Notes from Wednesday, April 9 class session:

Preparation For Wed. April 9:
1. Complete the online eWorkbook assessment Quiz #11 (Reading Orchestral Scores) in WebCT/Vista/Blackboard by 3PM Monday, April 14 (click here for instructions on how to log onto WebCT). To do this assignment, you must study the information and scores provided at the following link: http://www.wmich.edu/mus-gened/mus170/OrchestraCompare.html

2. Complete the online eWorkbook assessment Quiz #12 (20th century art music) in WebCT/Vista/Blackboard by 3PM Wednesday, April 16 (click here for instructions on how to log onto WebCT).

3. Read textbook Chapter 8 (20th-century)--pages 93-104 (Music Guides 66-72)

4. Listen to "Classical Music Online" examples for 20th-century Art Music.

5. Read Lecture Notes from April 7.

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LECTURE TOPIC: MUSIC OF THE 20TH CENTURY

(See Chapter 8 for details)

The following bold or bold/italic terms/works/composers were studied:

NEO-CLASSICISM and NEO-ROMANTICISM
- In the early/mid 20th century, several prominent composers began to use traditional classic-era forms, and a somewhat traditional classic-sized orchestra, but within the context of a broader/more modern approach to tonality and color then used by classic-era composers. This approach is often referred to as "the new Classicism" or "neo-Classicism". (See Music Guide 63/Chapter 8)--Copland: Appalachian Spring
- Similarly, during the advent of extreme styles from Schoenberg, Stravinsky, etc., more conservative composers continued to advocate a return to the aesthetics of Romanticism, but with within the context of a broader/more modern approach to tonality. This approach is often referred to as "the new Romanticism" or "neo-Romanticism". (See Music Guide 64/Chapter 8--Barber: Adagio for Strings and Music Guide 65/Chapter 8--Bernstein: West Side Story which also incorporates aspects of Jazz)

EXPERIMENTAL STYLES ("Avant-Garde")

We surveyed a variety of experimental approaches by 20th-century American composers:
- Cowell: The Banshee (tone clusters; see Music Guide 66/Chapter 8)
- Cage: The Perilous Night (prepared piano; see Music Guide 67/Chapter 8) and 4'33" (Chance Music; see Music Guide 68/Chapter 8)
- Varese: Poeme electronique (musique concrete; see Music Guide 69/Chapter 8)
- Babbitt: Ensembles for Synthesizer (total serialism; see Music Guide 70/Chapter 8)
- Glass: Glassworks (minimalism; see Music Guide 72/Chapter 8)--see also Reich: Violin Phase (Music Guide 74/Chapter 8)

We also heard an excerpt from Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, an expressionistic symphonic poem by the Polish avant-garde composer, Penderecki--uses a 52-string orchestra in a myriad of experimental ways (see Music Guide 71/Chapter 8).