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VII. THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
MUSICAL STYLES: 1900-1945
Objectives
This section contains a survey of the principal technical developments in music during the first half of the
century. After a brief discussion of parallel changes in the arts and sciences of the early twentieth century,
the influences of folk and popular music, music from the past, and nonwestern music are traced. Asian
and African music, and European art music from the Middle Ages through the nineteenth century are
traced. The main body of the section considers the principal parameters of music—tone color, harmony,
tonality, rhythm, and melody—in relation to the music of earlier periods. Among the topics considered
are the prominence of the percussion section in twentieth-century music, new ways of playing
conventional instruments, polychords, fourth chords, tone clusters, polytonality, bitonality, atonality, and
polyrhythms. Reference is made to a wide variety of music.
Suggestions
1. A brief discussion of the radical changes that took place in the first half of the twentieth
century is in order. You may wish to create a list with students of all the societal, cultural, and economical
changes that took place in order to highlight the monumental shift into the modern age. In setting this
broader context, students should be able to appreciate that changes in music are no more radical than
those in other areas.
2. In discussing the general characteristics of the period, consider other aspects of our society
such as literature, costume, manners and mores, and art. These illustrations and artists should prove
helpful in relating music to the other arts:
• Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944). Kandinsky was a leading member of the second major
group of expressionist artists to arise in Germany, Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). It has
been suggested that the four panels Kandinsky designed in 1914 for an American collector’s
dining room represent the four seasons (Nos. 1 & 3; renamed Panels for Edwin R. Campbell).
Since Kandinsky never identified the works as such, however, it would be more important to
emphasize his aim of charging form and color with a purely spiritual meaning by eliminating
all resemblance to the physical world in his works. Rose-Carol Washton Long (Kandinsky:
the Development of an Abstract Style) suggests that Kandinsky at that time was attempting to
communicate cosmic concepts through line, color, and hidden imagery.
• Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938). Informal leader of a group of expressionist artists
known as Die Brücke (The Bridge), Kirchner revolted against traditional academic standards
and sought to establish a new unity of nature and emotion. In Street Scene, Berlin (1913)
Kirchner uses distortion of form, color, and shape to symbolize our unhappily anonymous
existence.
• Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000). Lawrence is best known for his paintings in series, such as
Tousssaint L’Ouverture (1937-38), Frederick Douglass (1938-39), Harriet Tubman (1939-
40), Migration (1940-41), John Brown (1941-42), Harlem (1942-43), War (1947), Struggle
(1955-56). “In the North the African American had more educational opportunities” is the
58th panel in his Migration series of 60 paintings.
• Henri Matisse (1869-1954). Often regarded as the most important French painter of the
20th century, his career was long and varied, covering many different styles of painting from
Impressionism to near Abstraction. Early in his career Matisse was viewed as a Fauvist, and
his celebration of bright colors reached its peak in 1917 when he began to spend time on the
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French Riviera at Nice and Venice.
• Claude Monet (1840-1926). The Impressionists were interested in capturing the effect of
light and atmospheric conditions on their subjects.
• Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). The American Heritage Dictionary defines cubism as “an
early twentieth-century school of painting and sculpture in which the subject matter is
portrayed by geometric forms without realistic detail.” The objects may be presented as if
seen from different angles in the same painting. The earlier phase, Analytic Cubism, is
marked by objects fragmented into abstract geometrical forms in an exploration of three-
dimensional space. A later phase, Synthetic cubism, marked a return to brighter colors in
which flat shapes of color formed objects. Picasso’s Violin and Grapes (1912) is an example
of the transition from Analytic to Synthetic Cubism. It contains trompe l’oeil aspects of
simulated wooden wallpaper. Picasso’s Girl Before a Mirror (1932) is considered one of his
finest canvases, and was inspired by one of his romantic liaisons. The surrealistic qualities of
deformation and fanciful imagery come through effectively with the brilliant colors in the
reproduction. Consider also his Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.
