Learning Objectives
- Outline the social, cultural, and political impact of WWI and WWII.
- Discuss the growth of the United States as a world power.
- Describe the impact of technological advancements on the development of music in the twentieth century.
- Describe, compare and contrast the main stylistic differences of Contemporary music styles including impressionism, post-Romanticism, serialism, and expressionism.
- Summarize the changing nature and application of the concept of tonality throughout the century.
- Discuss the impact of Claude Debussy's "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" in light of the Symbolist movement in literature.
- Illustrate how the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky experimented with rhythm, new instrumental combinations, and the percussive use of dissonance, and discuss the impactof these techniques on contemporary music.
- Describe the impact of Arnold Schoenberg and the Second Viennese School on 20th-century music.
- Distinguish the main stylistic differences of nineteenth- and twentieth-century composers and styles.
- Describe the musical and political impact of “national schools” of composition that developed across Europe during the 20th century.
- Explain the impact of composer Aaron Copland on American contemporary music.
- Describe the impact of Latin American composers on the larger "art music" scene and repertoire.
- Define and analyze the main differences between jazz, ragtime, and blues.
France
Until World War I, Paris and Vienna were the two main centers of composition in Europe. Thereafter, modern means of communication and transportation meant that new trends, styles, and idioms were so quickly adopted that no single city was known as a leading innovator. However, the renown of music teacher Nadia Boulanger made Paris a leading center of musical education. As well, nationalistic pride, demonstrated in the music of Satie, Debussy, and Ravel, continued to dominate France throughout the 20th century.
Nadia Boulanger
In addition to her work as a composer and conductor, Nadia Boulanger was an outstanding music professor who taught some of the most influential composers of the 20th century. Her students included Aaron Copland, Philip Glass, Walter Piston, and Quincy Jones. She has been called “the most influential teacher since Socrates.” Although she taught in the U.S. and England, her principal base was in Paris, where she taught for 70 years.
Les Six
The cultural atmosphere of post-WWI France produced a school of composers known as Les Six, which included Arthur Honegger (1892-1955), Louis Duray (1888-1979), Georges Auric (1899-1983), Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983) (the only female member of the group), Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), and Francis Poulenc (1899-1963). Led by Honegger, Milhaud, and Poulenc, the group sought to maintain the understated style of Erik Satie. Honegger’s oratorio Le Roi David (King David) was a centerpiece for Les Six, while his Laudate Dominum was a beautiful short choral work in the style of a motet.
Darius Milhaud emerged among Les Six as one of France’s leading musical figures. His suite of short piano pieces, Saudades do Brazil, which includes Ipanema, revealed his interest in the music of Latin America. His La Création du monde (The Creation of the World) is one of the first works to combine elements of American jazz with art music.
Composer: Arthur Honegger
-
"Laudate Dominum"
Composer: Darius Milhaud
-
"Saudades do Brasil, Op. 67: Ipanema"
A member of Les Six, Francis Poulenc is probably best known for his smaller works. The characteristic delicacy of his chamber music may be heard in the third movement of his Violin Sonata.
Composer: Francis Poulenc
-
"Violin Sonata: III. Presto tragico"
Olivier Messiaen
A prominent French composer, Messiaen created yet another distinctive style: his Neumes rythmiques for piano adapted idioms from medieval music as well as from contemporary sources, including Stravinsky and Debussy. His influence spread through the work of his two greatest students, Pierre Boulez (b. 1925) and Karlheinz Stockhausen (b. 1928).
Composer: Olivier Messiaen
-
"Turangalîla-symphonie: V. Joie du sang des étoiles"