Transcript File - Harris Ac Music

Harris Academy
Higher
th
20
Century Music
The Big Picture
In this Unit you will
 Learn about the history of 20th Century Music and about famous
composers of this time
 Learn about the different influences upon 20th Century Music
 Learn concepts relating to 20th Century Music and discuss the use of
such concepts by composers
 Complete a Composition activity based on a particular style of 20th
century music
By the end of this Unit you will;
 Be able to demonstrate an understanding of the history of 20th
Century Music and composers of this time
 Be able to identify and define key concepts within 20th Century Music
 Be able to identify and discuss the use of 20th Century concepts by
composers
 Be able to demonstrate understanding of the process of composition
in a 20th Century style of Music
Concepts
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Atonality
Col Legno
Cross Rhythms
Diminished 7th
Discord
Harmonics
Impressionism
Irregular Time
Jazz Funk
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Minimalism
Modal
Musique Concrete
Soul
Three against two
Time Changes
Whole Tone Scale
Polytonality
Composer Groups
Throughout this unit there will be tasks within each style that
require you to work in a composer group
These groups are named after composers within different
styles covered in this unit
You are required to organise yourselves into groups
Composer Groups
Claude Debussy
Maurice Ravel
Paul Dukas
Impressionism
What do you think of this painting?
Impressionism
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The Impressionist Movement occurred around the
beginning of the 20th Century and was first evident in
art
 Music at that time was highly influenced by art and so
it was not long before this style of painting was
reflected in music
Impressionism
 Look at the paintings in groups - What do you notice
about Impressionist paintings?
Knowing that Impressionist music was highly influenced by
art at that time, what do you think the music will sound
like?
Impressionism through the eyes of Monet
 Watch this clip and discuss with a partner
how Impressionist music relates to your
original thoughts on its sound
Did you expect it to sound like this?
Impressionism : Debussy
 A term borrowed from painting in which brief musical ideas merge
and change to create a rather blurred and vague outline
 Texture and timbre were also important features
 Composers often made use of whole tone and pentatonic scales,
parallel chords and unresolved discords
 Impressionist composers attempted to imitate in sound what artists
such as Monet and Degas did with paint, by giving a
musical impression of a scene or story
Impressionism : Debussy
 Claude Debussy was a French composer, born in 1862
 Claude Debussy is an important figure in the
Impressionist Movement
 At the age of 32, he wrote L'Apres Midi which is one of
the most famous impressionist pieces today
 He died at the age of 56 to a disease called “painful
malady”
Impressionism : Debussy
 Debussy – L’Apres Midi
 What technique does the harpist use in this excerpt?
 How would you describe the melody in this piece?
Whole Tone Scale
Whole Tone Scale - A scale containing no semitones but built entirely
on whole tones
Impressionist composers used whole-tone scales as a basis for their
music
Whole Tone Scale
Using the stave side of the white boards provided,
complete the following literacy questions
Whole Tone Scale
1. Transpose this whole tone scale up an octave
2. Transpose this whole tone scale down an octave
Whole Tone Scale
Question 1
Question 2
Impressionism : Debussy
 Claude Debussy wrote a lot of music for piano as well
as for orchestra
 Listen to this excerpt from a piece called Arabesque
No. 1
 How would you describe the rhythm of this piece?
Cross Rhythms
Cross Rhythms – Three against two is a type of cross rhythm but is also
used to describe the effect that occurs when the accents in a piece of
music are different from those suggested by the time signature
Listen to this excerpt, can you work out the time signature?
Three against two – One line of music may be playing quavers in groups
of two whilst at the same time another line of music will be playing
triplets.
Listen to this excerpt, can you hear the triplets?
Cross Rhythms
Split into two groups and clap the following
rhythms;
Group 1
Group 2
Irregular Time Signatures
Irregular metres are often used in 20th Century music as well as
rhythmically based ethnic music. Groupings of notes change, but the
underlying pulse remains the same.
Sometimes 20th Century composers try to destroy the feeling of a regular
down beat by changing the time signature frequently.
Listen to this piece by Debussy which has a time signature of
!
