20th Century

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20th Century
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Styles andForms
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Serial Music A 20th-century method of musical
composition invented by Arnold Schoenberg in
which the twelve notes of the Chromatic scale are
organised into a series or a tone row. This row
can be transposed, inverted or played in
retrograde. Serial music is highly dissonant.
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Arnold Schoenberg Audio Clip
Anton Webern Audio Clip
Alban Berg Audio Clip
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The Tone Row
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Tone Row A serial of 12 notes. Each note is a
different note of a chromatic scale
Retrograde Playing a melody backwards
Inversion Playing a melody upside down
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Sprechgesang
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Another technique adopted by Schoenberg and Berg
was Sprechgesang . This is a technique used in
vocal music where the singer is required to use
the voice in an expressive manner half-way
between singing and speaking.
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Nationalism A term used to describe music which
incorporates elements of folk music of the
composers country. It emerged about the second
half of the 19th century and was a type of
Romanticism.
Bela Bartok Hungary Audio Clip
Edvard Grieg Norway Audio Clip
Leos Janacek Czechoslovakia Audio Clip
Aaron Copland America Audio Clip
Manuel De Falla Spain Audio Clip
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Neo-classical New classicism. From about 1929
onwards this style in music came about when
composers reacted against Romanticism and wanted
to return to the structures and styles of earlier
periods but combined with dissonant, tonal and
even atonal harmonies. The composers started to
write for smaller orchestras.
Paul Hindemith Audio Clip
Igor Stravinsky Audio Clip
Sergei Profiev Audio Clip
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Musique concrète Recorded natural sounds which
are transformed using simple editing techniques
such as cutting and re-assembling, playing
backwards, slowing down and speeding up.
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Jazz funk A combination of jazz Improvisation
and the amplified instruments and character of
Rock. A chord very common in all jazz styles is
the added 6th.
Chick Corea Elektric Band Audio Clip
Weather Report Audio Clip
Marcus Miller Audio Clip
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Chant A series of chords to which the words of
psalms are sung in the Church of England. The
texture of the music is homophonic and the word
setting mainly syllabic.
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Other Important Features
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Polytonality The use of two or more keys played
or sung at the same time, e.g. the melody may be
in the key of C major whilst the accompaniment
might be in E major.
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Darius Milhaud
Gustav Holst
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Microtone Any interval noticeably smaller than a
semitone, most often found in the music of
Eastern European countries and also in Indian and
Arabic music. It is sometimes used by
contemporary classical composers.
György Ligeti Audio Clip
John Cage Audio Clip
Charles Ives Audio Clip
Krzysztof Penderecki Audio Clip
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Tritone Interval of an augmented 4th, e.g.
CF or FB. It is made up of three whole
tones. The tritone has commonly been used in
music since the Romantic Period. The tritone
interval is also known as Diabolus in Musica (The
Devil in Music)
Romantic Music Audio Clip
Heavy Metal Audio Clip
West Side Story Audio Clip
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Irregular metres Often in modern or
rhythmically based ethnic music, groupings of
notes change, but the underlying pulse remains
constant. Sometimes composers in the 20th century
try to destroy the feeling of a regular down beat
by changing the time signature frequently or
using unusual time signatures eg. 5/4, or 7/8
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Electric Counterpoint Steve Reich
Sting Audio Clip
Howard Shore Audio Clip
Dave Brubek Audio Clip