Music After World War II (1945-Present) - Session 12

Music After World War II

The search for originality on the part of every composer has led to a great variety of expression, reversion to past historical styles, neo-Classicism, neo-Romanticism, serial composition, electronic music, microtonal music, minimalism, etc. The insistence of originality and the seek of the "new thing" is so compelling that its end results often appear questionable, is that real music? Isn't that just pure mathematic? Is silence also considered music?

The development of audio recording technology, along with the ability to quickly and cheaply distribute recordings and scores, were central to the revolutions of modern music. Recording technology also provided composers with a new "instrument": sounds were easily manipulated and transformed, according to the composer's will. Further advances in audio technology gave rise to electronically-produced sounds.

Total serialism - not only pitches but dynamics, articulation and dynamics were planned in a row system; indeterminacy - in which the composer deliberately abstains from clearly defining certain aspects of a composition; extended techniques, all of these are features of the post-modernism movement.


The role of performer is also questioned, as well as challenged. Playing in a crazy rhythm, with a wide range of dynamics and pitches, and needing to be perfect to match the recording that is going on, is a live performer really crucial for the process of making music?

All the questions above have no answer for me, we will need to wait and see where the development of music will take us from now on. Like in all the past music periods changes are slow and take a lot to settle in and actually make sense.

Here are some cool post-modern pieces that I really liked listening to, I hope you enjoy:

Karlheinz Stockhausen - Helicopter String Quartet 



John Cage - 4'33":



Laurie Anderson - O Superman:





Now that I went over the different time periods that music has traversed through in a serious manner, lets have a little fun with Youtube videos! These videos are an attempt of the performers to represent the evolution of music. It is very interesting to watch those, now that I gain so much more background knowledge from this course.

String quartets are very important in music history, so here is The Stringfever History Music:

I'd call this the evolution of pop music, by A capella group Pentatonix:

Early Modernism (1895–1945) - Session 11

Early Modernism (1895–1945)

Schoenberg's Der Rote Blick (Red Gaze), 1910

“In the world of concert music, dramatic innovations emerged during the first three decades of the twentieth century: the emancipation from the idea of dissonance; continuity and predictability in rhythm; polytonality; atonality and twelve-tone music. However, these all had the effect of alienating the large audience for music inherited from the nineteenth century. Despite critical acclaim for these novel strategies for writing music, the twentieth century turned its back on this new music. It embraced the world of concert music as a museum designed for the art of recreation. In this century, the performance of music from the past has held center stage...
By comparing these American composers with their counterparts in art, rather than with their predecessors in music, a new avenue of appreciation and affection can be opened up to a vital, powerful, and too often overlooked American aesthetic legacy.” – Leon Botstein


The transition from nineteenth-century Romanticism to twentieth-century "Modernism" is, perhaps, as violent an upheaval as was the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque. By the end of the nineteenth century the increasing scale of forces used in orchestras and opera houses was fast reaching saturation level. Composers felt it necessary to find new ways to say new things. Musically, this meant that melody, harmony, rhythm and tone quality had to be reassessed, the true value in the Modern period was and still is placed on originality, innovation and variety.  The defining feature of modern music is the breaking-down of all traditional conventions, seeking complete freedom in all dimensions, such as melody, rhythm, and chord progression. The convention of tonality was completely abandoned by many composers, even the very notion of what constitutes "music" was redefined.

Just like Beethoven's 3rd Symphony changed the future of symphony composition, so did Igor Stravinky's Rite of Spring in to ballet. Up until that point, ballet was beautiful, elegant, and charming. People were used to seeing and hearing works like Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty. Stravinsky's Rite of Spring introduced new concepts in music, dance, and story, making at this point a complete change in the progress of music.

