Igor Stravinsky: Aleatoric Music

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Recommended: Western musical evolution from the middle-ages through the nineteenth-century and explain the paradigmatic shift that occurred in the early twentieth-century

Aleatoric or Post- Tonal music is not well known today because of music trends, but during the 18th to the 19th century it was very popular. Aleatoric music is “music in which some element of the composition is left to chance, and/or some primary element of a composed work's realization is left to the determination of its performer(s)” (princeton.edu, 2014). Post -tonal was very popular because it was mostly improvisation and sometimes sounded a little unsettling. Many instruments were introduced that had not been previously used in musical performance. These instruments included vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, guns , and tank engines. This music had a great effect on the people. After hearing some of these aleatoric pieces the people felt so strongly about their freedom that they revolted. Even though they were originally met with negative reveiws, Glass, Stravinsky, Cage, and Schoenburg helped shape today's music by using aleatoric music. …show more content…

Igor Stravinsky was a Russian-born composer who wrote more than 100 musical works in his lifetime. Born on June 17, 1882, Stravinsky came from a musical family. Before going into music, his father forced him to go to law school, to save him from following in his footsteps. It was Igor’s father’s death that influenced him to compose music. By the time of his death, in 1971, he was a self-proclaimed ‘ inventor of music’.
In May of 1913, at the age of 31, Stravinsky debuted his ballet, The Rite Of Spring. Due to its ‘enharmonic notes and accompanying unrecognizable bassoon solo”, the ballet was met by an angry and confused audience (Green, n.d). The Rite Of Spring was also criticized for its “sharp and unnatural choreography”(Green, n.d). In the audience, those who opposed the play fought against the ones that supported it. Before the first half was over, police had to step in to stop the riots. The Rite Of Spring is a common example of post tonal

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