Serialism and Minimalism

GCSE Music

Area of Study 2
Changing directions in western classical music from 1900

Introduction

Since the Baroque period, harmony had been progressing and became more and more complex
In the late Romantic period, composers such as Wagner, Bruckner and Strauss used more chromatic notes and dissonant chords

Impressionism

In France, composers such as Debussy were part of a new way of thinking called impressionism
This word first applied to a school of French painting
It’s chief representative was Claude Monet
Impressionism tried to either give a glimpse/impression of something- not a concrete view
Impressionism didn’t seek to express deeply felt emotions, but it evoked a mood/atmosphere
The tonality was not so defined and it did not have a definite ‘key centre’

Expressionism

Expressionism represented inner experience and was a rebellion against established order and accepted forms

Real objects in a distorted representation

Artists reflecting feelings about themselves and their surroundings

Artists (notably Kandinsky and Munch) created vivid pictures, distorting colour and shape to express their innermost emotions
In the same way, composers put intense emotional expression into their music
Expressionist music avoided cadence, repetition, sequence and balanced phrases
It had constantly changing textures, extremes of dynamics and used harmonic and melodic distortion and dissonance for effect

Serialism

In the 1920s, Arnold Schöenberg made up a completely different way of ...

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Expressionism

Expressionism represented inner experience and was a rebellion against established order and accepted forms

Real objects in a distorted representation

Artists reflecting feelings about themselves and their surroundings

Artists (notably Kandinsky and Munch) created vivid pictures, distorting colour and shape to express their innermost emotions
In the same way, composers put intense emotional expression into their music
Expressionist music avoided cadence, repetition, sequence and balanced phrases
It had constantly changing textures, extremes of dynamics and used harmonic and melodic distortion and dissonance for effect

Serialism

In the 1920s, Arnold Schöenberg made up a completely different way of composing called serialism

There are 3 main composers of serialism:

Arnold Schöenberg
Alban Berg
Anton Webern

Schöenberg treated all 12 notes of the chromatic scale as equal to each other
The basis of each composition is a row/series consisting of the 12 tones of the octave in an order which the composer chooses
The tones of the series may be used successively (a melody) and simultaneously (as a harmony/counterpoint), in any octave and with any desired rhythm
The row may not only be used in its ‘prime’ form, but in retrograde (backwards), inversion (upside down), and retrograde inversion (backwards and upside down)
The notes may appear singly or in combination (chords), but they must appear in the correct order and no notes may be used again until all the others have been used once
Notes can appear in any octave- this is part of the effect

Minimalism

Minimalism became popular in the USA in the 1960s (after the experimental movement)
It started out as a reaction against serialism
Many minimalist composers wrote in the serialist style. However, they find that this method of composing didn’t allow them to express themselves
There are 3 main principles of minimalism

Drone- a sustained sound
Phasing- when 2 or more versions of a sound or musical motif are playing simultaneously but slightly out of synchronisation
Repetition- the restatement of a section

The main composers of minimalism are:

Steve Reich
Philip Glass
Terry Riley
La Monte Young

Teacher Reviews

Here's what a teacher thought of this essay

Nathan Smith

8th of Jan 2013

This is a very concise but accurate description of 3 musical styles. The writer could have gone into more detail especially in the minimalism section. The writer uses musical vocabulary accurately and confidently.

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