Schoenberg searched for "unity and regularity" in music, which was to be achieved without the procedures of tonality, for Schoenberg felt tonality had run its course. For fifteen years, he followed a path that led to his "discovery" of the "method of composing with twelve tones which are related only with one another." Schoenberg experimented with the serialization of smaller groups of notes before applying the idea to all twelve. Schoenberg's first compositions in the new, twelve-tone idiom were published in the Suite for Piano. Opus. 25 between 1921 and 1923, in which each of the six pieces is dodecaphonic. (12 note system). From the sound perspective, it abandoned the traditional tonality and harmony and other long- established musical language, so that the sound and tone of music created great disparity, resulting in a special sound color, diverting textures, complex rhythmic counterpoint and delicate timbre changes. This work proclaimed to the world that Schoenberg has created a new system and technology for the composer and put up a new milestone in the history of music. As the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould evaluated “ in the first quarter of this century, I dare say, not a piano solo works can be comparable with it.”
Firstly, we need to have some knowledge of 12 tones. In an octave, the inter-relationship of the twelve chromatic tones is equally important. The traditional major and minor scales are completely abandoned by Schoenberg. Secondly, these twelve notes can be arranged in any order of a sequence, but cannot duplicate the phenomenon. It is however, a thoroughly complex and strict principle. At the same time, the principle of sound is also in accordance with the above arrangement, therefore, the traditional “ triad” ...
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... is paralleled by a barely detectable triple movement in the “Menuett”. Contrarily, while an antecedent- consequent phraseology is clearly audible at the opening of the “ Musette”, the tonal implications of the title, discussed earlier, are addressed and modified.
After all, we might say that the 12-tone system is anti-musical because it supplants centuries-long development of harmony and voice-leading with a new harmonic "language". Due to its special artistic features, exemplifying the “ fusion of old and new”, Schoenberg fuses the traditional and modern elements into one, enabling the twelve- tone works to have vitality and expressiveness.
Arnold Schoenberg said "People accuse me of being a mathematician, but I am not a mathematician, I am a geometer”.
He decided to use his knowledge of the rules to break them,
And break them he did.
This concert is held by the Stony Brook University music department and is to perform seven pieces of music written by seven student composers. The concert is performed in Recital Hall of Staller Center in Stony Brook University. Since it is a small hall, audiences are very close to the performers. In fact, it is the first time I am this close to the performers and the sound for me is so clear and powerful that seems like floating in front of my eyes. Among the seven pieces, “Ephemeral Reveries” and “Gekko no mori” are piano solo, “Two Songs for Joey” is in piano and marimba, “Suite” and “Fold Duet No. 1” are in woodwinds, “Elsewhere” is played by string groups, and “e, ee, ree, and I was free” is in vocal. Personally, I like the sound of piano and guitar the best. Therefore, in the latter part I will analysis two pieces in piano, “Gekko no mori” and “Two Songs for Joey”.
Next we come to a point in time where a great leap had to be made. Musicians had made positive steps forward in the way of pitch and time but of only one or two notes at a time. What was needed was an in instrument that gave players control of many pitches simultaneously. The mechanism ...
The “dark ages” or an encompassment of the middle ages by history, gave to many early development in western music. Polyphony, which combines two or more simultaneous melodic lines, is a perfect example of this. Because polyphony required to be written to indicate precise rhythm and pitch, a new notational system was designed.
The next element I discovered was the pitch of the music. Relatively speaking, I would estimate that the majority of the pieces were on the high side of the pitch, and therefore frequency, scale. The range of pitches was moderate, but as stated previously, mostly higher notes were used.
Twelve tone music which was established by Schoenberg is often referred to as serialism, but strictly speaking serialism is the sequel to Schoenberg’s works, and came about in the late 1940’s. Composers, led by Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen started to apply Schoenberg’s 12-tone principle to more than just pitch. To recap, Schoenberg created tone rows, where the 12 different pitch classes of the scale are arranged in a particular order, then inverted, then played in reverse (retrograd...
The organum, which thrived at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, was one of the earliest types of polyphony. It was very much similar to a trope, as it added vertical notes onto an existing melody or plainchant. There is quite the development of the organum between the 10th and 12th centuries. French composers, Leoninus, and Perotinus, were leading contributors to the evolution of the organum advancing the terms “free organum”, and “discant organum”. Through examining the works throughout Musica enchiriadis of the 10th century, and the compositions of Leoninus and Perotinusis in the 12th century, it is made clear that the the organum endured influential alterations both melodically and rhythmically.
Held as one the most important German composer before J.S Bach; eulogized by his German colleagues as the “Orpheus of our time” and “the father of our modern music”; known best for his sacred vocal music. This gifted maestro who attracted many souls through his compositions was a man named Heinrich Schütz. Heinrich Schütz is one of the most important composers of the 17th century, who greatly influenced German music. Schütz’s musical talent was discovered at a young age, which developed into an extensive musical career. Furthermore, Schütz’s compositions can be seen to have the influence of Giovanni Gabrieli and Monteverdi, and a focus on sacred music. Moreover, Heinrich Schütz’s piece “Miene Seele Erhebt Den Herren” really exposes his type of style and uniqueness as a composer.
