MAPEH

MUSIC
MUSIC OF THE 20TH CENTURY

The Transitory Period and the Musical Movement

Impressionism

Expressionism Music of the 20th

Modern Nationalism
Century (Transitory)

Neoclassicism Avant-Garde

IMPRESSIONISM

As the world entered the 20th century, a new era in music was introduced and
impressionism was one of the earliest musical forms that paved the way to this
modern era. Impressionism is a French movement in the late 19th and early 20th
century.
- This movement characterizes its works centered on nature and its beauty,
likeness and brilliance.

Features of Impressionism

- colors (texture, timbre)

- combinations (chromatic scale, made of 12 tones: 8 whole tones, and 4 half
tones; pentatonic scale)
- attempt not to depict reality, but merely to suggest it.

Sample artwork: Impression Sunrise by Claude Monet

Renowned Musicians of Impressionism

 Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
- He was born on August 22, 1862, in a small town called St. Germain-en-
Layein-in France.
- He composed a total of more or less 227 masterpieces which include
orchestral music, chamber music, piano music, operas, ballets, songs, and
other vocal music.
- He was known as the “Father of the Modern School of Composition” and a
foremost impressionist composer. He made his impact on the styles of the
later 20th century composer like Igor Stravinsky.
- He died on March 25, 1918 due to cancer.

Debussy’s mature creative period was exemplified by the following works

- String Quartet
- La Mer (1905)
- Première Arabesque
- Clare de Lune (Moonlight) – the third and most famous movement of Suite
bergamasque. This piece has been once used for the movie “Twilight.”

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

- Joseph Maurice Ravel was born in Ciboure, France to a Basque mother and
a Swiss father. He was a famous persona and at age 14, he entered the Paris
Conservatory where he was musically nurtured by a prominent French
composer, Gabriel Faure. The compositional style of Ravel is mainly
characterized by its distinctively innovative but not atonal style of harmonic
treatment.
- His works are defined with intricate and sometimes modal melodies and
extended chordal components.

Ravel’s works

- Pavane for a Dead Princess (1899)

- String Quartet (1903)
- Sonatine for Piano (c. 1904)
- Rhapsodie Espagnole
- Bolero
- Jeux d’Eau or Water Fountains
- Miroirs
- Gaspard de la Nuit
- Nobles et Sentimentales

EXPRESSIONISM

The term “expressionism” was originally used in visual and literacy arts and
was probably first applied to music in 1918, especially to Schoenberg because
 like the painter Wassily Kandanlinsky (1866-1944), he veered away from the
“traditional forms of beauty,” to convey powerfully fillings in his mask.
- This movement presents atonality and the twelve-tone scale revealing
composer’s mind, expressing strong emotions, anxiety, rage, and alienation.
It expresses the meaning of emotional experience rather than physical
reality.

Features of Expressionism

- a high degree of dissonance

- extreme contrasts of dynamics
- constant changing of textures
- “distorted”
- angular melodies with wide leaps

Sample artwork: The Scream by Edvard Munch

Prominent Musician of Expressionism

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)

- Arnold Schoenberg was born on September 13, 1874 in a working-class
suburb of Vienna, Austria. He taught himself music theory but took lessons
in counterpoint. His works were greatly influenced by the German composer
Richard Wagner as evident in this symphonic poem Pelieas et Melisande,
Op. 5 (1903), a counterpart of Debussy’s opera of the same title.
- Schoenberg’s style in music reformed from time to time. From the early
influences of Wagner, his tonal preference gradually revolved to something
dissonant and atonal, as he explored the use of chromatic harmonies. He
was responsible for the establishment of the twelve-tone system.
- He died last July 13, 1951 in Los Angeles, California, USA where he had
settled since 1934.
- 213 musical compositions

His works

- Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night, 1899)

- Three Pieces for Piano, Op. 11
- Pierrot Lunaire
- Violin Concerto
- Skandalkonzert, a concert of the Wiener Konzertverein.