3. The text refers to many musical examples with the great variety of topics discussed. Though all
the material will be elaborated on later, you may wish to treat some topics in detail now. You may want to
create a comparison listening exercise playing excerpts from various pieces to the students. You can
create a chart that features different “style” columns so students can contrast the styles presented in this
introduction to the twentieth century (include impressionist, expressionist, and neoclassical works as well
as earlier periods). Integrate concepts presented in this section, if possible, in choosing these examples. A
few moments from Stravinsky’s Les Noces, for example, can demonstrate the importance of the
percussion section, Milhaud’s The Creation of the World can serve as a quick introduction to the use of
jazz in the art music of Europe, and Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony can very quickly demonstrate the
revival of an old style to serve contemporary interests. Name the composers and titles in the hope the
students will wish to hear more of the selections chosen.
4. If time permits, you may wish to contrast Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the Pergolesi work that
inspired it. Whether the Pergolesi Trio Sonata is spurious or not should have no relevance to Stravinsky’s
treatment of the material.
Questions and Topics
1. Discuss some developments in science and the visual arts that paralleled the rise of the new
music.
2. Discuss the influence of jazz on twentieth-century music.
3. Discuss new harmonic devices and approaches to tonality in the twentieth century.
4. Discuss some new rhythmic procedures of twentieth-century music.
5. Discuss the new attitudes toward dissonance that arose during the twentieth century.
6. The Paris International Exhibition of 1889 and its influence on music.
7. Music for percussion ensemble in the twentieth century.
8. The rise of ethnomusicology as a discipline, and its influence on twentieth-century music.
MUSIC AND MUSICIANS IN SOCIETY
Objectives
This section discusses the impact of radio, television, and recordings on the listening habits of the public.
Also mentioned are the various institutions that have commissioned new music: ballet and opera
companies, foundations, orchestras, performers, film studios, and wealthy music lovers. Several of the
most noted women among American composers are mentioned, as are prominent African American
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composers. The text also describes the emigration of many famous composers to the United States
because of World War II, the widespread dissemination of American jazz and popular music, and the role
of universities in nourishing new music.
Suggestions
1. Discuss the position of CDs, LPs, videos, and mp3s in the current musical scene, and how they
have changed traditional habits of concertgoers (remember when students carried pocket scores to
concerts?). Discuss the great opportunities for education: could a course such as this be taught without
recordings? We often forget the pre-LP period, when there were three or four Haydn symphonies, the
same for Mozart, and virtually nothing before Bach.
2. To get the students involved and aware of contemporary music in their own area, ask students
to compile statistics and determine percentages. Help them locate concert offerings, especially if they are
not familiar with the usual sources for concert listings.
3. Consider playing the final section of The Rite of Spring to see if the shock value of this music
has diminished over the last ninety years. Ask your students if they have heard examples of twentieth-
century music at a live concert. How many of them own recordings of serious music from this century?
Can any of them recall being impressed, or perhaps angered, by a film score? How many of them have
been impressed by the modernistic sounds often found in the background of television thrillers? Or
noticed the use of a Johann Strauss waltz as background for the modernistic film 2001, besides the
Richard Strauss symphonic poem and the electronic music? If your music department has recently
sponsored concerts featuring new music, how many of the students attended, and what were their
reactions?
4. The text mentions many instances of commissions. You may wish to raise the question of
government support of the arts. Be sure to have both pro and con opinions represented, and if the
discussion warrants, you may wish to bring in a comparison to the arts in Russia and European countries.
Questions and Topics
l. Describe the influence of radio, television, the recording industry, and the internet on the
listening habits of American audiences.
2. Compare and contrast the attitudes toward new music of the audiences of Mozart’s day with
those of the early twentieth century.
3. Describe the role of the American university in fostering the growth of new music.
4. Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra.
