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WESTERN MUSIC OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY (GENERAL SURVEY)

Music in the Modern World

Perhaps the single most dominant characteristic of 20th-century Western music is its variety and eclecticism and thus its resistance to easy categorization and generalized stylistic descriptions.

The music of the 20th century has developed along two general lines: 1) the expansion and final working out of trends established in the 19th century (Romanticism, Impressionism*), 2) the more or less novel practices distinctive of the 20th century, which are essentially anti-Romantic. Some of the more radical of these practices are often distinguished from the others by the designation of New Music. On the whole, the musical development during the first half of the cen­tury can be divided into three periods: Impressionism and post-Ro­manticism* (c. 1900-1915); experimentation along the lines of Expres­sionism,* Dynamism,* etc. (c. 1910-1925); and Neoclassicism* (c. 1920-present).

The second decade of the century, dominated by World War I, saw the most widespread and daring experimentation. Of basic im­portance was the activity of Schoenberg who, casting away the har­monic system and the formal methods of the past, arrived, about 1910, at a radically novel style, the most distinctive feature of which was atonality.* (To this he added, in 1923, his equally revolutionary method of composition, the twelve-tone technique.*) Simultaneously, new possibilities in rhythm were exploited, e.g. by Bartok in bis Allegro barbaro* (1911), inspired by the fanatical drum-beating of primitive African tribes, and by Stravinsky in the folkloristic ballet Petrushka (1911) and the primordial Rite of Spring (1913). The French writer, Cocteau,* aptly expressed the spirit of this period in the words, "After the music with the silk brush, the music with the axe." Provocative slogans such as bruitlsme (noise music), futurism,* motorism, and machine music appeared without leaving a lasting im­print on the future evolution. Experimentation in the field of tonal material led to quarter-tone* music. Aside from the above-mentioned leaders, composers such as Kodaly, Malipiero,* Casella,* Honegger, Milhaud,* and Berg contributed to the developments of the experi­mental period.

The neoclassical movement, which began in the early 1920's,

fostered a return to the aesthetic ideals and formal methods of the 17th and 18th centuries, recast in a modern musical language. Once more, Stravinsky took the lead with such compositions as the Octet for Wind Instruments (1923). Bartok and Hindemith, who were des­tined to become the major composers of the half century (along with Schoenberg and Stravinsky), began to receive international recognition. Hindemith was active in the development of Gebrauchsmusik* and also provided a useful theoretical explanation of the new harmonic and tonal concepts. Bartok represents another main development of the period since 1920: the assimilation and synthesis into a colorful and expressive musical language of most of the experimental techniques of the second decade. One other noteworthy feature of the period around 1920 is the impact of American jazz on serious music, resulting in such works as Stravinsky's Ragtime (1918), Hindemith's Suite (1922), and Krenek's jazz opera Johnny Spielt Auf (1926).*



The materialistic trend of our century is reflected particularly in the numerous attempts to expand the materials of music, often at the expense of (or without concern for) its spiritual and expressive values. Many new instruments (chiefly electrophonic instruments) have been invented, and even typewriters and motorcycle engines have been given musical status. Unusual coloristic effects on string and wind instruments have become common practice in modern scores, and the piano has been "prepared"* to produce new tonal effects. Recently, a school of French composers led by Pierre Boulez has been experimenting in what they call musique concrete (concrete music),* i.e. music which uses recordings of assorted sounds and noises rather than musical tones as its basic material. Other com­posers, notably Karlheinz Stockhausen, have used electric resonators to produce compositions recorded on tape.

The period following World War II saw the emergence of two widespread tendencies that seemed diametrically opposed: serial mu­sic,* which reflected a highly conscious and rational approach to composition, and aleatory music,* which reflected an essentially intu­itive one. The principal composers of serial music included Babbitt,* Stockhausen, and Boulez; the leaders of the aleatory movements were John Cage,* Morton Feldman,* and Earle Brown.* By the later 1950s, however, many composers came to see these two approaches as simply the extremes of a single continuum of virtually unlimited compositional possibilities. This attitude fostered a number of new developments: music conceived primarily in terms of texture and color* (Krzysztof Penderecki, Gyorgy Ligeti), music that reinterpreted earlier music through quotation and distortion (Luciano Berio,* Lukas Foss*), microtonal music* (Ben Johnston*), new approaches to music theater (Cage, Mauricio Kagel*), improvised music with audience participation (Frederic Rzewskl,* Cornelius Cardew*), etc.

Electro-acoustic music* has played an especially important role during the latter half of the century. Although the sources of this

music go back to the turn of the century, it flourished only after the tape recorder became generally available following World War II. Many recent compositional concerns, such as the widespread interest in timbral and acoustical effects and in mixed media,* are directly attributable to this medium. Indeed, the general explosion of technol­ogy in the 20th century, resulting in such critical inventions as the radio, phonograph, and computer, has had a profound impact on 20th-century music and musical attitudes.

Throughout the century, there has been a constant cross-fertiliza­tion between Western art music and popular music.* Indeed, the borderlines between contemporary idioms of jazz and rock* and certain types of recent concert music, such as that of the minimalist school* (Steve Reich, Philip Glass), often seem quite unclear. The music of other, often remote, cultures is also becoming increasingly influential on Western music. Another significant development has been the return in recent years to more traditional conceptions of tonality, melody, harmony, and form (George Rochberg*). Such references to earlier musical conventions have an unavoidable "quotational" quality when heard within today's musical context (especially since most composers tend to juxtapose them with post-tonal techniques)*. Nevertheless, at the present time one of the pervasive trends in composition appears to be away from more experimental and innovative approaches toward more traditional ones.

From: The Harvard Brief Dictionary of Music; The New Harvard Dictionary of Music


Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1117


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