NEOCLASSICISM

Neoclassicism music is different from the two movements. This is light,

entertaining, cool, and independent of its emotional content. The composition
style used by the composer was the seven-note diatonic scale. This period
 combines tonal harmonies applying with slight dissonance which has a three-
movement format like shifting time signatures, complex but exciting rhythmic
patterns, as well as harmonic dissonance that produce harsh chords.
- This movement of music seeks to return in aesthetic precepts associated
with the broadly defined concept.
- The composers in this time were Francis Poulenc, Igor Stravinsky, Paul
Hindelmith, and Sergei Prokofieff.

Neoclassicism’s Famous Musicians

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

- He was born in Oranienbaum (now Lomonosov), Russia on June 17, 1882.
Stravinsky’s early music reflected the influence of his teacher, the Russian
composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. But in his first notable composition,
“The Firebird Suite” (1910), which was composed for Diaghilev’s Russian
Ballet, his skillful handling of material and rhythmic inventiveness went
beyond anything written by his Russian predecessors. He added a new
ingredient to his nationalistic musical style. The Rite of Spring (1913) was
another outstanding work showcasing his new technique.
- The proponent who is considered as a great trendsetter of the 20th century.
- 127 musical works
- He died last April 6, 1971.

Notable works of Stravinsky

- Ballet Petrouchka (1911) – featuring shifting rhythms and polytonality, a

signature device of the composer.
- The Nightingale (1914)
- Three Tales for Children (1917)
- Duo Concertant (1932)
- The Rake’s Progress (1951) – a full-length opera

Sergei Prokofieff (1891-1953)

- He was born last 1891 in Ukraine. He combined the movements of music
like Neoclassicism, Nationalism, and Avant-Garde composition. With his
progressive technique, pulsating rhythms, melodic directness, and a
resolving dissonance he was uniquely recognized. In writing symphonies,
chamber music, concerte, and solo instrumental music, he became a
productive and prolific composer. He worked and linked with other
composers, combined styles of Haydn and Mozart as classicist and Igor
Stravinsky as neoclassicist also inspired by Beethoven with two highly
regarded violin concerte and two string quartets.
- Known for his creation “Peter and the Wolf” which is intended for children
audiences. He was also given a chance to contact with Diaghilev and
Stravinsky for Romeo and Juliet for ballet, and War and Peace for opera.
 - He died in Moscow on March 15, 1953.

Bela Bartok (1881-1945)

- Bela Bartok was born last March 25, 1881 in Nagyszentmiklos, Hungary
(Romania). Began lessons with his mother and made folk songs
transcription. He opened the way to new modal kinds of harmony and
irregular meter. He was a Hungarian composer and pianist, created a
distinctive musical style using folk music. He excelled in instrumental music
writing many works for solo piano pieces, six string quartets, and other
chamber music, three concertos for piano, one for violin, and several
compositions for orchestras, the reinterpreted, traditional-musical. He
utilized changing meters and strong syncopations in his music style.
- The six string quartet is the greatest achievement of his creative life that
lasted for full 30 years for their completion.
- He was born to musical parents and died on September 26, 1945 in New
York City due to leukemia.
- 700 musical pieces

Notable works of Bartok

- The concerto – five movement work featuring the exceptional talents of each
various soloist in an intricately constructive piece.
- Allegro Barbaro – drew percussive sounds with swirling rhythms where a
solo piano is punctuated.
- Mikrokosmos – 13 years as one of the exceptional works of Bartok. It
contains a collection of six books as a legacy in music introducing and
familiarizing contemporary harmony and rhythm to the piano students
technically and progressively.

AVANT-GARDE

This form of music was considered as the vanguard of experimentation or

innovation period. The existing aesthetic and conventional type of music has
been put on to criticize, rejecting the status quo in favor of unique or original
elements. Adopting extreme composition within a certain tradition the so-called
“Experimental Music.”
- This deals with the parameters of sound in space with an absence of
traditional rules on harmony, melody, and rhythm.

Well-known Musicians of Avant-Garde

George Gershwin
- He was considered as a phenomenal composer, a cross-over artist, and a
father of American Jazz. Noteworthy of evidence with his numerous songs,
 serious compositions remain highly popular in the classical repertoire, and
with the mixture of the primitive and sophisticated music which lasted long
after his death.
- 369 musical compositions
- He was fascinated with classical music influenced by Ravel, Stravinsky,
Berg, and Schoenberg as well as the group of contemporary that shapes the
character of his major works like half jazz and half classical known as “Les
Six.” He died last July 11, 1937 in Hollywood, California, USA.

