1. Chapter 29 Germanic Expression and the Development of Serialism

2. Expressionism
Expressionism in art represents tormented feelings with harsh colors and distorted images
Artists did not attempt to produce beautiful or realistic art
Several 20th composers shared goals of expressionist artists
Efforts to create new tonality led to idea of avoiding tonality
Tonality was so fundamental to musical organization it could not be dropped
Arnold Schoenberg developed serialism – a system to replace traditional harmony and tonality
Portrait of Eduard Kosmack by Egon Schiele

3. Arnold Schoenberg 1874-1951 Born in Vienna, Austria
Studied violin and cello
Worked several years as a bank employee
Influenced by Brahms and Wagner; acquainted with Strauss and Mahler
1890s: composed string quartets, piano works, and songs
Took as students Alban Berg and Anton Weber
Rejected tonality with atonal style
New system of organization called tone row – arranged 12 chromatic tones in a chosen order (non-scalelike)
Notes could be used in sequence or simultaneously in groups
System is called twelve-tone or dodecaphony; repeated use of row is known as serialism

4. Arnold Schoenberg (cont.) 1874-1951
Song cycle Pierrot Lunaire (Moonstruck Pierre, 1912) drew invective from critics but praise from avant-garde sympathizers
Pierrot Lunaire composed for soprano voice and five instrumentalists
Employed Sprechstimme - half-sung, half-spoken vocal technique
Based on a set of 21 published poems
Work is atonal but not twelve tone
Taught Alban Berg and Anton Webern
Taught at State Academy of the Arts in Berlin; dismissed from post when Nazi Party assumed power
Immigrated first to France then to United States
Worked in Boston and New York; joined faculty of University of California at Los Angeles
Died in Los Angeles at age 76

5. Featured Listening: “Der Mondfleck” (“Moonfleck”), no
Featured Listening: “Der Mondfleck” (“Moonfleck”), no. 18, from Perriot Lunaire (Moonstruck Pierrot)
Composed by Arnold Schoenberg in 1912
Chamber music
Sehr rasche (very fast)
Through-composed form
Soprano voice, piano, piccolo, clarinet, violin, cello
Triple Meter
Translation
A white fleck of bright moonlight on the back of his black jacket,
Pierrot strolls in the mild evening air, To search for good fun and adventure.
Suddenly, something about his clothing seems wrong, He checks himself and, indeed, finds –
A white fleck of bright moonlight on the back of his black jacket.
Wait! He thinks: that is a fleck of plaster!
He wipes and wipes, still – he can’t get rid of it!
And se he goes on, filled with poison.
He rubs and rubs until dawn comes – at a white fleck of bright moonlight.
Listening Guide Example from CD 2, track 18, pp
Listen to the entire selection:

6. Other Serial Composers
Alban Berg ( )
Adopted most of Schoenberg’s twelve-note system of composition
Combined twelve-tone techniques with forms from earlier musical eras
Opera Wozzeck ( ) considered to be greatest work
Influenced by World War I environment in Europe
Vocal style depends heavily on Sprechstimme
Mood of opera is one of cynicism, irony, helplessness and depression
Anton Webern ( )
Works represent a radical departure from established compositional procedures and concepts
Mature works epitomize serialist approach to composition inherent in twelve-tone system
Wrote little music; works tended to be short
Complete output totals less than five hours of music
Music became increasingly influential after World War II
In 1970s and 1980s young composers such as Pierre Boulez and Milton Babbitt adapted features of his music and expanded techniques of serialism

7. Listening Guide Example from
Listening Guide: Five Pieces for Orchestra, op. 10, third movement by Anton Webern
Composed in 1928
Orchestral music
Sehr langsam und auberst ruhig (very slow and extremely quiet
Seems to be ABA form, but beginning music does not repeat
Clarinet, French horn, trombone, harmonium, mandolin, guitar, celesta, violin, viola, cello, harp, bass drum, snare drum, chimes, cowbells
Mostly sextuple meter, with variations
Listen to the entire movement:
Listening Guide Example from
CD 5, track 21, pp