The work's premiere on May 29th of 1913, at the Théatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, was scandalous. As Carl Van Vechten, drama critic for the New York Sun later wrote, the unruly audience became as much a part of the performance as the dancers and musicians: Some forty of the protestants were forced out of the theater but that did not quell the disturbance. The lights in the auditorium were fully turned on but the noise continued and I remember Mlle. Piltz (the dancer portraying the sacrificial maiden) executing her strange dance of religious hysteria on a stage dimmed by the blazing light in the auditorium, seemingly to the accompaniment of the disjointed ravings of a mob of angry men and women. The subsequent coverage in the press of the ballet was resoundingly negative; the music was dismissed as mere noise and the dance as an ugly parody of traditional ballet.

In addition to the outrageous costumes, unusual choreography and bizarre story of pagan sacrifice, Stravinsky's musical innovations tested the patience of the audience to the fullest. The music itself was angular, dissonant and totally unpredictable. In the introduction, Stravinksy called for a bassoon to play higher in its range than anyone else had ever done. In fact, the instrument was virtually unrecognizable as a bassoon. When the curtain rose and the dancing began, there appeared a musical theme without a melody, only a loud, pulsating, dissonant chord with jarring, irregular accents. The audience responded to the ballet with such a din of hisses and catcalls that the performers could barely hear each other. Roman Vlad, a composer, pianist and musicologist, later wrote, “Never had an audience heard music so brutal, savage, aggressive, and apparently chaotic; it hit the public like a hurricane, like some uncontrolled primeval force.”

Despite the violence of the opening night, The Rite of Spring is considered to be a milestone in the history of ballet. It has become a regular work in many ballet companies' repertoires. The music has been used extensively, as in Disney's Fantasia. Leonard Bernstein called it the most important piece of music of the 20th century. Stravinsky’s daring and audacious music continues to influence countless composers and remains shockingly new even 100 years after its premiere.

Romanticism - Part 3 (1850–1900) - Session 10

Late Romanticism (1850–1900) - Mahler 

The Late-Romantic period saw the blossoming of self-expression in music. By the mid-19th century, the Romantic impulses of subjective expression and organic unity had become fully internalized by most composers, leading to more pronounced applications of both in their music.

By the closing decades of the 19th century, the developments (explained in my previous blog post) began to stretch to an extreme extend, many composers felt that by the time Wagner died, Romanticism had reached its limits of expression. As heard in the lengthy symphonies and orchestral works of Wagner's "successors", such as Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss we can see that there were nowhere else to go from that, and this led in many ways to a crisis in music. Composers started to look around for new ideas, and those were the kinds of experiments that defined the coming Impressionist and Modern eras.

As a brass player and a lover of his symphonies, I have to talk about Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) and his symphonies.

Mahler was primarily known during his lifetime as a conductor and director of operas.  His symphonies
made little impact until the last ten years of his life. It was not until the 1960s and 1970s, when Mahler's symphonies become a staple of concert halls all over the world. His epic-scale symphonies and orchestral song-cycles provided an important link between the late 19th Century Romantic and early Modern periods.

Mahler once said: To write a symphony means, to me, to construct a world" From that he pursued to expand the scope and range of the symphony to the greatest possible extent. This expansion of scope can be seen in the explosion of orchestral forces engaged and in the artistic deeply expressive power. The major influence on his works was not a symphonic composer it was Wagner! According to Mahler, Wager was the only composer, after Beethoven to truly have made progress with his music.

Mahler combined the ideas of Romanticism, including the use of program music, and the use of song melodies in symphonic works, with the resources that the development of the symphony orchestra had made possible. The result was to extend, and eventually break, the understanding of symphonic form, as he searched for ways to expand his music.

He was deeply spiritual and described his music in terms of nature very often. This resulted in his music being viewed as extremely emotional for a long time after his death.

My favorites symphonies from his 'second period', Symphonies Nos. 5 to 7. Mahler  manifest an increased severity of expression and a growing interest in non-standard instrumentation. Like the use of cowbells, deep bells, a hammer, cornet, tenor horn, mandolin and guitar.

