Musical Neoclassicism – History of Contemporary Music

Cristan Felipe Manco Osorio

Origin of Neoclassicism
During the era of Romanticism, trends emerged that overflowed the limits of the
traditional harmony until reaching atonality with the help of Arnold Schoenberg. The
musical neoclassicism originated mainly as a reaction to those trends
musicals from the early 20th century. One of the most notable milestones that defines a
The beginning of neoclassicism in 1920 is marked by Igor Stravinsky's work Pulcinella.
most representative composer of the style alongside Paul Hindemith (Stewart, 2016).

Neoclassicism, at first, implies a regression to the preceding styles of the period.

musical classic of the 18th century with its main references: Mozart, Haydn or Beethoven in their
first stages, however, this name is not the most appropriate because, many
composers also modeled their style according to the baroque period or even according to
Romanticism. This style considered that music should be objective and clear, unlike
what the romantic style proposed, which was of a more sentimental and emotional nature, that
used sumptuous textures, which were complicated and their orchestras were gigantic. So it
what neoclassicism intended was to return to conventional tonal music, reviving the
musical forms from previous eras, using smaller ensembles and more textures
soft (Stewart, 2016; Walsh, n.d.).

Musical characteristics
The following are characteristics of this period (Magnuson, 2009):
It is tonal and its forms (phrasing, thematic developments, structure) are taken from the
mainly the styles of the Baroque and Classical periods.
It is an objective music, it avoids having sentimental character.
Moderate orchestra formats.
It is more diatonic than chromatic.
The counterpoint is clear and transparent, without complicated artifices.
It makes use of tonal shifts.
It makes use of unexpected shifts in rhythmic accents.

Main composers
France

Erik Sate

He was born in Honfleur on May 17, 1866, and died in Paris on July 1, 1925.
French composer and pianist; studied at the Paris conservatory under the tutelage of
Vincent d'Indy. Among his major influences are Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy.
Some of his notable works are: Mercure (Picasso, Massine), plastic poses; Relâche,
music for the ballet by Jean Börlin, Picabia and R. Clair and the Swedish Ballets (with des
Sequences for the film Entr'acte) and Entertainment The Found Statue, organ and trumpet.

Arthur Honegger

He was born in Le Havre on March 10, 1892, and died in Paris on November 27, 1955. He was
a Swiss composer who lived most of his life in Paris being a member of Les
Six. He studied at the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris where he was a student of
Charles-Marie Widor and Vincent d'Indy. The main elements of Honegger's style
Bach counterpoint, melodic amplitude, an impressionistic use of sonorities
orchestral. Among some of the notable compositions are: Danse de la chèvre,
Chamber concert for flute, English horn, and strings, Fourth Symphony in A (Deliciae
(Basel) and his Fifth Symphony in D (Of three kings).

Francis Poulenc

He was born in Paris on January 7, 1899, and died in Paris on January 30, 1963. He was part of
from the group 'Les Six', their compositions include melodies, piano solos, music from
camera, coral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. He was a student of
Charles Koechlin. Regarding his style, he said: "my work is a juxtaposition of the profane with
the sacred.

His most famous works are: Trois mouvements perpétuels (1919), the ballet Les biches
(1923), the Concert champêtre (1928) for harpsichord and orchestra, the Concerto for organ,
trembling strings (1938), the opera Dialogues of the Carmelites (1957), and Gloria (1959) for
soprano, choir, and orchestra.

Darius Milhaud

He was born in Marseille on September 4, 1892, and died in Geneva on June 22, 1974.
He studied at the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris as a student of André.
Gedalge, Charles-Marie Widor, and Paul Dukas; Their compositions are influenced by the
jazz and Brazilian music (especially by the Brazilian composer Ernesto Nazareth) and
they make extensive use of polytonality. Milhaud is considered one of the
key modernist composers. Among their most well-known works are: Suite d'après
run, Esther from Carpentras, Op.89 (1925–1926 premiered in 1937); The poor sailor,
Op.92 (1926), a 'complaint' in three acts; three Opera-minutes from 1927 (The abduction
of Europe, Op.94.

Germany

Paul Hindemith
He was born in Hanau on November 16, 1895, and died in Frankfurt am Main on the 28th.
December 1963; he was a composer, violinist, violist, and musicologist. He studied at the
Frankfurt Conservatory violin with Adolf Rebner, and conducting, harmony and
composition with Bernhard Sekles and Arnold Mendelssohn. Hindemith began to compose
under the academic influence of Johannes Brahms and Max Reger, but his early works
they still show influence of post-romanticism, with some impressionism.
Hindemith's neoclassicism must be understood in a broad sense, open to the whole
music of the past, especially medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music; in fact,
Johann Sebastian Bach will be the most important reference for Hindemith's creations.
From this moment. Among his most important works in his neoclassicism period
they are: Cardillac (1926), a tragic story set in 17th century Paris, or News
of the day (1930) and one of his most well-known works Mathis der Maler ('Mathis the Painter').