5. Opera for television.
6. World War II and the migration of composers, musicians, and musicologists to America.
7. Analog versus digital recording techniques.
IMPRESSIONISM AND SYMBOLISM
Objectives
This section provides background information on two artistic movements that were to have their musical
counterparts in the work of Claude Debussy: impressionist painting and symbolist poetry. The painters
Monet, Renoir, and Pissarro represent the impressionist movement in painting. Symbolist poetry is
represented by Mallarmé, Verlaine, and Rimbaud.
Suggestions
1. Since this section is designed as a prelude to the section on Debussy, you may choose to go to
it directly, but consider playing Debussy’s Reflets dans l’eau, the first number from book I of his Images
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for piano. This marvelously evocative “water music” is of direct relevance to the text’s remarks about the
impressionist painters’ obsession with water: “Using light, pastel colors, they depicted the ripples and
waves of the ocean and sailboats on the river Seine.” Debussy’s great masterpiece, La Mer, is even more
useful for this demonstration, but is a much longer work. Compare Debussy’s interpretation with another
example of “water music” discussed earlier in the course, Smetana’s The Moldau. When playing the
Debussy work, ask the students to describe examples of aquatic action that seem to be implied by the
music.
2. The text quotes Mallarmé’s objection to naming an object, preferring, as he stated, “to suggest
it.” Using some common symbols, discuss the associations they evoke. Compare, for example, the
Hebrew chai with the Egyptian ankh. Both are symbols for “life,” yet how many students would
recognize them as such? This is one of the fascinating problems of symbolism, a knowledge of the
meaning of the symbol. Ask the students what comes to their minds when mentioning various colors.
Green, for example, to many will suggest money, others may think of “green with envy.” Similar
discussions can be made with red, purple, blue and pink for babies, and white for brides, among other
colors. Do any of the students know the symbols for anniversary gifts (paper: 1; tin:10; china: 20; silver:
25; gold: 50; etc.), or birthstones (garnet: January; amethyst: February; Pearl: June; Narcissus: December;
etc.)? Can any recognize the symbolism of flowers? Do any of the students know that a red tulip given by
a male admirer was a declaration of love, or that a sprig of dogwood returned by the woman was a sign of
indifference? Similarly with other flowers, what is the symbolism of the Easter lily, or the Japanese
chrysanthemum?
Questions and Topics
1. Explain the origin of the term “impressionism.”
2. Describe the work of the impressionist painters.
3. Describe the nature of symbolist poetry.
4. Debussy’s songs on texts by Verlaine.
5. Water as subject for impressionist painting and music.
6. The “sounds” of symbolist poetry.
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Objectives
Debussy’s career is traced from his entrance into the Paris Conservatory at the age of ten, to the summers
spent as a pianist in Russia, and his winning of the Prix de Rome. The influences of Wagner and Asian
music on the young French composer are discussed, along with the artistic successes and personal
tragedies that marked his life. The elements of his musical style are described, and the section ends with
discussions of the Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun” and Voiles from Preludes for Piano, Book I.
Suggestions
1. Some of the various influences on Debussy and his musical style should be discussed. If you
like memory aids, you might treat them in the following order: the church modes, the whole-tone scale,
and the pentatonic scale. The text mentions Debussy’s use of jazz elements, but occasions are infrequent.
In your summary of his techniques to “drown the sense of tonality” you can then modify the old rhyme
used by brides as they dress on their wedding day: “something old, something new, something borrowed,
but seldom something blue.” Childish, perhaps, but it does help some students remember. Following that,
the main problem should be to locate examples of Debussy’s innovative procedures as outlined in the text
and to be heard in the Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun” and other works. Search for examples of
modal, pentatonic and whole-tone scales, streams of parallel chords, and (in piano pieces) the
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characteristic uses of the damper pedal.
2. As an example of a Debussy composition based on a whole-tone scale, play Voiles from the
Préludes, Book I. Note how pedal points contribute to the static quality of the piece, and how there are no
dominant-tonic cadences, even at the end. Debussy achieves some contrast by shifting to a pentatonic
scale in bars 42-47 (beginning En animant). Besides Voiles, sections of La Mer might be played to
demonstrate Debussy’s later orchestral style.