Works of Gershwin

- Rhapsody in Blue (1924)

- American in Paris (1928)
- Porgy and Bess (1934)

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)

- This notable composer was born in Massachusetts, the USA; he commended
himself as a charismatic conductor, pianist, composer, and lecturer to his
many followers. On November 14, 1943, he was requested to be a substitute
for the ailing Bruno Walter in conducting the New York Philharmonic
Orchestra in a concert.
- 90 compositions
- He composed the music for the film On the Waterfront (1954). He was fondly
remembered for his television series “Young People’s Concerts.”
- Died in October 14, 1990 in New York City, USA.

Notable Works of Leonard Bernstein

- West Side Story (1957) – the American version of Romeo and Juliet
- Candide (1956) – a Broadway hit
- Mass (1971)

Phillip Glass (1937)

- He is one of the Avant-Garde composers who also explored the areas of
ballet, opera, theatre, film, and even television jingles. His style of music was
criticized as uneventful and shallow because of its application to new sound
yet effective and compelling style.
- He was born in New York, USA of Jewish parents, and learned violin and
flute at the age of 15. He was inspired by a renowned Indian satirist Ravi
Shankar, and assisted the soundtrack for Conrad Rooks film Chappaqua.

Renowned Works of Glass

- Music in Similar Motion (1969)

- Music in Changing Paris (1970)
 - Einstein on the Beach (1976) – based on the lives of the prominent people in
the world like Mahatma Gandhi, Leo Tolstoy, Martin Luther King, and
Egyptian pharaoh.

MODERN NATIONALISM

Nationalistic composers and musical innovators were misled in the 20 th century

music development combined with modern techniques with folk materials.
Prominent Russian composers like Bela Bartok and Sergei Prokofieff who were
the neoclassicist infused classical techniques crossing rhythms and shifting
meters. They made extensive use of polytonality that uses two or more tonal
centers simultaneously.

ARTS
EXPRESSIONISM: A BOLD NEW MOVEMENT

In the early 1900s, there arose in Western art world movement that came to be
known as expressionism. Expressionist artists created works with some more
emotional force, rather than with realistic or natural images. To achieve this,
they distorted the outlines, applied strong colors and exaggerated forms. They
worked more with their imagination and feelings, rather than with what their
eyes saw in the physical world.

NEOPRIMITIVISM

Neoprimitivism was an art style that incorporated elements from the native arts
of the South Sea Islanders and the wood carvings of African tribes which
suddenly became popular at that time. Among the Western artists who adapted
these elements was Amedeo Modigliani, who used the oval faces and elongated
shapes of African art in both his sculptures and paintings. (Ethnocentric)

Figure 1. Yellow Sweater Figure 2. Head by

by Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Modigliani
 FAUVISM

Fauvism was a style that used bold, vibrant colors and visual distortions. Its
name was derived from les fauves (“wild beasts”), referring to the group of
French expressionist painters who painted in this style. Perhaps the most
known among them was Henri Matisse. (combination of post-impressionism
and expressionism )

Figure 3. Blue Window Figure 4. Woman with a

by Henri Matisse Hat by Henri Matisse

DADAISM

Dadaism was a style characterized by dream fantasies, memory images, and

visual tricks and surprises – as in the paintings of Marc Chagall and Glorgio de
Chirico below. Wishing to protest against the civilization that had brought in
such horrors, these artists rebelled against established norms and authorities,
and against the traditional styles in art. They chose the child’s term for
hobbyhorse, dada, to refer to their new “non-style.”

Figure 5. Melancholy
and Mystery of a Street Figure 6. I and the
by Glorgio de Chirico Village by Marc Chagall
 SURREALISM

Surrealism was a style that depicted an illogical, subconscious dream world

beyond the logical, conscious, physical one. Its name came from the term
“super-realism,” with its artworks clearly expressing a departure from reality –
as though the artists were dreaming, seeing illusions, or experiencing an altered
mental state.