TimeChanges
Stravinsky – Rite of Spring
Mussorgsky – Pictures at an Exhibition, Promenade
Composer Groups
Throughout this unit there will be tasks within each style that
require you to work in a composer group
These groups are named after composers within different
styles covered in this unit
You are required to organise yourselves into groups
Composer Groups
Claude Debussy
Maurice Ravel
Paul Dukas
Impressionism
In your composer groups work through the listening
questions provided
Composer Groups
Philip Glass
Ludovico Einaudi
Steve Reich
Minimalism
 Music of this style is based on simple rhythmic and melodic
figures which are constantly repeated with very slight changes
each time
 Famous Minimalist composers include;
 John Adams, Philip Glass and Michael Nyman, Ludovico
Einaudi,
Atonality
 Atonal music has no feeling of key, major or minor and is very
dissonant and it will lack a 'nice' melody and accompaniment
 Atonality is a feature of a lot of 20th-century music including
Minimalism along with other styles
 Listen to the following excerpt by Anton Webern
What two techniques can you hear the players using
Discord and Cluster
Discord - A chord in which certain notes clash
Another concept relating to Discord is cluster which was often used by
20th Century Composers
Listen to the following excerpt, how would you describe the scale used
in this piece?
Cluster – A group of notes played on a keyboard instrument with the
palm of the hand or even with the forearm.
Listen to the excerpt
Cluster
 A term used to describe a group of notes, which clash, played
together
 Listen to this excerpt of a piece called ‘Night’ by Peter Sculthorpe
How would you describe the tonality of this piece?
Discord
A chord in which certain notes clash
Can you name the names of the notes which have
accidentals?
Minimalism
› Minimalism developed in the second half of the 20th
century
› Listen to the following piece by Ludovico Einaudi and
compare with this piece by Philip Glass
How would you describe the rhythmic and melodic features
of minimalistic pieces?
Minimalism
› Listen again to the pieces by Einaudi and Reich and
complete the Grid in your composer groups
› Use your concept grids to help you
Minimalism
› Watch this video which gives greater insight to minimalism
and Steve Reich’s approaches to composition
Minimalism:
Composition Activity
John Adams: The Chairman Danes
This piece is part of an Opera written by John Adams which is based
upon President Nixon (Nixon in China)
It is structured by layering different rhythms and harmonies on top of
each other – there is no melody line!
Watch this clip to hear what it sounds like
Minimalism: Composition Activity
 You are to work in a group of three or four to
create a rhythmic composition based upon the words
from the famous Resignation speech given by
President Nixon.
 Choose three different phrases/sentences and
compose a separate rhythm for each one.
 Then build up your composition by repeating the
rhythms and layering them upon each other
Musique Concrete
This technique is often found in 20th Century Music and involves
the use of recorded natural sounds which are transformed using
simple editing techniques such as cutting and re-assembling,
playing backwards, slowing down and speeding up.
Listen to this example in this piece by a composer Pierre Schaeffer
Composer Groups
In your composer groups create a set of revision questions for your peers to complete
which cover all of the concepts you have learned so far.
Include a listening question for one the concepts in your list (use an audio example)
Glass Group;
Reich Group;
Impressionism
Irregular Time
Minimalism
Cross Rhythms
Three against Two
Whole Tone Scale
Time Changes
Einaudi Group;
Diminution
Augmentation
Atonality
Discord
Modal
 This is a concept which is used to describe music which is
based on a mode (a type of scale) – listen to this example
 Modes were created before there were major and minor
keys however they are now used in Jazz and other styles of
music to base improvisations upon
Listen to the following example of a piece based upon a
mode
How would you describe the tempo of this piece? – simple or
compound time?
Polytonality
 This is a concept which refers to the use of two or more
keys which are played at the same time
 This was used by a number of 20th Century Composers
Listen to this example by a composer called Gustav Holst.
How would you describe the rhythmic features of this excerpt?
Harmonics
 Harmonics are high and eerie sounds produced on a string
instrument. – listen to the example
 They are played by lightly touching the string at certain
points.
Listen to this excerpt, how would you describe the tonality
of this piece?