Musical Styles 1900-1950

Accent Emphasis of a note, which may result from it's being louder (dynamic accent) longer, or higher in pitch than the notes near it.

Atonality Absence of tonality, or key, characteristic of much twentieth-century

music.

Bitonality Approach to pitch organization using two keys at one time, often found in twentieth-century music.

Church modes Scales containing seven tones with an eighth tone duplicating the first an octave higher, but with different patterns of whole and half steps from major and minor scales; used in medieval, Renaissance, and twentieth-century music and in folk music.

Dissonance Tone combination that is unstable and tense.

Consonance Tone combination that is stable and restful.

Glissando Rapid slide up or down a scale.

Improvisation Creation of music at the same time as it is performed.

Nationalism Inclusion of folksongs, dances, legends, and other national material in a composition to associate it with the composer's homeland; characteristic of romantic music.

Ostinato Motive or phrase that is repeated persistently at the same pitch, used in twentieth-century music to stabilize a group of pitches.

Polychord Combination of two chords sounded at the same time, used in twentieth-century music.

Polyrhythm Use of two or more contrasting and independent rhythms at the same time, often found in twentieth-century music.

Polytonality Approach to pitch organization using two or more keys at one time, often found in twentieth-century music.

Quotation music Works which make extensive use of quotations from earlier

music; common since the mid-1960s.

Tone cluster Chord made up of tones only a half step or a whole step apart, used in twentieth-century music.

Twelve-tone system Method of composing in which all pitches of a composition are derived from a special ordering of the twelve chromatic tones (tone row or set); developed by Schoenberg in the early 1920s.

Music and Musicians in Society

Impressionism and Symbolism

Impressionism Musical style which stresses tone color, atmosphere, and fluidity, typical of Debussy (flourished 1890&endash;1920).

Claude Debussy

Fourth chord Chord in which the tones are a fourth apart, instead of a third; used in twentieth-century music.

Impressionism Musical style which stresses tone color, atmosphere, and fluidity, typical of Debussy (flourished 1890&endash;1920).

Pentatonic scale Scale made up of five different tones, used in folk music and music of the far east.

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism Musical style marked by emotional restraint, balance, and clarity, inspired by the forms and stylistic features of eighteenth-century music, found in many works from 1920 to 1950.

Igor Stravinsky

Ostinato Motive or phrase that is repeated persistently at the same pitch, used in twentieth-century music to stabilize a group of pitches.

Polychord Combination of two chords sounded at the same time, used in twentieth-century music.

Primitivism Evocation of primitive power through insistent rhythms and percussive sounds.

Expressionism

Expressionism Musical style stressing intense, subjective emotion and harsh dissonance, typical of German and Austrian music of the early twentieth century.

Arnold Schoenberg

Atonality Absence of tonality, or key, characteristic of much twentieth-century

music.

Chromatic harmony Use of chords containing tones not found in the prevailing major or minor scale but included in the chromatic scale (which has twelve tones); often found in romantic music.

Dissonance Tone combination that is unstable and tense.

Expressionism Musical style stressing intense, subjective emotion and harsh dissonance, typical of German and Austrian music of the early twentieth century.

Fourth chord Chord in which the tones are a fourth apart, instead of a third; used in twentieth-century music.

Klangfarbenmelodie See tone-color melody.

Leap Interval larger than that between two adjacent tones in the scale.

Sprechstimme In German, speech-voice; a style of vocal performance halfway between speaking and singing, typical of Schoenberg and his followers.

Tone-color melody Succession of varying tone colors serving as a musical idea in a composition, used by Schoenberg and his followers.

Tone row (set, series) Particular ordering of the twelve chromatic tones, from which all pitches in a twelve-tone composition are derived.

Twelve-tone system Method of composing in which all pitches of a composition are derived from a special ordering of the twelve chromatic tones (tone row or set); developed by Schoenberg in the early 1920s.

