Listening Examples – 20th Century Art Music
It is near impossible to find an example of a musical piece that fits clearly into one musical genre. There are, however, certain characteristics in a piece of music that allow it to be classisfied within a category. Very often, a piece will fit into several categories and it is important to remember that we are categorising a piece of music, NOT the composer.
The examples below are meant only as a guide and a platform for more discussion with your teacher/students regarding the classification into that genre. They are not in any particular order.
Genre | Description | Song | Artist | Listen Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Modernism |
– Generally understood to represent ‘innovative’ music between 1890 and 1930. – Some argue that it is not a genre of its own, as it was a period of exploring new ways in which to organise harmony, melody and rhythm. – Rejects traditional forms and traditions – Opposes commercial and popular art – Focused on innovation – Some late-romantic, atonal, expressionist, nationalist and even Jazz pieces have been described as modernist. |
The Rite of Spring |
Igor Stravinsky |
|
The Devine Poem |
Alexander Scriabin |
|||
Pelleas et Milisande |
Claude Debussy |
|||
Pierrot Lunaire |
Arnold Schoenberg |
|||
Wozzeck |
Alban Berg |
|||
Nationalism
|
– Use of musical ideas or motifs that are identified with a specific country, region, or ethnicity – References to folk songs, melodies, harmonies and rhythms – Use of folklore as a basis for programmatic works – Countries or regions most commonly linked to musical nationalism include Russia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Scandinavia, Spain, UK, Latin America and the United States |
Ma vlast (My Fatherland) |
Bedrich Smetana (Czechoslovakia) |
|
Finlandia |
Jean Sibelius (Finland) |
|||
Iberia |
Isaac Albeniz (Spain) |
|||
Pomp and Circumstance March No.1 |
Edward Elgar (United Kingdom) |
|||
Lincoln Portrait |
Aaron Copland (United States) |
|||
Microtonal Music |
– Rather than the octave being divided into twelve equal pitches (12 Tone Equal Temperament), composers experiment with dividing the octave into 24 equal pitches per octave and other smaller divisions – or no divisions at all – Often requires prior manipulation of the instruments used to perform, or sometimes even a purpose-built instrument for the composition – The development of performance technologies (the synthesizer in particular) has encourages experimentation in microtonality |
String Quartet No.2 |
Alois Haba |
|
Prelude and Fugue |
Ivan Wyschnegradsky |
|||
Studie II |
Karlheinz Stockhausen |
|||
Suite in 15-Note Equal Tuning, Op. 33 |
Easley Blackwood |
|||
The Well Tuned Piano |
La Monte Young |
|||
Neoclassicism |
– Revived the balanced forms and clear thematic processes of earlier styles. – Was a reaction against the seemingly formless music of late Romanticism. – Less expressive and more restrained than romanticism of the same period |
Symphonies Of Wind Instruments |
Igor Stravinsky |
|
Persephone |
Igor Stravinsky |
|||
Kammermusik |
Paul Hindemith |
|||
Wozzeck |
Alban Berg |
|||
Three Orchestral Pieces |
Alban Berg |
|||
Aleotoric (Chance) Music |
– Composers were interested in composing works with unpredictable outcomes – Elements of the composition are left to chance, or often, left to the performer – Dice, cards or any number of different methods can be used to determine anything from pitch, duration, dynamics and expressive techniques, texture, tone colour and structure. – Graphic notation was often used |
Klavierstuck XI |
Karlheinz Stockhausen |
|
Music of Changes |
John Cage |
|||
December 1952 |
Earl Brown |
|||
In C |
Terry Riley |
|||
Erratum Musical |
Marcel Duchamp |
|||
Minimalism |
– Often used consonant harmony – Steady pulse through repetition – Gradual changes of musical material over time – ‘Phase shifting’ was a common compositional tool – Can have a hypnotic effect on the listener – Usually tonal |
Come Out |
Steve Reich |
|
Piano Phase |
Steve Reich |
|||
Music In Contrary Motion |
Philip Glass |
|||
In C |
Terry Riley |
|||
Short Ride in a Fast Machine |
John Adams |
|||
Impressionism |
– Uses tonality, tone colours and dynamics to evoke a mood or scene – Choice of scales and chords for harmony are important – Unusual tone colours are often created – Generally has a theme of beauty or a calming mood |
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun |
Claude Debussy |
|
Gaspard de la Nuit |
Maurice Ravel |
|||
The Sunken Cathedral |
Claude Debussy |
|||
The Pines of Rome |
Ottorino Respighi |
|||
Summer Night On The River |
Frederick Delius |
|||
Expressionism |
– Composers explored inner feelings, rather than outward appearances – Tension was a focus, created by sudden distortions or dynamic changes – Dissonance and fragmentation in melody – Unusual instrumental effects and extreme registers were often explored – Themes were often of war, madness, bloodshed and death, as many composers of this style were anti- World War I |
A Survivor From Warsaw |
Arnold Schoenberg |
|
Five Pieces For Orchestra Op. 10 |
Anton Webern |
|||
Three Piano Pieces (Bewegt No.3) |
Arnold Schoenberg |
|||
Five Pieces For Orchestra Op. 16 |
Arnold Schoenberg |
|||
Wozzeck |
Alban Berg |
|||
Serialism & Twelve-tone |
– At its most basic, this style uses all twelve notes of the chromatic scale in a pre-determined row or ‘series’. This tone row creates a unifying basis for the piece to be composed around. – There are many variations of this style and each composer might have their own particular processes – Usually sounds atonal, due to each of the twelve notes having equal presence within the piece |
Piece For Piano Op. 33 |
Arnold Schoenberg |
|
String Trio |
Anton Webern |
|||
Variations For Orchestra |
Arnold Schoenberg |
|||
Lyric Suite |
Alban Berg |
|||
String Quartet Op. 28 |
Anton Webern |
|||
Musique Concrete |
– Sounds are produced by electronic instruments. In it’s beginnings, Musique Concrete was created by the editing, then playback and layering of tape recordings – Electronic instruments are sometimes combined with more conventional instruments – Melody, harmony and rhythm are generally not structured in the same way as traditional music, due to the nature of the source material – Often included use of tape delay, phase shifting, looping and stretching the tape |
Etude Aux Chemins De Fer |
Pierre Schaeffer |
|
Hymnen |
Karlheinz Stockhausen |
|||
Deserts |
Edgard Varese |
|||
Williams Mix |
John Cage |
|||
Kontakt (Contact) |
Karlheinz Stockhausen |
|||
Music for the Gift |
Terry Riley |