular
music.
• ie. tempo markings: Lento: very slow
Adagio: slow, or leisurely
Andante: Slow “walking”
Moderato: Moderately
Allegro: fast
Presto: very fast
• Dynamics- the volume level of music, and changes in that level. A
gradual increase in volume is called a crescendo, and a decrease is
called a decrescendo.
•
•
•
•
•
ppp: extremely soft
pp : pianissimo (very soft)
p: piano (soft)
mp: mezzo-piano (medium soft)
mf:mezzo-forte (medium loud)
f- forte
ff-fortissimo (very loud)
fff- extremely loud
<-crescendo
>-decrescendo
Underlying Elements of Music
• Texture – used to classify music on the basis of the way in which different
musical lines occurring at the same time relate to one another.
• MONOPHONIC- one unaccompanied line (e.g. medieval chants). A solo
voice or a group playing in unison (all playing the same thing) is a
monophonic line.
• HOMOPHONIC- a texture that has one prominent melody against which
all other voices play accompanying parts. Much popular music is
homophonic and this is evident in piano scores where the right hand plays
the melody and the left plays the chords.
• POLYPHONIC- a number of melodic voices. This texture predominates in
Baroque music and in most kinds of jazz, in which the soloists’
improvisations are nearly always accompanied not only by chords from the
rhythm section, but also by counter melodies from other soloists.
Polyphonic texture is readily apparent from a glance at the score: all of the
parts are playing melodic lines, and the chords or arpeggios of homophonic
style are nowhere to be seen.