Figure 7. Diana by Paul Figure 8. Personages

Klee with Star by Paul Klee

Many surrealists’ works depicted morbid or gloomy subjects, as in those by

Salvador Dali. Others were quite playful and even humorous, like those
above.

SOCIAL REALISM

Social realism expressed the artist’s role in social reform. Here, artists used
their works to protest against the injustices, inequalities, immorality, and
ugliness of the human condition. It adheres to reality and avoids romantic
embellishments. In different periods of history, social realists have addressed
different issues: war, poverty, corruption, industrial and environmental
hazards, and more – in the hope of raising people’s awareness and pushing
society to seek reforms. Ben Shahn’s Miners’ Wives, for example, spoke out
against the hazardous conditions faced by coal miners, after a tragic accident
killed 111 workers in Illinois in 1947, leaving their wives and children in
mourning.

Figure 9. Guernica by
Pablo Picasso
 Pablo Picasso’s Guernica has been recognized as
the most monumental and comprehensive statement of social
realism against the brutality of war. Filling one wall of the
Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris, it was
Picasso’s outcry against the German air raid of the town of
Guernica in his native Spain.
Created in the mid-1900’s Guernica combined
artistic elements developed in the earlier decades with those still
to come. It made use of the exaggeration, distortion, and shock
Figure 10. Krista by
technique of expressionism. At the same time, it had elements of
Paolo Baen Santos the emerging style that would later be known as cubism.

ABSTRACTIONISM

The abstractionist movement arose from the intellectual points of view in the
20th century. In the world of science, physicists were formulating a new view of
the universe, which resulted in the concepts of space-time and relativity. While
expressionism was emotional, abstractionism was logical and rational. It
involved analyzing, detaching, selecting, and simplifying. (Focuses on
intellectualism since it is the year of science). The following art styles are the
groups under abstractionism.

CUBISM

The cubist style was derived from the word cube, a three-dimensional geometric
figure composed of lines, planes, and angles. Cubist artworks were, therefore, a
play of planes and angles on a flat surface. Foremost among the cubists was
Spanish painter/sculptor Pablo Picasso, considered as father of Cubism.

Figure 11. Seated Figure 12. The Three Figure 13. Woman with
Woman by Pablo Picasso Musicians by Pablo a Guitar by Georges
Picasso Braque
 FUTURISM

It is an art of fast-paced, machine-propelled age. Artists draw inspiration

through motion, force, speed, and strength of mechanical forms. This
movement began in Italy in the early 1900s.

Figure 14. Dynamism of Figure 15. Movement

a Cyclist by Umberto and Sensation by
Boccioni Giacomo Balla

MECHANICAL STYLE

In the mechanical style of art, basic forms such as planes, cones, spheres, and
cylinders all fit together in a precise and neat manner. This is the result or
continuation of the futurist movement.

Figure 16. The City by Figure 17. Mechanical

Fernand Léger Compositions by
Fernand Léger

NON-OBJECTIVISM

The term non-object works in the non-objectivism style did not make use of
figures or even representations of figures. This style came from the logical,
geometrical conclusion of abstractionism. Non-objectivism is also called pure
art or minimal art and did not refer to recognizable objects or forms in the
outside world.

Figure 18. New York City

I by Piet Mondrian

ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM

THE NEW YORK SCHOOL

In the 1920s and 1930s, aspiring young American painters, sculptors, and
writers sailed to Europe to expand their horizons. But during the dark days of
World War II, a reverse migration brought European scientists, architects, and
artists to American shores. New York, in particular, became a haven for the
newly-arrived artists and their American counterparts. The result was the
establishment of what came to be known as “The New York School”—as opposed
to “The School of Paris” that had been very influential in Europe. The daring
young artists in this movement succeeded in creating their own synthesis of
Europe’s cubist and surrealist styles. Their style came to be known as abstract
expressionism.

ACTION PAINTING

They worked on huge canvasses spread on the floor, splattering, squirting, and
dribbling paint with no planned pattern or design in mind. The total effect is
one of vitality, creativity, “energy include visible.” This one form of abstract
expressionism was seen in the works of Jackson Pollock. Also called gestural
painting.
 COLOR FIELD PAINTING AND ITS PAINTERS

In contrast to the vigorous gestures of the action painters, another group of

artists who came to be known as “color field painters,” used different color
saturations to create their desired effects.