Most people are familiar with the word "music", however they barely consider the definition of it. After carefully think, everyone has their own opinions on this term and it is hard to have an uniform criterion of music sounds. According to the text book, Michael B. Bakan states five propositions to define the music. The first one is about the tone and the second one talks about the music is organized in some way. The next two are claims that music is human organized and a product of human intention and perception. The last proposition argues music cannot separate from Western culture. Among these propositions, I think the music is a product of human intention and perception is most interesting and worth to discuss. So I assert that the most
Compared to Mozart’s Sonata K.330, this work is longer and more energetic at some parts. Mozart’s K.330 has a lot of fast-tempo and dotted melodies, which gives the peice a brisk feeling, but does not show many manipulations of strong harmonies as Schumann’s work does. Unfortunately, our textbook does not include piano music composed by Schumann, we should compare Fantasiestucke, Op.12 with other piano music our textbook has. The Fantasiestucke, Op.12 has several sections, some of which are smooth and delicate, yet others are very exciting. The entire peice shows some typical features of Schumann’s style. It is obvious that Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op.27, No.2 Moonlight forms a huge contrast against many climax sections in Fantasiestucke, Op.12. Moonlight has delicate, singing melody that moves slowly. It uses a rather soft dynamics to express the tranquility of moonlight. Another examples is Chopin’s Mazurka in B-flat Minor, Op.24 No.4. Altough the Mazurka has wider range, dancelike dotted rhythms, rubato expression and much chromaticism, still does not have that much excitement compared to Fantasiestucke, Op.12. In Fantasiestucke Op.12, Schumann not only implemented the strong dynamic and intense tempo, but wrote some rather soft sections as transitions. Those characteristics examplify Schumann’s music style: impassioned melodies, novel changes of harmonies and driving rhythms that reveal him as a true Romantism composer. Lydia has carried out such experience in high
Music for Eighteen Musicians (MFEM) is a minimalist composition by Steve Reich written between 1974 and1976. Though this piece was a culmination of Reich’s previous minimalist work, it was also innovative in its elements of structure and harmony. Reich emphasizes this point in saying “there is more harmonic movement in the first five minutes of Music for Eighteen Musicians than in any complete work of mine to date.” It was also his first attempt at composing for a large ensemble building upon his frequent use of piano and pitched percussion with a violin, a cello and two clarinets. The context leading up to the composition of Music for Eighteen Musicians sheds light onto the reason why it was composed and in a greater sense why Minimalism as a whole was born.
When considering the versatility of a synthesiser as a keys player it can widen one’s oeuvre immensely. With its ability to imitate existing sounds and instruments to create beautiful polyphonies and to contrastingly emit haunting, dissonant soundscape’s from previously non-exiting timbres makes it not only a useful tool but and essential piece in a composer’s instrumental repertoire.
The proliferation of graphic scores emerging in Europe and America from the mid-1950s has had a profound impact on musical thought, broadening links between performers and composers, audiences and art forms. Exploration of notational methods based on graphics flourished rapidly and diversely during the fifties and sixties, primarily as a trend amongst young radicals. So many composers producing scores of this kind used a personal vocabulary of symbols – often creating different notation systems for each work – that the effectiveness of their approaches in realising a sonic concept can be assessed only on a case-by-case basis. But the significance of early graphic scores does not depend entirely on how they sound; rather it lies in their capacity to accommodate or even to generate new forms, techniques and mediums, and to challenge notions of what constitutes a musical composition. In addition, these works demonstrate that notation can extend beyond instructional functionality to allow for prominent interpretive and aleatoric elements, and can harbour an intrinsic aesthetic value of its own, apparent before a single note is sounded.
The string quartets of Ludwig Van Beethoven were written over a long period of his life, stretching from 1799 to 1826. The tragedies that occurred throughout Beethoven’s life did not stop him from writing these seventeen masterpieces. The string quartets can be divided into three periods; early middle and late with the first six quartets of Op. 18 marking his ‘early’ works. As Beethoven’s writing began to flourish with creativity and imagination, he wrote the ‘Rasumovsky’ quartets that mark the ‘middle’ period in his career. Finally, the late quartets (also last works that Beethoven ever wrote) mark a cornerstone for various composers writing string quartets through the Romantic era and into the 20th century with use of counterpoint and harmony, especially. This essay will show how these works display great importance in developing the string quartet through Beethoven’s career, and also how their influences can be found in string quartets of other composers.
The book is divided into four chapters: 1) Humanly Organized Sound, 2) Music in Society and Culture, 3) Culture and Society in Music, and 4) Soundly Organized Humanity. In chapter one, Blacking discusses the analysis of sound. He begins by describing music as humanly organized sound. His overarching theme is that “the function of tones in relation to each other cannot be explained adequately as part of a closed system” (30). In other words, music can’t be analyzed simply by one set of rules. This is because every single culture has a different system that they use to structure and compose their music. In order to adequately analyze a society’s music we have to study their “system.” We must learn what music means to them. Then, and only then, can we accurately and completely analyze what a particular type or piece of music means to a particular society and culture.