EXPRESSIONISM
EXPRESSIONISM
The term “Expressionism was probably first
applied to music in 1918 especially to Arnold
Schoenberg.
The emotions of the music are taken to the
extreme, leading to disturbing, unsettling and
sometimes violent.
Lacking stable and conventional harmonies
He was born in Vienna, Austria
He taught himself music
theory, he was influenced by
Richard Wagner.
His works include: Pelleas und
Melisande, Three Pieces of
Piano, Verklarte Natch
He composed approximately
213 musical compositions
including concerti, orchestral
music and other instrumental
music.
He died on July 13, 1951 in Los
Angeles, California, USA where he
had settled since 1934.
Schoenberg is credited with the
establishment of the twelve-tone
system. His works include the
following:
• Verklarte Nacht, Three Pieces for
Piano, op. 11
• Pierrot Lunaire
• Gurreleider
• Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night, 1899),
one of his earliest successful pieces, blends the
lyricism, instrumentation, and melodic beauty of
Brahms with the chromaticism and construction
of Wagner.
One of the greatest trendsetter of the
20th century
He was born in Oranienbaum
(Lomonosov), Russia
He was influenced by his teacher,
composer Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov
His first successful masterpiece, The
Firebird Suite (1910)
Other outstanding works include the
ballets Petrouchka, featuring shifting
rhythms and polytonality, a signature
device of the compose; The Rite of
Spring (1913)
Stravinsky adapted the forms of the 18th
century with his contemporary style of writing.
Despite its “shocking” modernity, his music is
also very structured, precise, controlled, full of
artifice, and theatricality. Other outstanding
works include the ballet Petrouchka (1911),
featuring shifting rhythms and polytonality, a
signature device of the composer. The Rake’s
Progress (1951), a full-length opera, alludes
heavily to the Baroque and Classical styles of
Bach and Mozart through the use of the
harpsichord, small orchestra, solo and
ensemble numbers with recitatives stringing
together the different songs. Stravinsky’s
musical output approximates 127 works,
including concerti, orchestral music,
instrumental music, operas, ballets, solo vocal,
and choral music. He died in New York City on
April 6, 1971.
Characteristics of Expressionism music
The Expressionist movement is considered to have emerged from
the background of Impressionism towards the very end of the
20th Century.
It carries forward into one of the most troubled decades the world
ever saw with the start of the First World War in 1914.
Unrest, disputes, and social change dominated the Western World
at this time and this drove the composers of the expressionist
school.
Their music is not warmly romantic but dissonant, angular, and
often as hard to hear as the time in which it was composed.
The 20th Century Performance
From Formal Performances to Informal Performances
– before the 20th century performances are really costly. Public
performances such as the ORCHESTRA and OPERA would need a lot of space and
performers. The audience just tend or asked to keep quite during the duration of the
performance. While during the 20th century composers started to arrange
performances, which would only allow a handful of artists to perform on a portable
stage or make shift stage. The performers and the artist now have the opportunity to
interact with each which involves both in in the production.
Pierrot Lunaire and Histoire du Soldat
– are just some of those great musical compositions that would represent
the 20th century performance. Pierrot Lunaire is composed by Arnold Schoenberg
and Histoire du Solat is composed by Igor Stravinsky.
The 20th Century Performance
New set of Talents
– Music Performance during the 20th century opened up itself
to acquiring new set of artists with different crafts. Singers, Dancers,
instrumentalist, stage manager, stage decorators, and narrators are
hired and would heavily involve in the creative act.
The Audience of 20th Century
- Audiences has now the ability interact with the performers
and choose different type of performance to attend. Music has become
very accessible to people from the wealthiest to the poorest.