AFTER “THE NEW YORK SCHOOL”

By the early 1960s, the momentum of The New York School slowed down. In
its place, a new crop of artists came on the scene using lighter treatment and
flashes of humor, even irreverence, in their artworks. The movements they
brought about have come to be called:

NEODADAISM

The neodadaism of the 1960s wanted to make reforms in traditional values. It

also made use of commonplace, trivial, even nonsensical objects. But unlike
the angry, serious tone of the original Dadaists, the neodadaists deemed to
enjoy nonsense for its own sake and simply wanted to laugh at the world.
Their works ranged from paintings, to posters, to collages, to three-
dimensional “assemblages” and installations. These made use of easily
recognizable objects and images from the emerging consumer society.
 CONCEPTUAL ART

As the term implies, conceptual art was that which arose in the mind of the
artist, took concrete form for a time, and then disappeared. A key difference
between a conceptual artwork and a traditional painting or sculpture is that
the conceptualist’s work often requires little or no physical craftsmanship.
Conceptualists questioned the idea of art as objects to be bought and sold.
Instead, they brought their artistic ideas to life temporarily, using such
unusual materials as grease, blocks of ice, food, even just plain dirt. (focuses
on behind the scenes)

POP ART OR POPULAR ART

Pop Art was brash, colorful, young, fun, and hostile to the artistic
establishment. It was hugely successful and became an icon of the 1960s. the
champions of Pop Art were Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol (the leading figure
of Pop Art), and Tom Wesselmann. It coincided with the globalization of pop
music and youth culture, personified by Elvis and The Beatles.

Figure 19. Campbell’s Figure 20. Marilyn Figure 21. Whaam! by

Soup Cans by Andy Monroe by Andy Warhol Roy Lichtenstein
Warhol

OP ART OR OPTICAL ART

 This was yet another experiment in visual experience – a form of “action
painting,” with the action taking place in the viewer’s eye. This is a style of
abstractionism popular in the 1960s where lines, spaces, and colors were
precisely planned and positioned to give the illusion of movement. Thus, the
sense of sight appreciates the artworks.

Figure 22. Movement in Figure 23. Intrinsic Figure 24. Vega-Nor by

Squares by Bridget Harmony by Richard Victor Vasarely
Riley Anuszkiewicz

FAMOUS FILIPINO COUNTERPARTS OF EXPRESSIONISM

Jose T. Joya
- Joya was a Filipino abstract artist and a National Artist of the Philippines
awardee. He was a printmaker, painter, mixed media artist, and a former
dean of the University of the Philippines' College of Fine Arts. He pioneered
abstract expressionism in the Philippines. His canvases were characterized
by "dynamic spontaneity" and "quick gestures" of action painting.

Figure 25. Granadean

Arabesque by Jose T.
Joya

Alfonso Angel Yangco Ossorio

- He was a Filipino American abstract expressionist artist who was born in
Manila in 1916 to wealthy Filipino parents from the province of Negros
Occidental. His heritage was Hispanic, Filipino, and Chinese.

Figure 26. Angry Christ Figure 27. Forearmed,

Mural by Alfonso mixed media
Ossorio assemblage by Alfonso
Ossorio
 CONTEMPORARY ART FORMS

INSTALLATION ART

Installation art is a contemporary art form that makes use of sculptural

materials and other media to modify the way the viewer experiences a
particular space. It is also called environmental art, project art, and temporary
art. It creates an entire sensory experience for the viewer that allows him to
walk through them. An example is the Cordillera Labyrinth (the one on the
left) by Roberto Villanueva. (sensory experiences)

PERFORMANCE ARTS

Performance art is a form of modern art in which the actions of an individual

or group of a particular place and in a particular time constitute the work. It
can happen anywhere, at any time, or for any length of time. It does not
include such acts as theater, dance, music, mime, juggling, and gymnastics.
However, it is usually reserved for more unexpected, avant-garde, and
unorthodox activities intended to capture the audience’s attention.

Additional:

Still Life - A work of art in which ordinary household objects such as vases of
flowers, plate, fruit, food, and the like are depicted as the main subject.