3. If you wish to discuss Debussy’s views on nationalism, his self-description as musicien
français, and his vocal music, consider Noèl des enfants qui n'ont plus de maisons. While nationalistic in
intent, it nevertheless is truly impressionist.
Questions and Topics
1. Describe Debussy’s innovations in harmony.
2. Analyze Debussy’s orchestral techniques.
3. Describe the elements of Debussy’s piano style.
4. Debussy’s chamber music.
5. The style of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande.
6. Exoticism in the music of Debussy.
MAURICE RAVEL
Objectives
This section briefly discusses the composer’s early training, his compositional style as it relates to
impressionism and Debussy, and his major works. Bolero is discussed in detail: its origin as a ballet,
form, Spanish flavor, instrumentation, and orchestration.
Suggestions
1. Discuss Ravel’s reputation as a brilliant orchestrator, reminding the students of Pictures at an
Exhibition and his own works. You also might include a portion of Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloé, the ballet
performed in the year between Stravinsky’s two Russian ballets (1912).
2. Show the students the rhythm of Bolero and ask them to tap the pattern lightly on their desks.
Teach them how to conduct in three, and if not already discussed in previous sections, ask them how it is
possible for the musicians to read their music while watching the conductor. Sing or play the two parts of
the melody, pointing out that each part will be repeated eight times. Ask the students how a composer
could expand a composition with so few elements into a work lasting more than fifteen minutes.
Questions and Topics
1. Discuss Ravel’s use of orchestral instruments and instrumental techniques.
2. Jazz elements in the music of Ravel.
3. The operas of Ravel compared to those of Berg.
4. Ravel’s chamber music.
NEOCLASSICISM
Objectives
Neoclassicism is described as an artistic movement that emphasizes emotional restraint, balance, and
clarity. Neoclassical composers used musical forms and stylistic elements of earlier periods, particularly
of the eighteenth century. Neoclassicism is described as a reaction against romanticism and
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impressionism. The section concludes with a reference to neoclassicism in the poems of T. S. Eliot and
the paintings of Pablo Picasso.
Suggestions
1. This section is designed as a prelude to the discussion of Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms in
the next section, and may be assigned when that composition is studied. You may wish to supplement this
discussion by showing color reproductions of neoclassical paintings by Picasso. Consider the subject
matter of the paintings shown, and ask the students to identify those features that seem neoclassical.
2. If time permits, you may wish to discuss the work of the other neoclassical composer
mentioned in the text, Paul Hindemith. Other than these few references, his work is not discussed.
Considering any instrumentalists in the class, for example, you might discuss his theories of
Gebrauchsmusik, and the importance of his sonatas for various instruments, mainstays of senior recitals.
Questions and Topics
1. Describe the characteristics of neoclassical music.
2. Describe the characteristics of Picasso’s neoclassical paintings.
3. Neoclassicism in the works of Stravinsky and Picasso.
4. Quotation in the poetry of T. S. Eliot.
5. Neoclassicism as a reaction to romanticism and impressionism.
6. Hindemith and Gebrauchsmusik.
IGOR STRAVINSKY
Objectives
Stravinsky’s career is traced from his early years in St. Petersburg, his studies under Rimsky-Korsakov, to
his discovery by Sergei Diaghilev. The impact of the Ballet Russe on the entire cultural scene in Europe
from 1909 to 1929, the success of Stravinsky’s three “Russian” ballets, including the famous 1913 riot,
and his emergence as the twentieth century’s most celebrated composer are discussed. The elements of
Stravinsky’s various changes of style are described, and a brief survey made of his output. The unit ends
with discussions of The Rite of Spring, and the first movement of the Symphony of Psalms.
Suggestions
1. In discussing the biographical details of Stravinsky’s life, you might consider a research project
devoted to his music. Ask the students to listen to and compare representative works from each of his
three major periods. Have them focus on detailing his musical personality through different styles and
forms. (What musical elements, arranging techniques, and influences remain consistent?)
