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Home , Absolute music, Benjamin Britten, Igor Stravinsky, Michael Tippett, Sergei Diaghilev, Sergei Prokofiev

Chapter 22 The Tonal Tradition

Thursday, February 7, 13 and the “” • Neoclassicism- the deliberate imitation of an earlier style within a contemporary context, reached its height in the 1920s and 1930s 1. return to tonal idiom 2. return to conventional genres and forms 3. return to ideal of absolute 4. transparent textures, lighter , smaller ensembles 5. conciseness of expression

Thursday, February 7, 13 Neoclassicism and the “New Objectivity” • Neoclassic and music: - Sergei Prokofiev’s Classical (1917) - ’s (1920) and (1940) • related to Neoclassicism is outlook known as “new objectivity” - music that is detached; unsentimental - Stravinsky’s for Winds (1923) - ’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1928-29)

Thursday, February 7, 13 Neoclassicism and the “New Objectivity”

• Sergei Prokofiev Classical Symphony (1917) - example of Neoclassical style - Gavotta mvmt. uses the and form of the traditional but he melody and are

Thursday, February 7, 13 Neoclassicism and the “New Objectivity”

• Kurt Weill Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (1928-29) - title: The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny - written with the actor/playwright - satire on capitalism; the only crime is to be poor; everything is legal as long as you can pay for it

Thursday, February 7, 13 Orchestral Music

• symphony retained its character as large scale work in multiple movements and proved an important vehicle for nationalism • with pluralism, composers of instrumental music were no longer expected to prove abilities and accomplishments by writing a symphony • appealed to composers whose style remained within tonal idiom • other composers wrote large scale works that avoided programmatic and generic associations

Thursday, February 7, 13 Orchestral Music

• Bartók Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta (1936) - large orchestral work with no programmatic elements (i.e., it is not a symphonic poem) - 4 movements but instrumentation does not place it into the symphony genre - complex rhythm (typical of Bartók) - chromatic but tonal melody - 3rd movement uses (see opening xylophone part) - arch form (see Bonds p. 568 for chart)

Thursday, February 7, 13 Film Music

• new genre in the 20th century • challenge of writing for film was to write music fitting a scene already shot and whose timing was thus fixed • film music also provided basis for a number of larger, independent works • by the 1960s, there emerged a perceived need for a “hit” song with the marketing departments of film producers • introduction of electronic syntheses seen as an expense saving method of score creation

Thursday, February 7, 13 Film Music

• Prokofiev (1938-39) - film by made in 1938 - in 1939 Prokofiev turned the film music into a - music fits the “socialist realism” aesthetic • must have an optimistic tone; evokes the music of the people; readily accessible - film is anti-German (recall Nazi’s are building up to WWII) - film removed from circulation after the signing of the Non- Aggression Pact (1939) - film rushed back into theaters in 1941 when Nazis break the Non-Aggression Pact

Thursday, February 7, 13 Ballet

• enjoyed two “golden ages” in 20th century - first came in before through the work of ’s Russes and American Isadora Duncan - second took place in middle of century in New York City through work of choreographers , , Agnes de Mille, Merce Cunningham, and composers , ,

Thursday, February 7, 13 Ballet

• Copland “Hoe-down” from Rodeo - ballet which uses American themes and tunes - Copland heard the folk song he borrowed from the recordings made by Alan and John Lomax

Thursday, February 7, 13

• string quartet maintained its traditional status as most prestigious of all chamber genres - composers: Schoenberg, Webern, Berg, Bartók, Shostakovich • less conventional groupings of instruments - Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time) using , , , piano

Thursday, February 7, 13 Chamber Music

• Olivier Messiaen Quatror pour la fin du temps - title: Quartet for the End of Time - unusual instrumentation - written while in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp - inspired by the Book of Revelation - 1st movement: • each instrument has its own rhythm which are layered • often uses “nonretrogradable” rhythm

Thursday, February 7, 13 Chamber Music

• Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8 - written in memory of the victims of fascism and war - has many autobiographical elements • D Eb C H is his musical signature (Eb is Es and H is B-natural) - he quotes his own , , etc. - the third movement is a and functions as a kind of macabre

Thursday, February 7, 13 and Musical Theater

• group of composers produced new English- language works that attracted wide followings • revival of earlier repertories, particularly operas of Monteverdi and Handel, offered other resources

Thursday, February 7, 13 Opera and Musical Theater

• Broadway musical was most vital form of musical throughout 20th century • Broadway musical is direct descendant of singspiel and (a play with songs)

Thursday, February 7, 13 Opera and Musical Theater • early musicals were framework for a revue - performances with potpourri of acts followed in quick succession - songs and dance were dominant components • at turn of century, African Americans produced musical comedies on Broadway that drew white audiences • many musicals combined entertainment with social commentary

Thursday, February 7, 13 Opera and Musical Theater

• Fats Waller Ain’t Misbehavin’ - music from a “revue” • originally a Harlem Nightclub Revue • later part of a Broadway Revue of Waller songs - this version features - form is AABA song form (sometimes called 32-bar pop song form)

Thursday, February 7, 13 Opera and Musical Theater

• Bernstein West Side Story (1957) - Broadway musical - uses the type of story which is set in New York City • Sharks (Puerto Ricans) vs. Jets (whites)

Thursday, February 7, 13

• remained largest of all vocal genres outside of opera • traditionally scored for vocal soloists, chorus and • composers: - Schoenberg, Debussy, Stravinsky • English composers: - , , ,

Thursday, February 7, 13 Oratorio

• Britten War (premiered 1962) - oratorio - Britten the greatest English vocal since Purcell - Requiem text is interlaced with poems by (soldier who died in WWI) - scored for three groups; separated spatially

Thursday, February 7, 13