Another amazing thing about Mahler, that I was lucky enough to learn during my Music History class this year, is that Mahler belongs to a select list of composers that freely interconnected their work. Musical interconnections in Mahler's music can be heard to exist all over: between symphonies and symphonies, and between symphonies and songs. They all that seem to bind them together into a larger narrative history. For example, a trumpet line from the first movement of the fourth opens the fifth symphony. And a 'tragic' harmonic gesture repeatedly heard in the sixth symphony (a major chord declining into a minor) makes a striking reappearance in the seventh symphony. The rising melody line from the adagietto on the fifth symphony makes an appearance in its finale, and again in revised form in the finale of the seventh symphony. Furthermore, in his first symphony Mahler borrowed material from his song cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen.

Here is a video of one of my favorite Mahler symphonies, Symphony N.5:

Romanticism - Part 2 (1830–1850) - Session 9.2

Romanticism (1830–1850) - Chopin

After Beethoven, composers turned their attention to the expression of intense feelings in their music. This expression of emotion was the focus of all the arts of the self-described "Romantic" movement. The depiction in art of love, death, religion, nature, politics and supernatural were the ruling ideology of the period.

Delacroix - La Mort de Sardanapale (1827)

In music, the nineteenth century saw the creation and evolution of new genres such as the program symphony, pioneered by Beethoven and then developed by Hector Berlioz; Symphonic poem that was developed by Franz Liszt; the concert overture, great examples of which were composed by Felix Mendelssohn; and short, expressive piano pieces written for the bourgeois salons of Europe by Robert Schumann and Frédéric Chopin. Italian operas were composed in the Bel canto traditions, and these led directly to the masterworks of Giuseppe Verdi. For inspiration, many Romantic composers turned to the visual arts, to poetry, drama and literature, and to nature itself. Using the classical forms of sonata and symphony as a starting point, composers began focusing more on new melodic styles, richer harmonies, and ever more dissonance, in the pursuit of moving their audiences, rather than concerning themselves with the structural discipline of Classical forms. The harmony was exploited to its limits and beyond, with the momentary use of nonfunctional harmonic progression, use of simple harmonic phrasings that passes through a lot of chromatic harmonies along the way. Another characteristic of the Romanticism is the exploitation of the forms in music, they climax is delayed as much as possible, use of rhythmic rubatos, dramatic shaping of phrasings, cyclicity of moments, never ending thematic developments and transfigurations. All of these changes were made towards allowing the composer’s natural inspiration free to rein, often pacing their compositions more in terms of their emotional content and dramatic continuity rather than organic structural growth. The rise of the new middle classes created a new audience seeking fresh sensations. It was also an audience, which was powerfully drawn to emotion in the arts, and music more than any of the other arts has the capacity to elicit powerful emotions that made all this possible. Another factor that influenced this movement was the fall of the patronage system, musicians and composers had more freedom to express their selves rather than please their patron.

Portrait of Frédéric Chopin and George Sand 

Today I chose to write about one of my favorite composers: Frédéric Chopin (Polish-French, 1810-1849). He was born in Poland to a French family, was strongly attached to the land of his birth though he lived most of his short life in exile, producing many polonaisesand mazurkas (both traditional polish dances). In this respect he illustrates another important trait of many Romantic composers: their interest in the varied national music of Europe and elsewhere. But unlike Berlioz and others, Chopin was not interested in trying to portray literary texts in music. He wrote "pure" or "absolute" music, almost entirely for the piano. His delicate fingering and the challenging exercises he set in his famous sets of etudes ("studies") revolutionized composition for the piano. Chopin was able to combine both the lyricism and virtuosity; he developed a lyrical style paralleling the operatic writing of Bellini, but with much more harmony freedom. He was a master of harmonic overloading, which suggested the intensity of the expression of feelings that supersedes the needs of musical logic.

