Insert CD 6 and bring up Contents Insert CD 6 and bring up Contents. Click on Berg’s Wozzeck (CD 6, 1) and then minimize it. You will then be able to toggle (Alt+Tab) between the PowerPoint and the CD. If you have the Active Listening Guides loaded on the computer’s hard drive, you will be able to toggle between them and the PowerPoint lectures.

Expressionism and Primitivism Chapter 32 Expressionism and Primitivism Begins on page 280

Expressionism Morose, dark, and inward-looking Largely German/Austrian Artists Franz Marc Wassily Kandinsky Edvard Munch Writers Franz Kafka James Joyce Tennessee Williams Whereas Impressionism had favored light colors and causal scenes, Expressionism was dark and foreboding. Whereas Impressionism had been largely a French development, Expressionism was largely associated with Germany and Austria. Like Impressionism, Expressionism was an artistic viewpoint. It involved not only musicians, but also artists and writers. Joyce was Irish, and Williams was an American who wrote a number of highly success plays, including Tobacco Road. Kandinsky was friend of Arnold Schoenberg, who is discussed in Chapter 33.

Expressionism Composers Arnold Schoenberg Pierrot Lunaire Alban Berg Wozzeck The composers most associated with Expressionistic music are Schoenberg and Berg. In 1912 Schoenberg composed Pierrot Lunaire (Moonstruck Pierrot). It is a series of songs for eight instruments and singer, who is uses a speech-song style called sprechstimme. The texts of the songs have the negative messages are typical of Expressionism. Wozzeck is an opera by Berg, who was a student of Schoenberg. It is a masterpiece of Expressionistic music. Copyright © 2010 by Schirmer Cengage Learning Alban Berg

Berg: Wozzeck Characters Basic plot Wozzeck, incompetent and persecuted soldier Marie, his mistress who cheats on him Sadistic captain and demented doctor Basic plot Wozzeck stabs Marie in jealous rage for her unfaithfulness Driven by guilt and despair, he accidently drowns while looking for the knife Wozzeck is a lowly soldier who is tormented by his captain and a demented doctor. When his mistress, Marie, is unfaithful, he can stand it no longer. He murders her while they walk in the moonlight. When he returns to a tavern, people notice blood on him. He then returns to the scene of the murder to get rid of the knife. He tries to wash off the knife and himself, but ends of up drowning in the lake. The opera closes with Marie’s young child running off with his friends to see the body.

Berg: Wozzeck Three acts Exposition Development Catastrophe Five scenes for each act, each built on a technique of composing Act III: theme and variations Scene 2: variations on a single tone Act III, scene 2 of Wozzeck (CD 6, 4) is certainly not beautiful music. Rather, it is filled with hard-hitting drama, with music adding much to the impact of the action. In his opera Berg achieves a riveting musical drama. Teaching Tips: A very good video of Wozzeck is available. Seeing and hearing it is much more effective than just listening to the music. Also, it is good idea to have students read the libretto for Act III, Scene 2, which appears on page 282-283 of the text.

Primitivism Fascination with art and music of non-Western and non-literate societies Interest in African and Polynesian art For centuries people in Europe and America had considered non-Western artifacts to be barbaric, primitive, and unworthy of serious consideration. Several twentieth-century artists and musicians found in them a new and inspiring source of ideas.

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring Composed for ballet No longer “beautiful;” vibrant and exciting instead The first performance of The Rite of Spring (CD 2, 28) in 1913 in Paris almost caused a riot among the “beautiful” people who were in attendance. The dancers could scarcely hear the music over the noise and cat calls in the audience. The audience expected a traditional ballet with the ballerinas wearing tutus and dancing en pointe. Instead, they were treated to dissonant, barbaric-sounding music and dancers making angular, rough motions. Some of the audience felt insulted, while others were fascinated with the new work. Copyright © 2010 by Schirmer Cengage Learning

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring Musical features New timbres Mixed meters In The Rite of Spring (CD 2, 28) Stravinsky was meticulous about the timbres created by the instruments. He opens the work with the bassoon playing alone in its very high register. At other places he tells the French horns to turn their bells up to achieve a more raucous sound, at another he directs the cellos to retune a string, and at another he specifies which sticks the timpani player should use. Stravinsky exploited (in a good way) the possibilities of rhythm as no composer had done before. He freely mixes meters. Sometimes when the meter signature does not change, he indicates accents at irregular times. This extensive use of rhythm gives the music much of its primitive quality.

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring Musical features Short melodic ideas, repeated and slightly varied Dissonant harmonies Bitonality Stravinsky is fond of taking a short melodic idea and repeating it over and over, but seldom exactly. Instead, he makes slight changes with each appearance. In this way, the music is sort of the same and sort of different at the same time. At points in The Rite of Spring the harmonies are very dissonant. They are not always dissonant, however. Stravinsky is very skilled in knowing when to employ dissonance – and when not to. Some of the time dissonance is achieved by combining music with two tonal centers at the same time, or what is termed bitonality. The degree of dissonance that results from bitonality depends on how tonally distant the two keys are. At one point Stravinsky combines two keys so that all the notes in the chromatic scale are sounding at the same time. Teaching Tip: Play the themes in the Listening Guide on page 286 on the piano for the class. Play portions of the work, and then ask the students to describe what musical feature they heard in the section played. To many of them, The Rite of Spring will sound like a jumble of sounds. It takes several hearings before this work will begin to make sense to many of them.

Summary Expressionism Primitivism Berg: Wozzeck Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring Potential examination material Terms Expressionism Sprechstimme Primitivism Bitonal Information Features of Expressionism Features of Primitivism Nature of Stravinsky’s themes Features of Stravinsky’s use of rhythm Who Alban Berg was Who Igor Stravinsky was