2. The Finale from Firebird was discussed earlier in the text, and could be reviewed at this time
in the context of Stravinsky’s work and the Ballet Russe. Fantasia 2000 includes the 1919 version of
Firebird.
3. You may wish to play the opening scene of the second of the three “Russian” ballets,
Petrushka. Remembering that this music was intended for dancing, you might wish to take a few
moments to discuss differences in ballet technique between the classical style of Tchaikovsky, for
example, and the changes evolving through the work of Fokine, Nijinsky, and Balanchine.
4. The third of the “Russian” ballets needs little introduction to the musically knowledgeable, but
will be a new and exciting experience for those who have not heard it before, provided it is not just
“dropped” on them. You might begin with a brief discussion of primitivism and African influences on the
arts. One can see these influences reflected in Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907). Three of the
heads are adaptations of African masks, even though the “Avignon” of the title refers to Barcelona’s red-
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light district (one writer interprets the two figures on the right as sailors making their choices from the
ladies of the establishment). This revolutionary work, assaulting as it did the rules of classical beauty and
composition, caused quite a sensation when first exhibited, and was a major step toward Cubism.
Compare the primitivism of Picasso’s painting with Stravinsky’s rhythms in the Rite of Spring. A brief
excerpt was used previously in discussing rhythm in the twentieth century. If not done then, ask the class
to count the beats, with accents, as suggested (music majors can go directly to the musical notation). After
accomplishing it successfully in a slow or moderate tempo, ask them to do it again as close to the original
tempo as possible. The passage from the Dances of the Youths and Maidens can be done similarly, and
hopefully the students will recognize the passages when they hear them in the performance.
5. The first movement of the Symphony of Psalms is discussed as an example of Stravinsky’s
neoclassical period. The Latin text and an annotated translation are provided, and the movement is
included in the recordings. Stravinsky’s unusual orchestration should be noted. Since the violin was the
center of the classical orchestra, you may ask the students to discuss their omission in this “deliberate
evocation of the past.” You may wish to supplement this discussion by showing color reproductions of
neoclassical paintings by Picasso. Consider the subject matter of the paintings shown, and ask the
students to identify those features that seem neoclassical.
6. The music discussed in this section fully represents Stravinsky’s “Russian” and neoclassic
periods, but does not cover his serial phase. You may choose to present this aspect now, or defer it until
the music of Webern is discussed. At any rate, the most Webern-like work of the composer, his
Movements for Piano and Orchestra, might be presented, and if time permits, the music from his ballet
Agon. In discussing Movements, try to identify those elements that are clearly derived from Webern and
those that sound like the old Stravinsky. Of great interest in Agon is the composer’s use of old French
dance forms.
7. Jazz elements are another facet of Stravinsky’s creativity not fully discussed in the text.
Consider his Piano Rag Music and Ebony Concerto, as well as The Soldier’s Tale.
Questions and Topics
1. Discuss Stravinsky’s relationship with the Russian Ballet.
2. Discuss Stravinsky’s rhythmic innovations.
3. Discuss the neoclassical elements in the music of Stravinsky’s middle period.
4. Stravinsky’s works for the ballet after Paris.
5. Stravinsky and Balanchine.
6. Stravinsky and Picasso.
7. Stravinsky’s serialism.
8. Stravinsky and the Oedipus legend: Oedipus Rex.
9. Stravinsky and the Woody Herman Band.
EXPRESSIONISM
Objectives
Expressionism is defined as an artistic movement that “stressed intense, subjective emotion.” The
movement is related to Freud’s work with hysteria and the unconscious, and is seen as a German reaction
to French impressionism. The section ends with a brief summary of the characteristics of expressionist art
and music.
Suggestions
1. Designed as a brief overview, this section is best supplemented by showing reproductions of
various expressionist painters, including the self-portraits of Arnold Schoenberg. The text centers the
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expressionist movement in Germany and Austria from 1905 to 1925. The first major group of
expressionist artists was Die Brücke (The Bridge), whose informal leader was Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. His
Street, Berlin was discussed. Also discussed in that section are two of the four panels in Wassily
Kandinsky’s Panels for Edwin R. Campbell. Kandinsky, mentioned in the text as an example of creativity
in several areas, was the leader of the second major group of expressionist artists, Der Blaue Reiter (The
Blue Rider).
2. Expressionism has been described as “The Shriek of the Inner Soul.” A most fitting illustration
is Edvard Munch’s The Scream (1893). In discussing the subject matter of the various paintings you use,
try to determine how their parameters—color, line, brushstroke, foreshortening, points of entry, etc.—
contribute to the “intense, subjective emotion” of the pictures.
Questions and Topics
1. Describe the emotional content of expressionist art.
2. Compare the characteristics of expressionist art, literature, and music.
3. Schoenberg as painter.
4. Expressionism as social protest.
5. Expressionism in art and music.
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG
Objectives
Schoenberg’s early years as a musical autodidact are described, as is his artistic progression from the late
romantic style of his earliest music through the atonal works to the development of his twelve-tone
system. Also discussed are his activities as a private teacher of theory and composition, and his later
appointments to academic posts in Berlin and California. An overview of his output is provided, and the
characteristics of his music discussed along with explanations of atonality and the twelve-tone system.
The chapter ends with discussions of Pierrot lunaire and A Survivor from Warsaw.
Suggestions
1. As with Stravinsky, you may ask the students to conduct a research project on Schoenberg.
Have them listen to and compare representative works from each of his three major periods. Does
Schoenberg have a strong musical personality that carries through his use of different musical styles?
What are some musical elements that remain consistent throughout his oeuvre?
2. Schoenberg’s atonal and serial works are discussed in the text. To illustrate his early style, you
might play Verklärte Nacht, written in 1899. The work is available in its original version for string sextet
and in a transcription for string orchestra. Because it is too long to be played in its entirety, representative
material from each of the work’s sections could be played. The students should be challenged to guess at
the nature of the program that inspired the music, followed by a reading of the Dehmel text. You might
also mention Anthony Tudor’s ballet Pillar of Fire, choreographed to this work. Another important early
work is his Gurrelieder.
3. Before examining a major work from his atonal period, Pierrot lunaire, discuss the characters
and the poetic form of the rondeau. Discuss also the modest instrumental forces, comparing them to the
massive orchestras of Mahler and other contemporaries. If you discussed the Commedia dell’arte and
Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci under verismo, the changes in 1912 will be most enlightening and informative.
The first two (Mondestrunken and Columbine), along with the title, introduce the concept, the main
characters and Sprechstimme.
4. Before discussing A Survivor from Warsaw, it is suggested that you discuss another great
antiwar protest: Picasso’s Guernica. There are many similarities in both expressionist works, and having
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a large illustration of the Picasso (after discussion) in view while listening to the Schoenberg work can
provide an uneasy feeling of intense emotion (just what the expressionists wanted!).
5. The text contains the complete narration of A Survivor from Warsaw. Before playing the work,
study the text with the students and isolate those words that in your students’ opinion seem to require
particular musical emphasis. Then note what Schoenberg does to enhance words such as “unconscious,”
“worries,” “painful,” and “groaning and moaning.” By what musical means are these words emphasized?
Explain that Jews in the face of death traditionally utter the opening phrase of the Shema.
Questions and Topics
1. Describe the characteristics of Schoenberg’s atonal music.
2. Discuss the methodology of the twelve-tone system.
3. Compare and contrast the musical styles of Schoenberg’s atonal Pierrot lunaire and his serial A
Survivor from Warsaw.
4. Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder compared to Moses und Aron.
5. “Air from another planet”: Schoenberg’s Second String Quartet.
ALBAN BERG
Objectives
The brief biographical portion of this section notes Berg’s relationship to his teacher, Schoenberg, and
surveys his output. Berg’s opera Wozzeck provides the basis for the discussion of his musical style, and
the section ends with a description of the last two scenes of the opera.