Chopin was considered a conservative composer of the Romantic Era. He borrowed concepts from the Neo-Classical Era, such as the dominant and tonic chords that were present throughout the piece.  In addition, he utilized the secondary leading tones from the Romantic Era to weaken the tonal center.  It is through these concepts that Chopin was a conservative composer, while still being able to compose pieces with new concepts or twists that had not yet been seen.  One of my favorite pieces by him translates all of what I just wrote, the Nocturne in D-flat Major, Op 27, No. 2:



In his Nocturne in D flat Major, Chopin creates a complex work that consists of complicated harmonies and rhythmic motives. These two components are interwoven to build elaborate themes, which lead to a melodic design that Chopin is known for. The piece has multiple key elements that combine to form this expressive work for piano, such as thematic growth. Various themes are introduced in the work and as Chopin develops them, they are barely recognizable. Other important elements in the creation of the nocturne are register and pitch. Register provides support for the harmonies, which in turn serve as the foundation on which the piece is built. The form of Chopin’s Nocturne is a rondo, which is when an A section returns. The reoccurring theme or theme A returns three times. The theme initially appears in measures one through nine, reoccurs in measures 26 through 32, and measures 46 through 50.  

For more details, here is a video analysis of the piece:

Romanticism - Part 1 (1800–1830) - Session 9.1

Early Romantic Period (1800 - 1830) - Beethoven 

Extending the bounds of music beyond the restrictive formality of Classicism was the prime function of the musical period known as Romanticism. Formal concern, intellectuality and concise expression have now been augmented by sentiment, imagination and effect.

This next period in musical history therefore found composers attempting to balance the expressive and the formal in music with a variety of approaches. As the musical map opened up, with nationalist schools beginning to emerge, it was the search for originality and individuality of expression which began here that was to become such an over-riding obsession in the present century.

The Romantic era was the golden age of the virtuoso, where the most fiendishly difficult music would be performed with nonchalant ease, and the most innocuous theme in a composition would be developed at great length for the enjoyment of the adoring audience. The emotional range of music during this period was considerably widened, as was its harmonic vocabulary and the range and number of instruments which might be called upon to play it. Music often had a 'programme' or story-line attached to it, sometimes of a tragic or despairing nature, occasionally representing such natural phenomena as rivers or galloping horses. The next hundred years would find composers either embracing whole-heartedly the ideals of Romanticism, or in some way reacting against them.

Of the early Romantic composers, two Nationalists deserve special mention, the Russian Glinka (of Russlan and Ludmilla fame) and the Bohemian Smetana (composer of the popular symphonic poem Vltava or 'The Moldau'). However, the six leading composers of the age were undoubtedly Berlioz, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt and Verdi. 

But today I'll be talking about Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770 - 1827). Why? Because, as my topic is Progress in music, Beethoven was one of the first composers that decided to abandon the restrict forms of the classical period and go beyond that.

Around 1801-02 Beethoven commented to the violinist Wenzel Krumpholz, "I am not very satisfied with my work thus far.  From this day on I shall forge a new path.”  His Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, op. 55 (“Eroica”) was a demonstration of Beethoven's desire to develop a new, more expanded form of composition at that time. The style and structure of the Eroica would not only influence Beethoven's subsequent symphonies but those of Brahms, Dvorák and Schumann as well.  

When the Eroica was first performed, one of the criticisms claimed it as a "colossal piling of ideas". What really distinguish the Eroica from its precursors is the bold use of harmony, ambiguous meters, rhythmic emphasis, liberal use of counterpoint and increasing the role of the winds, all within an architecture that stresses expansion and shifting of balance. Beethoven has not only expanded the sonata form as a whole but more importantly, two sections previously glossed over, the development section and coda, have been reapportioned to equivalent scope. For Beethoven the development section of a sonata form became the heart of the work. Beethoven was able to do this by making the development section not merely longer, but also more structured. The very long development section of the Eroica Symphony, for example, is divided into four roughly equal sections, making it, in effect, a sonata form within a sonata form. The Coda was also longer, and this time was used as an essencial part of the Symphony. In a single movement, Beethoven doubled the duration of all previous examples, including his own. Using Mozart's last three symphonies as a model and averaging their respective lengths (in measures) the difference in overall length is readily apparent: 

