Chapter 20: The Twentieth Century: Early Modernism Expressionism

Key Terms Expressionism “Emancipation of dissonance” Sprechstimme Passacaglia Second Viennese School Ragtime “Master rhythm”

Expressionism A music of increasing emotionality Debussy & Stravinsky rejected Romanticism Expressionists took it to ultimate conclusion Exploited extreme psychological states Hysteria, nightmare, even insanity – reflected a fascination with Freud’s work Similar to parallel movement in art Subjective expression of inner turmoil Distorted & exaggerated melody & harmony Fascination with tone color & color theory

Second Viennese School (1) Schoenberg attracted two star students Alban Berg & Anton Webern All three shared in many innovations The “emancipation of dissonance” The breakdown of tonality Seeking solutions to the problem of coherence in an atonal, expressionist idiom Three very different personalities Schoenberg developed 12-tone music But each one explored it in his own way

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) The leading expressionist composer Largely self-taught in music But wrote important books on music theory Gifted amateur expressionist painter Early music tonal, à la Mahler & Brahms Began writing atonal music in 1907-08 Erwartung, 5 Orchestra Pieces, Pierrot lunaire Developed 12-tone method in early 1920s A Survivor from Warsaw, Piano Concerto Taught at UCLA last 15 years of his life

Schoenberg, Pierrot lunaire Highly influential song cycle 21 poems by symbolist poet Albert Giraud Pierrot is the eternal sad clown Lunaire refers to the moon & the bizarre hallucinations & adventures it inspires Written in an expressionist idiom Kaleidoscopic scoring for voice & 5 players on 8 instruments Flute (or piccolo), clarinet (or bass clarinet), violin (or viola), cello, & piano Each song uses a different combination

Sprechstimme Voice uses Sprechstimme (“speech-song”) The soprano does not really sing or speak She does something in between the two Schoenberg notated approximate pitches Singer must speak in an exaggerated, quasi-melodic manner Sprechstimme technique magnifies, distorts, parodies, & haunts these bizarre poems The actress who commissioned Pierrot requested a set of melodramas – works for a speaking voice with instrumental accompaniment!

No. 8: “Night” Evokes expressionism’s nightmarish side For voice, piano, bass clarinet, cello Evokes expressionism’s nightmarish side Uses low instruments in low register Dense polyphonic texture Schoenberg called this a passacaglia Recurring 3-note ostinato used throughout Many overlapping versions, freely transposed The soprano even sings the motive at the word verschwiegen (secret silent)

No. 18: “The Moonfleck” Starts with piano introduction For voice, piano, piccolo, clarinet, violin, cello Starts with piano introduction Dense, dissonant, & alarmingly intense The song depicts Pierrot’s obsession & the flickering moonfleck on his jacket High-pitched, quicksilver motives used throughout the ensemble Schoenberg uses fugues & canons We hear a fantastic lacework of atonal sounds

Second Viennese School (2) Anton Webern (1883-1945) His life revolved around his composition, though he held low-profile conducting posts Avoided Romantic grandiosity – favored low dynamics, abstract, pointillistic textures, & brief but concentrated musical structures Some expressionist works are very short Composers of the second phase of modernism revered his vision of abstraction & the brilliant sophistication of his later serial works Symphonie, Cantatas 1 & 2, String Quartet Accidentally killed by an American soldier

Second Viennese School (3) Alban Berg (1885-1935) After Schoenberg, the most powerful exponent of expressionism in music Looked back to Romantic tradition more than Schoenberg & Webern, especially to Mahler Use tonal references in Wozzeck & his Violin Concerto His expressionist opera Wozzeck was an immediate success Later 12-tone opera Lulu now also a classic Died of an infected insect bite

Berg, Wozzeck Based on an 1837 play by Georg Büchner An almost paranoid vision of the helpless poor Opera completed in 1923 Conceptually a Wagnerian work Relies on orchestra for musical continuity It uses leitmotivs & contains no arias Influenced by earlier expressionist works Sprechstimme borrowed from Pierrot lunaire Berg pays much attention to musical form Each scene uses a different, specific form

Story Wozzeck is a poor, downtrodden soldier Troubled by visions Tormented by his captain Human guinea pig in bizarre experiments carried out by his regimental doctor Beaten up by the drum major who is having an affair with Wozzeck’s lover, Marie Wozzeck is finally pushed over the edge He murders Marie, goes mad, & drowns himself Their young child is left an orphan

Wozzeck Act III, Scene iii (1) Invention on a rhythm A “master rhythm” is used throughout in many different tempos Wozzeck is in a tavern after killing Marie The two opening chord crescendos happen immediately after the murder Timpani are first to play the master rhythm – just after the first chord Distorted ragtime piano introduction follows

Wozzeck Act III, Scene iii (2) Ragtime introduction & Margret’s song make use of the master rhythm

Wozzeck Act III, Scene iii (3) Margret sees blood on Wozzeck’s hand So do the others – a crescendo of accusations (using master rhythm) chases Wozzeck away

Wozzeck Act III, Scene iv Invention on a chord of six notes B-flat, D-flat, E-flat, E, F, G-sharp Stated throughout, both as chord & as melody Wozzeck goes back to the murder scene Orchestra creates eerie nighttime sounds Wozzeck’s mind has finally cracked Obsessed with blood, he looks for the knife He drowns while trying to hide it in the pond Vivid orchestral gurgles accompany his death Doctor & Captain happen by – but do nothing

Wozzeck Act III, Orchestral Interlude Invention on a tonality Orchestral music for the blackout after Wozzeck’s drowning Based on a D minor tonality, but loosely, in a late Romantic idiom influenced by Mahler A mourning lament for Wozzeck, Marie, & humanity at large D minor often used for serious, tragic subjects Bach’s Toccata & Fugue in D minor Mozart’s Don Giovanni, final scene with statue Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony