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Unit 6. The 20th century

1. Introduction

2. Late 19th century

3. First half of the 20th century

4. Second half of the 20th century

5. 20th century in Spain

6. Contemporary dance

Psyché Rock - Pierre Henry

1. Introduction

During the 20th century, music turns into a diversity of styles and tendencies breaking the unity of language and seeking a new world of sounds.

2. Late 19th century

At the end of the 19th century, two movements mark a progressive abandonment of tonality and functional harmony:

  • Impressionism: characterized by the subtle representation of environments with blurred melodies and free harmonies. The main composers are Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel.

  • Expressionism: stands out for the torn expression of the “sprechgesang” and atonal musicfull of dissonances. The most representative composer is Arnold Schoenberg.

Impressionism:

Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun - Claude Debussy

Expressionism:

Pierrot Lunaire: Nacht - Arnold Schoenberg

3. First half of the 20th century

The first avant-garde musical movements appear in the early 20th century:

  • Futurism: which introduced noise and machines into music. The precursors of musical Futurism are Balilla Pratella and Luigi Russolo. Amongst the most important pieces labelled as futurist, Ionisation by Edgar Varèse and Pacific 231 by Arthur Honegger may be mentioned.

Futurism:

Ionisation - Edgar Varèse

Futurism:

Pacific 231 - Arthur Honegger

  • Dadaism: which revolted against all established forms of art.

Dadaism:

Ursonate - Kurt Schwitters

  • Dodecaphonism or twelve-tone technique: is a method of composition created by Schoenberg breaking with the tradition of tonal music by introducing equality amongst the twelve sounds of the chromatic scale. Schoenberg’s 12-tone technique was continued by his disciples Alban Berg and Anton Webern.

Dodecaphonism:

String quartet no. 3 - Schoenberg

  • Neoclassicism: goes back to the cultivation of classical forms and genres, in the search for a new type of simplicity with simple and pleasant music. Amongst the most important representatives of Neoclassicism, the French composers Erik Satie (1866-1925) and the so-called “Les Six”. Other Neoclassical composers were Paul Hindemith, Carl Orff and Sergei Prokofiev.

Neoclassicism:

Gymnopédie No. 1 - Erik Satie.

4. Second half of the 20th century
After World War II, new avant-garde movements emerged, such as Serialism and Aleatoric music expanding the concept of composition, and the different streams of Electronic music which incorporate the technological advances of the moment.

  • Serialism: it consists on applying the concept of series to all parameters of sound, and not just to the pitch of notes. The most important composers were Olivier Messiaen and Pierre Boulez.

  • Musique concrète: Movement connected with Futurism using any sound or noise taken from reality. These sounds of “particular objects” are tape-recorded and subsequently manipulated in a laboratory. There are no scores or performers, as the work of the composer is finished and objectively shown in a recording. The pioneers and main representatives are Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry.

Musique concrète:

Variations for a Door and a Sigh - Pierre Henry.

  • Electronic music: This music is completely made in a studio in which sounds are created, processed and recorded electronically. Similarly to musique concrète, traditional performers and scores are eliminated. The most representative composer is Karlheinz Stockhausen.

  • Electroacoustic music: It is musique concrète together with electronic music, combining both methods in a single piece: recorded and manipulated natural sounds from musique concrète along with purely electronic sounds.The first work of electroacoustic music was Song of the Youths by Stockhausen.

Electroacustic music:

Song of the Youths - Karlheinz Stockhausen

  • Stochastic music: It combines music and mathematics. It uses computers to generate all the details of the work. Iannis Xenakis was the creator of this music.

  • Aleatoric music: This type of music opposes the previous types. It offers an indefinite music depending on chance and freedom of the performer. In order to achieve this performing freedom, aleatoric music makes use of unconstrained and suggestive alternative graphic notation, or texts that invite to create or improvise. The main precursor of this type of music was John Cage.

Aleatoric music:

Sonata V - John Cage

5. 20th century in Spain

The most important composer and the first one who achieved wide international recognition was Manuel de Falla. Among the main composers of the Generation of ’27 we can point out Joaquín Rodrigo, with his famous neoclassical Concierto de Aranjuez.

Spain:

El amor brujo, Danza ritual del fuego - Manuel de Falla

Spain:

Concierto de Aranjuez, Adagio - Joaquín Rodrigo

6. Contemporary dance

The development of ballet: the Russian Ballets

Contemporary ballet was driven by Russian Ballets, founded by Sergei Diaghilev.

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Modern dance

At the same time as traditional ballet, other modern dance styles appeared in the 20th century. Among the pioneers of these new movements, the followingstand out: Isadora Duncan, Rudolf von Laban, Ruth Saint Denis, Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham.

 

New urban dances

Modern dances of the 20th century will receive the influence of popular music, giving rise to new types of urban dance or street dance, such as break dance or dance hall.

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