Beethoven originally dedicated this work to the great conqueror Napoleon but later scribbled his name off the front page when Napoleon proclaimed himself emperor. Beethoven believed this was a result of self-interest rather than true democratic spirit and later dedicated the symphony 'to the memory of a great man', presumably the man Napoleon used to be. In my research I've found many different opinions about if this is true or not. Some say that the Eroica was written as a self-portrait of Beethoven, and other say that is an exact representation of Napoleon's life. What I found to be the most convicing argument is what was written in Ferdinand Ries memories: "Not only I, but many of Beethoven¹s closer friends, saw this symphony on his table, beautifully copied in manuscript, with the word "Buonaparte" inscribed at the very top of the title-page and "Luigi van Beethoven" at the very bottom. ...I was the first to tell him the news that Buonaparte had declared himself Emperor, whereupon he broke into a rage and exclaimed, "So he is no more than a common mortal! Now, too, he will tread under foot all the rights of man, indulge only his ambition; now he will think himself superior to all men, become a tyrant!" Beethoven went to the table, seized the top of the title-page, tore it in half and threw it on the floor. The page had to be re-copied and it was only now that the symphony received the title "Sinfonia eroica."

When the score was published in 1804 the sub-title Eroica was printed at the head of the page and, in Italian - to celebrate the memory of a great man dedicated (also in Italian) to Prince Lobkowitz, one of Beethoven's Viennese patrons.

The work was composed in E flat major and the orchestration called for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, three horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings.

The forms and keys of the Symphony movements are:

1^st Movement: Allegro con brio – Sonata Form in Eb Major

2^nd Movement: Marcia funebre (Adagio assai) - March with Trio in C minor

3^rd Movement: Scherzo – Minuet and Trio in Eb Major

4^th Movement: Finale (Allegro molto-Poco Andante-Presto) – Variation in Eb Major

Here is a great video analysis of the symphony:

With the "Eroica" Beethoven succeeded in taking the decisive step from the "classical" symphony of the 18th century to the "great" symphony of the 19th century: the new elements are the unusual dimensions, the bold instrumentation and harmony and the new cosmopolitan musical language. 

Galant and Enlightenment (1750–1800) Session 8

The Classical Period (c.1750 - c.1830)

The Baroque era witnessed the creation of a number of musical genres which would maintain a hold on composition for years to come, yet it was the Classical period which saw the introduction of a form which has dominated instrumental composition to the present day: sonata form. With it came the development of the modern concerto, symphony, sonata, trio and quartet to a new peak of structural and expressive refinement. If Baroque music is notable for its textural intricacy, then the Classical period is characterised by a near-obsession with structural clarity.

The seeds of the Classical age were sown by a number of composers such as Gluck, Boccherini and at least three of Johann Sebastian Bach's sons: Carl Phillip Emmanuel, Wilhelm Friedmann and Johann Christian (the so-called 'London' Bach). They were representative of a period which is variously described as rococo or galante, the former implying a gradual move away from the artifice of the High Baroque, the latter an entirely novel style based on symmetry and sensibility, which came to dominate the music of the latter half of the 18th century through two composers of extraordinary significance: Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Haydn was the major contributor to the evolution of Classical style, his most important contributions being the principle of thematic development and the integration into his style of a popular (even at times folklike) idiom capable of pleasing a wider audience. His London symphonies, composed from 1790 to 1795, represent the pinnacle of his instrumental art.

Let me give a little more details about what is considered a "classical" symphony. It is generally composed in four movement for orchestra, in a very typical 4-movement scheme:
1st movement: Allegro (sonata form) (fast-slow-fast)
2nd movement: Slow movement (ABA, variation form, etc.)
3rd movement: Scherzo or Minuet (ABA) (2nd and 3rd are interchangeable)
4th movement.: Fast movement (sonata, rondo, etc.)

Haydn became known for following a basic framework for his symphonies, which is also demonstrated by his Symphony no. 92 in G Major (Oxford). It starts with a slow introduction (a technique commonly found in Haydn’s symphonies) leading into a fast sonata-form first movement, followed then by a slower second movement, a minuet and trio, and lastly a faster finale. This became ‘the norm” and now serves as a template for the mature symphony.

Here is a very simple analysis this symphony:

• I. Adagio - Allegro spiritoso: Sonata-form 

In the first movement, Haydn created contrasts between stability and instability to help listeners follow the form.

Exposition
Each thematic area in the exposition contains a variety of ideas.

