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Chapter 20: The Twentieth Century: Early Modernism

Chapter 20: The Twentieth Century: Early Modernism. Debussy and Impressionism. Impressionism Nocturne. Key Terms. The Twentieth Century: Early Modernism (1). The Twentieth Century: Early Modernism (2). 1st phase of modernist music 1890-1914 Took place mostly in Paris & Vienna

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Chapter 20: The Twentieth Century: Early Modernism

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  1. Chapter 20:The Twentieth Century: Early Modernism Debussy and Impressionism

  2. Impressionism Nocturne Key Terms

  3. The Twentieth Century:Early Modernism (1)

  4. The Twentieth Century:Early Modernism (2) • 1st phase of modernist music 1890-1914 • Took place mostly in Paris & Vienna • Leading figures were Debussy, Stravinsky, & Schoenberg • Other modernist rumblings in Russia, Hungary, Italy, & the United States • A period of rapid change & development • Revolution in tonality especially captured early 20th century imagination • Along with rethinking of melody & harmony

  5. Debussy and Impressionism • On the border between late 19th & early 20th century styles • Some features remind us of Romanticism • Investigation of sensuous new tone colors • Development of new rich harmonies • Search for new ways to express emotion • Some features rebel against Romanticism • Favors subtle, mysterious shades of sound • Fragmentary melodies based on vague scales • Ambiguous harmonies & clouded tonality

  6. Claude Debussy(1862-1918) • The leading impressionist composer • Trained at Paris Conservatory • Influenced by the kuchka, gamelan, & Wagner • Style crystallized in his early 30s • Influence of impressionism & symbolism • Innovations in orchestration & piano writing • Brief career as a music critic • Wrote orchestral works, piano music, songs, chamber music, & an opera • La Mer, Preludes, Pelléas et Melisande

  7. Debussy, Three Nocturnes (1) • Impressionistic symphonic poems • Vague & evocative – no clear-cut narrative • Title suggests Chopin’s piano nocturnes • But Debussy was thinking of a set of atmospheric paintings by Whistler • Three character pieces for orchestra • Clouds – a pure nature piece • Festivals – mysterious night-time fairs & parades • Sirens – wordless women’s chorus evokes alluring but deadly singers from The Odyssey

  8. Whistler

  9. Monet

  10. Three NocturnesClouds (1) • Very loose ternary form – A B A’ • No literal return of A – only vague recollection • No full-blown melodies in the A section • Motives & melodic fragments only • “Cloud theme” built on oscillating chords • Haunting octatonic English horn motive • Focus on subtly shifting textures, tone colors

  11. Three NocturnesClouds (2) • B section more melodic & complete • Pentatonic tune repeats three times • A’ even more fragmentary than A

  12. Conclusions on Debussy • The 1st great modernist composer • Breaks down traditional approaches to melody & harmony • Tone color takes on a new importance • Few tunes – mostly motives & melodic fragments based on exotic scales • Pedal tones & ostinatos anchor the tonality • Frequent use of parallelism & rich chords • Static, fragmentary quality draws attention to his exquisite tone colors

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