Suggestions
1. A few sections back, the text stated, “expressionism is an art concerned with social protest.”
Take a few moments to discuss the societies that saw the birth of Büchner’s Woyzeck (Hesse, not yet a
part of Prussia or Germany, 1830s) and Berg’s Wozzeck (Germany after World War I). As an example of
expressionist social protest, Berg’s work is unsurpassed. The text includes a discussion of scenes 4 and 5
of the third act, followed by the libretto and annotated English translation. These scenes, with the long
interlude between, are included in the recordings. If possible, play the complete third act without
interruption, as intended by the composer.
2. If you do just the last two scenes, consider playing them for dramatic impact first, and discuss
musical techniques later. After all, if the students were to go to the opera to see the work, they would not
normally receive a lecture on the musical techniques beforehand. Taking scene 4, for example, did the
students notice the use of spoken dialogue? Did the Sprechstimme bother them, or make them smirk, as
sometimes happens at performances of Pierrot lunaire? In scene 5, did they notice the children were
playing a singing game? Or did these techniques of vocal production so naturally fit the drama that they
went unnoticed? Further, did they remember that by definition an opera is a play sung throughout? What
would have been the dramatic effect on the work if all the spoken and Sprechstimme parts were to be sung
in good nineteenth-century style? What beautiful melodic line could possibly fit the anguished cry Ich
wasche mich mit Blut!? The text comments “Berg did not intend for the listener to concentrate on or even
be aware of these unifying techniques” (the variation procedures in each of the five scenes of Act III).
You might, nevertheless, explore the variation process as it is used in the act. Tonality is apparent in
sections of the first scene; where may “variations on a theme” be perceived in this scene? Were the
students aware of the “variations on a single tone [B]” around which the second scene is organized? What
is the rhythmic pattern that forms the basis for the variations in the third scene? How does the variation
technique unify the last scene of the opera?
3. Berg’s instrumental music may be represented by his Lyric Suite for string quartet. Since only
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two of the six movements of the work (the first and last) are entirely serial, the Suite can be used to make
the not so surprising point that “atonal” and “serial” music often sound quite similar. The work is also
famous for its quotation from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde in the last movement, and its autobiographical
program. Another of Berg’s frequently performed instrumental compositions is his Violin Concerto. It is
notable for the triadic basis of its tone row, and for its use of a Bach chorale in the second movement,
both examples of the composer’s eclecticism.
Questions and Topics
1. Define the traditional and modern elements that coexist in Berg’s music.
2. Summarize the plot of Wozzeck.
3. Discuss the formal organization and structure of Wozzeck.
4. The works of Georg Büchner.
5. Woyzeck and Wozzeck: a comparison.
6. Berg’s Lulu.
7. Serialism and atonality in Berg’s Lyric Suite.
ANTON WEBERN
Objectives
In this section we learn of Webern’s early musical training, his studies in musicology at the University of
Vienna, and his private lessons with Arnold Schoenberg. Also discussed are his experiences as conductor,
his love of nature, his Christian mysticism, and his tragic death at the hands of an American soldier in the
Austrian Alps. The elements of his style are described, and the section ends with a discussion of his third
piece from Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 10.
Suggestions
1. The third of the Five Pieces for Orchestra is included in the recordings is discussed. The
complete set is so short you could perhaps find time for all of them. Multiple copies of the miniature score
would be helpful, especially if the students had the opportunity of following The Rite of Spring several
classes back.
2. Since about half of Webern’s output consists of songs or choral works, it might be interesting
to supplement the above orchestral pieces with a sample of the composer’s vocal music. Webern’s Op. 15
and Op. 16, the Five Sacred Songs and the Five Canons on Latin Text, can be chosen for discussion not
only because of their great beauty but because they reflect the composer’s Christian mysticism alluded to
in the text. The two groups of songs are accompanied by small chamber groups, the latter with just
clarinet and bass clarinet. These songs also contain many instances of canonic writing, a salient feature of
Webern’s style.
