Chapter Four Outline: “The Twentieth Century and Beyond: Modernism and Jazz”

 

Modern Music

            The horrors of the First World War caused many artists to believe that Romanticism was a mistake; they turned to pre-Romantic forms and styles for inspiration

            Modernism: in music, refers to the early 20th century; “make it new”

            Musical mainstream moved away from German and Austria to encompass both Eastern Europe and the United States

 

The Modern Audience

            For the first time, broadcasting and recordings became the primary means by which people listened to music

            Star composers and performers dominated the market like never before

            Greater accessibility was coupled with greater diversity of musical styles

                        Jazz, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and popular song challenged and then eclipsed the popularity of Western classical music

 

Instruments of the Modern Classical Repertory

            Relatively little change in the standard instruments, but composers do sometimes use new instrument combinations or new ways in which to play standard instruments

            Electricity: can amplify or modify sound produced by an acoustic instrument, but also makes instruments such as the synthesizer possible

 

Musical Elements of the Modern Repertory

            Composers both preserve links with and break away from the past

            Formal structures are highly flexible, but often audible to the careful listener

            Timbre: a locus for innovation in playing techniques or in electronic manipulation

            Rhythm and meter are often unstable or frequently shifting; many surprises

            Harmony: frequently provocative and dissonant, but still bearing some links to previous styles

            Melodies: some composers tend towards simple, folk-like tunes, while others eschew traditional melodic lines. Rhythm, meter and timbre often more important.

            Textures vary considerably and often change quickly

 

Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms

            Written to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

            Written by a Russian composer in Latin for an American orchestra that was premiered in Brussels—international flavor

Deeply sacred and restrained, renounces emotionalism in favour of ritual

            Stravinsky omits the upper strings and adds several less common instruments, resulting in a distinctively “Modern” sound

            Novel scoring results in percussive, bright sound with pervasive staccato

Impersonally transcendent, with occasional evocations of chant styles

 

Focus on Igor Stravinsky

            Russian composer who emigrated to France in the 1930s and later to the U.S.

            Widely performed, influential, multifaceted composer whose work touches on almost every important tendency of 20th-century music

            Influenced by his geography, but never lost contact with his Russian origins

            Best known for early ballets, The Rite of Spring foremost among them

            Neoclassical style began after the First World War and lasted into the 1950s

 

Across the Arts: Of Cathedrals and Skyscrapers—Architecture That Joins Earth and Sky

            The nature and purpose of a society’s buildings can provide insight into the society itself

            Neo-classical architecture (like neo-classical music) is based on something from the past, but presents it in a stripped-down, functional manner

 

Debussy’s Sonata for flute, viola, and harp

            Debussy’s music is often associated with the artistic movement of Impressionism—but this work has no connection to visual art

            Combines the three different timbres in washes of contrasting tone colors

                        Sensuousness of the sonic landscape is the purpose of the work

            Rapid changes in tempo accompany the changes in timbre

 

Focus on Claude Debussy

            French composer whose harmonic innovations had a profound effect on later generations of composers

            Reveals a highly original aesthetic and a range of timbral possibilities in his works for piano and orchestra

                        Reinvented the language of music as one of color and contrast

 

Modernism, cont.

            Not everyone rejected Romanticism

Charles Ives’ Sonata No. 4 sounds “Modern” with its highly dissonant

harmonies, but the quotation of a familiar tune makes a personal connection between composer and audience that is quite “Romantic”

            What makes works Modern is their combination of conservative and progressive traits

                        They write in established genres that link them to the past, but the pungent harmonies and flexible rhythm and meter mark them as distinctively Modern

 

Contemporary Music

            In the later 20th century music developed in new and unexpected ways

                        For instance, George Crumb takes a traditional ensemble and a traditional genre and creates a new musical language for them in Black Angels

            This music ranges from the bafflingly complex, as in the work of serialists Babbitt and Boulez, to the stunningly simple, as exemplified by Reich and Glass

            The influence of technology is felt in the works of Varese, and new ways of playing acoustic instruments come to particular prominence in the works of John Cage

 

Listening to Jazz-Sophisticated Music with Popular Roots: Lester Leaps In

            Performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1975 by a group of virtuoso musicians led by William “Count” Basie

            Jazz is complex, yet accessible. It uses the same basic musical elements as other types of music previously discussed, but in new and sophisticated ways. It is related to popular music and thus taps into familiar genres, but requires high levels of technical ability and improvisational creativity.

 

Focus on William “Count” Basie

            American jazz bandleader and pianist, a leading figure in big band and swing

            Innovations in accompaniment made the rhythm section more supple and supportive; established four-beat jazz as the norm

            Became well known for his recordings

 

The Story Behind Lester Leaps In

            Named after American saxophonist Lester Young

            Based on “I Got Rhythm”; classic example of the exchange between popular and jazz music

 

Focus on Lester Young and the Original 1939 Recording of Lester Leaps In

            Young’s style was considered revolutionary in the 1930s, but became a driving force for the development of modern jazz, and especially Charlie Parker

            Instruments exchange snippets of “conversation” without extended solos; timing and material suggest that this song was intended for a large audience, while the 1975 version demands careful listening

 

Impressions of Lester Leaps In

            Accessible, toe-tapping, high-energy music

Listening for the Beat: Rhythmic division into strong and weak beats emphasizes the “cracks”; this displacement is known as syncopation

Listening for Melodies and Chords: Well-known tunes such as “Dixie” and “I Got Rhythm”; chord progression also borrowed from “I Got Rhythm” (i.e., rhythm changes)

Listening for Form: “I Got Rhythm” has an ABBA form, which is heard 33 times in Lester Leaps In. Each repetition is known as a chorus.

 

Listening Carefully to Lester Leaps In

Music never repeats itself literally, but moves in recognizable patterns

Underlying chord structure repeats 33 times, but is difficult to follow due to the musicians’ expressive goals

 

Across the Arts: A Jazz Pattern in the Poetry of E.E. Cummings

            Masterful control of form is found across the arts, in poetry as in music

            Characterized by repetition, variation, and contrast

 

Active Listening

            Detailed description of prominent portions of Lester Leaps In

 

In History: Basie’s Lester Leaps In

            Jazz is inextricably connected with the African-American community in addition to its position as a significant contribution to American music; its cultural context suggests how it became such a cultural force

            In 1939, the Great Depression was a decade old and many people turned to popular music and to the movies for entertainment. At the same time, recordings became more inexpensive so that owning records was within the financial means of many.

            In the early 20th century large numbers of African-Americans moved to northern cities, bringing jazz, blues, and ragtime with them. To Northerners with no experience of these genres, the music was daring and exciting, and African-American performers were in high demand.

            All these factors helped jazz reach a broader audience than possible before