Carl Orff

He was born in Munich on July 10, 1895, and died on March 29, 1982. He studied at
University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and at Witelsbacher Gymnasium Munich.
Orff formulated the concept he called elemental music, which was based on the unity of the
arts symbolized by the ancient Greek muses, and involved tone, dance, poetry,
the image, the design, and the theatrical gesture. Like many other composers of the time, he was
influenced by the Russian-French emigrant Igor Stravinsky, as well as by the composer
French impressionist Claude Debussy, which is why he tended to use colorful combinations and
unusual instruments in its orchestration. Among its notable works are: Entrata
for orchestra, Music for Children, Triumphant, Fairy Tale Pieces.

Russia

Igor Stravinsky

Born in Oranienbaum, Russia, 1882 and dies in New York, 1971. One of the musicians most
important and significant of the 20th century and one of the initiators of neoclassicism, the
the first time this term was associated with Stravinsky was in 1923 (from Schloezer,
1923). He was a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov in his birthplace St. Petersburg,
Stravinsky inherited the style of the Russian nationalist group, known as 'the Five' (Kuchka) or
The Mighty Handful and the ballets he wrote for Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes
before and during World War I. The Firebird, Petrushka, The Rite of Spring and
The Weddings, his post-Kuchka works, based on folk tales or popular rituals, that use
popular music or poetry, and largely ignore the orthodox procedures of the
traditional classical music (Walsh, n.d.). Stravinsky's use of motivic development included
an additive development, where the notes are subtracted or added to a motive without having to
count the consequent changes in the rhythm.

Some of Stravinsky's most important works in neoclassicism include the Octet.

(1923), the Piano Concerto and the Winds (1924), the Serenade in A (1925), and the Symphony of
the Psalms (1930). In 1951, he completed his last neoclassical work, the opera The Rake's
Progress.

Sergei Prokofiev
 He was born in Sóntsovka on April 23, 1891, and died in Moscow on March 5, 1953. He was
a composer, pianist, and conductor. He studied at the Conservatory of San
Saint Petersburg; pupil of Reinhold Glière, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Nikolai Cherepnin. The
Symphony No. 1 by Sergei Prokofiev (1917) is sometimes cited as a precursor of
neoclassicism (Whitall, 1980). Prokofiev himself thought that his composition was a 'phase
passenger", while the neoclassicism of Stravinsky became in 1920 "
basic line of her music" (Prokofiev, 1991). Among some of her most important works
se encuentran: “Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat Major, Op. 10”, “Romeo and Juliet”,“Peter
and the Wolf” and “Alexander Nevsky.

Dmitri Shostakovich

He was born in St. Petersburg on September 25, 1906, and died in Moscow on August 9,
1975. He was a Soviet composer and pianist, one of the most important musicians of the century.
XX. He studied at the conservatory of Saint Petersburg (1919-1925), in addition to carrying a
PhD title in music history. Shostakovich's music shows the
influence of several of the composers he admired: Bach in his fugues and his
passacaglias; Beethoven in his last quartets; Mahler in his symphonies and Berg in the use
of musical codes and quotes. Shostakovich's compositions are widely
tonalities within the romantic tradition, but with elements of atonality, polytonality
and chromaticism. The composer was also strongly influenced by the neoclassical style.
initiated by Igor Stravinsky, and (especially in his symphonies) by late Romanticism
by Gustav Mahler. Shostakovich's fifth symphony exhibits some elements of style
neoclassical, although it is not strictly a neoclassical piece (Jones, n.d.). In addition to this
symphony Shostakovich wrote a total of 15 symphonies, symphony No. 1-15 which form the core
from the Shostakovich work.

Spain
Manuel de la Falla

Spanish composer born in Cádiz, Spain on November 23, 1876 and died in Alta
Gracia, Argentina, November 14, 1946, studied at the Royal Superior Conservatory.
Music from Madrid, pupil of José Tragó and Felipe Pedrell who influenced him through flamenco
and the deep song.
In the works 'The Puppet Show of Master Peter' and the concerto for harpsichord and chamber orchestra
from 1926 is possibly where neoclassicism is perceived most clearly in style
by Igor Stravinsky.

Bibliography
The Music
Jones, E. (n.d.). Neoclassicism. Retrieved March 16, 2019, from
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Magnuson, P. (2009). SOUND PATTERNS: Chapter 43. Neo-classicism. Retrieved March 16,
2019, from
http://academic.udayton.edu/phillipmagnuson/soundpaterns/microcosms/neoclassicis
m.html
Prokofiev, S. (1991). Soviet Diary 1927 and Other Writings (1st Edition). London Faber & Faber.

Stewart, J. (2016). Timeline: Neoclassicism. Retrieved March 16, 2019, from

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Walsh, S. (n.d.). Stravinsky and Neoclassicism. Retrieved March 16, 2019, from
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