3. The Symphony, Op. 21, is recommended as an example of twelve-tone style. The work is
scored for small orchestra, and is in sonata form. The first movement is a four-part double canon in
contrary motion. The second movement is in variation form, with the first variation a transposition of the
row while the accompaniment is a double canon. The orchestration is a perfect example of Webern’s
development of Klangfarbenmelodie.
4. Music historians, and the musical public, have an unfortunate tendency to lump together
composers who really are quite dissimilar: Schumann and Schubert, Debussy and Ravel, Mahler and
Bruckner, et al. In recent memory, we have witnessed a similar grouping of the so-called “Second
Viennese School”: Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern. Perhaps it would be appropriate at this time to
determine in what respects they share a common language, and how they differ. In the section on
Stravinsky, it was suggested that his “Webern” piece, the Movements for Piano and Orchestra, be
11 | IM- P a r t 7
discussed as an example of his serial style. Perhaps he too should be included in the above discussion. To
what extent do these four important composers seem to share a common language? To what extent do
their languages seem to be mutually exclusive? Assuming that future generations will recognize the
obvious fact that the music of these men all stems from the same historical period, what internal evidence
exists to support the argument that they all share a common language?
Questions and Topics
1. Describe the elements of Webern’s musical style.
2. Contrast Webern’s music with that of Schoenberg and Berg.
3. Religious mysticism in Webern’s vocal works.
4. Webern’s use of unconventional instruments.
5. Musical pointillism: Webern’s use of tone-color melodies.
BÉLA BARTÓK
Objectives
Bartók’s career is traced from his early years as a piano student of his mother. The text discusses the
influence of the Hungarian nationalist movement on the young composer, and his absorption in the folk
music of the Magyars, Rumanians, Slovaks, Turks, and North African Arabs. Bartók’s successes are
discussed, as is his emigration to the United States in 1940 and the commissioning of the Concerto for
Orchestra in 1943, two years before his death. The elements of his style are described, and the section
ends with a discussion of the Concerto for Orchestra.
Suggestions
1. Many consider Bartók equal to Stravinsky and Schoenberg as major figures of the twentieth
century. Just to look at listings under Bartók’s name will amply bear this out. There is such a wealth of
compositions that could be discussed, if time only permitted. You might consider the Sonata for Two
Pianos and Percussion because of its innovative use of the percussion ensemble, the Rumanian Folk
Dances or Hungarian Sketches to demonstrate the twentieth-century composer’s attitude toward folk
elements, or one of the string quartets, considered by many to be the finest examples of the genre in this
century.
2. Considering there may be some music or music education majors in class, time should be taken
to discuss the importance of Bartók’s Mikrokosmos. Perhaps some brief examples could be played,
especially in discussing polytonality, modality, irregular and changing meters, and tone clusters.
3. Bartók’s developmental and variation procedures are among the most fascinating aspects of the
Concerto for Orchestra. The text mentions the two ideas that “grow in intensity as they are varied” in the
introduction to the first movement. Exactly how are they varied, and how is the intensification
accomplished? In the allegro vivace that follows, exactly how are the themes fragmented? In the
development section, can the imitation of the brass fanfare theme be traced precisely from instrument to
instrument? Similar questions can be used regarding development and variation techniques throughout the
work, using the text’s description as a starting point. The first and second movements are included in the
recordings.
4. One of Bartók’s most exciting and colorful works is the Music for Strings, Percussion, and
Celesta, a composition that very nicely supplements the contents of this section. Of particular interest is
the formal plan of the fugue that constitutes the first movement of the work. Its tonal plan, dynamic
organization, and use of thematic inversion should be explained and carefully charted on the board. If
time pressures do not allow for playing the whole work, consider the third movement, Adagio. It is
another example of the composer’s “night music” and, as such, provides a perfect counterpart to the Elegy
