1. The Twentieth Century

2. Twentieth Century Music
The Common Practice Period is now over.
Composers (and listeners) must now find something other than key to organize their music.
The “Organization of Sound in Time”

3. Musical style of the Twentieth Century.
Harmony - much more dissonant, now that we have left Common Practice
Melody - angular, disjunct, harder to discern - maybe not primary importance

4. Musical style of the Twentieth Century.
Duration - rhythm is the feature that has been the most changed by 20th century music
Dynamics - volume changes are sometimes the only constant in the form!
Timbre - many new sounds are created. Most notably: traditional instruments used in non-traditional ways

5. Musical style of the Twentieth Century.
Form - very often, the forms in use during the 20th century mirror those of earlier times. However, new forms are also being created.

6. Expressionism
Vasily Kandinsky, Blue Mountain

7. Expressionism German movement
Subjective look at an individual’s internal struggles and strife
Also started in painting
Explored bold colors, harsh dissonances, abstract (form without content) images

8. Expressionism Musical similarities
Explored bold colors, harsh dissonances - harsher instrumental combinations, very weak sense of tonality - sometimes “atonal” (absence of tonality). Very abrupt harmonies and melodies.

9. Arnold Schoenberg
Following the German tradition of weakening harmony, polyphonic texture.
Weakened tonality by creating the 12-tone Serialism method of composition.
He and his followers are called the “Second Viennese School”.

10. Serialism 12-tone music (dodecaphonic serialism)
More rational control of the finished product
All 12 pitches are used once, no repeats, no omissions.
All 12-tone music is atonal, but not all atonal music is 12-tone.

11. 180 Farben by Gerhard Richter

12. 180 Farben by Gerhard Richter
27 June 2001 Sotheby's London Contemporary Art - Part I, Lot 25
Estimate:  £ 600,000 - 800,000 US$ 825,082 - 1,100,110 Sold: £ 1,818,500 US$2,572,864

13. 4096 Farben by Gerhard Richter

14. 4096 Farben by Gerhard Richter
11 May 2004 Christie's New York Post-War and Contemporary Art
Estimate: US$ 3,000,000  - 4,000,000 Sold ( Premium): US$ 3,703,500

15. Commerical vs Art Music
Split that occurs for the first time in the 20th century
Commercial music - music created primarily with profit as its driving force.
Art music - music that is not created primarily for profit.

16. Modern vs traditional Modern - serial, atonal, musique concrete, etc.
Traditional - Neoclassical. Composers follow forms from previous periods. Sonata allegro form, sonata cycle, fugue, etc.

17. Tonal vs atonal
Some 20th century art music is still written with a heavy emphasis and awareness of key. Key relationships are still built and explored.
NOT ALL 20th CENTURY MUSIC IS ATONAL!!

18. More control vs less control
More rational control over the final composition. Serialism - the pitches are already determined before the composition is started.
Less rational control - Indeterminacy. The work is different with each performance.

19. Indeterminacy Something about the work is left to chance
Aleatoric music “Alea” means “roll of the dice”
“In C” by Terry Riley
Unanswered Question by Charles Ives

20. John Cage ( )
4’33”