Development
In the development, Haydn used a variety of techniques to manipulate motives from the exposition.

Recapitulation
Haydn sometimes disguised or played down the appearance of the recapitulation, which repeats all themes in the tonic (sometimes altered) and often amplifies the transition.

• II. Adagio cantabile: ABA form

In the second movement, Haydn usually offered songlike themes and simple forms to contrast with the drama and complexity of the first movement.

• III. Allegretto: Minuet and trio 

The minuet and trio provided relaxation, since it was shorter than the second movement, was written in a more popular style, and was in a form that was easy to follow.

• Finale - Presto: Sonata-form

The final movement, usually in sonata form, rondo form, or sonata-rondo form, closes the symphony with a buildup of tension, a climax, and a release.

As you can hear bellow, Haydn was able to synthesize the Classical style and set new standards for the upcoming composers.

To the Early 18th Century (c.1680 – c.1750) - Session 7

Baroque Music (c.1680 – c.1750)

We finally reached one of my favorite periods in music during the Baroque era, the early 18th century. It's impossible to think about Baroque and not think about Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) and his masterpieces compositions. But before that let me give you a little background. 

J. S. Bach at the age of 35

The beginning of the fifteenth chapter of Seaton's book states that the third decade of the eighteenth century is when changes in musical thought and style started to appear, those styles supplied roots of a new era in music. Here is where I link my idea of progress in music, this time the composers did not take a step back in order to rearrange things, they actually did the opposite.  For the most part, new genres and styles were not created, the composers explored and expanded the types of works that already existed. The principal Baroque Genres were the Opera, Oratorio, Cantata, Suite, Sonata, Concerto and Organ Music. I'd love to write about all these genres, but I'll pick one that is special for me and because it was also its golden age: The Organ Music.

Organ music has flourished chiefly in the church, either as part of the liturgy or as a necessary adjunct to the service. In the organ music of Bach, the forms and styles of German, French, and Italian organ music reached their culmination of artistic expression. My favorite organ piece, and the one we will focus on, is Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565.

How about a little background of J.S. Bach's life? J.S. Bach was born in Germany to a large family of accomplished musicians, he was known primarily as one of Germany’s great organists, as a keyboard composer and a powerful improviser. Wagner called him “nothing less than the most stupendous miracle in all music." 

His Toccata and Fugue in D minor is among his most celebrated and well-known organ works and was written before 1708. It is such an amazing piece that inspired Stokowski to compose one of his most famous arrangement, Toccata and Fugue in D minor for full orchestra, in 1927, and it was premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Stokowski strove to keep the structural integrity of the piece, but reformatted it for the acoustical expectations of a twentieth-century concertgoer. He used a modern orchestral palate to highlight the different levels of counterpoint and textures. Shall we ear it? 

Canadian Brass member Fred Mills was inspired to make this arrangement by conductor Leopold Stokowski. For some, recasting a Bach organ work for a brass quintet might seem sacrilege, but Mills did an amazing job and his arrangement is now part of the standard repertoire for Brass quintet. 

Side-note, the UMass Graduate Brass Quintet will be performing this piece on November 19th, at 8pm in Bezanson Concert Hall, come hear us!!! 

This piece has such an beautiful intensity and a sophisticated level of Bach compositional techniques that became very popular. In fact, nowadays it is most widely known by its appearance in the opening minutes of the 1940 Disney movie Fantasia and also because it has a strong association in Western culture with horror films.

The first part of Bach’s piece is a toccata, an improvisatory-style piece used as prelude. It also represents a musical form for keyboard instruments that is designed to reveal the virtuosity of the performer’s touch. It was Bach's inspiration to combine a toccata with a following fugue, a tightly structured form in which a theme is developed in different keys so that it harmonizes with itself. In the current work, the theme of the fugue is based on the first few notes of the toccata, opening in the trumpet and gradually passing the theme around the brass quintet before the toccata itself returns for a grand finale.

Anyways, as I am a trumpet player, here is my favorite arrangement recording. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find the Fugue as well: German Brass - Toccata