Alban Berg

Anton Webern

Atonality Absence of tonality, or key, characteristic of much twentieth-century

music.

Béla Bartók

Dissonance Tone combination that is unstable and tense.

Polychord Combination of two chords sounded at the same time, used in twentieth-century music.

Charles Ives

Dissonance Tone combination that is unstable and tense.

George Gershwin

Improvisation Creation of music at the same time as it is performed.

Aaron Copland

Polychord Combination of two chords sounded at the same time, used in twentieth-century music.

Polyrhythm Use of two or more contrasting and independent rhythms at the same time, often found in twentieth-century music.

Polytonality Approach to pitch organization using two or more keys at one time, often found in twentieth-century music.

Theme and variations Form in which a basic musical idea (the theme) is repeated over and over and is changed each time in melody, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, or tone color. Used either as an independent piece or as one movement of a larger work.

Musical Styles Since 1950

Chance (aleatory) music Music composed by the random selection of pitches, tone colors, and rhythms; developed in the 1950s by John Cage and others.

Computer Tool used to synthesize music, to help composers write scores, to store samples of audio signals, and to control synthesizing mechanisms.

Computer music Composition including sounds generated and manipulated by computer.

Expressionism Musical style stressing intense, subjective emotion and harsh dissonance, typical of German and Austrian music of the early twentieth century.

Microtone Interval smaller than a half step.

Minimalist music Music characterized by steady pulse, clear tonality, and insistent repetition of short melodic patterns; its dynamic level, texture, and harmony tend to stay constant for fairly long stretches of time, creating a trancelike or hypnotic effect; developed in the 1960s.

Notation System of writing down music so that specific pitches and rhythms can be communicated.

Quotation music Works which make extensive use of quotations from earlier

music; common since the mid-1960s.

Serialism Method of composing which uses an ordered group of musical elements to organize rhythm, dynamics, and tone color, as well as pitch; developed in the mid-twentieth century.

Synthesizer System of electronic components which can generate, modify, and control sound; used to compose music and to perform it.

Tape studio Studio with tape recorders and other equipment used to create electronic music by modifying and combining recorded sounds.

Music Since 1950: 3 Representative Pieces

Concerto grosso Composition for several instrumental soloists and small orchestra; common in late baroque music.

Gregorian chant Melodies set to sacred Latin texts, sung without accompaniment; was the official music of the Roman Catholic church.

Polyrhythm Use of two or more contrasting and independent rhythms at the same time, often found in twentieth-century music.

Quotation music Works which make extensive use of quotations from earlier music; common since the mid-1960s.

Rock First called rock and roll, a style of popular vocal music which developed in the 1950s, characterized by a hard, driving beat and featuring electric guitar accompaniment and heavily amplified sound.

Jazz

Bar Another term for measure, often used in jazz.

Bebop (bop) Complex jazz style, usually for small groups, developed in the 1940s and meant for attentive listening rather than dancing.

Blues Term referring both to a style of performance and to a form; an early source of jazz, characterized by flatted, or "blue," notes in the scale; vocal blues consist of 3-line stanzas in the form a a' b.

Call and response (1) In jazz, a pattern in which one voice or instrument is answered by another voice, instrument, or group of instruments. (2) Performance style in which the phrases of a soloist are repeatedly answered by those of a chorus, often found in African and other nonwestern music.

Chorus In jazz, a statement of the basic harmonic pattern or melody.

Cool jazz Jazz style related to bebop, but more relaxed in character and relying more heavily on arrangements; developed around 1950.

Dixieland See New Orleans jazz.

Free jazz Jazz style which departs from traditional jazz in not being based on regular forms and established chord patterns; developed during the 1960s.

Front line In New Orleans or Dixieland jazz, the group of melodic instruments which improvise on a melody, supported by the rhythm section.

Improvisation Creation of music at the same time as it is performed.

Jazz Music rooted in improvisation and characterized by syncopated rhythm, a steady beat, and distinctive tone colors and performance techniques. Jazz was developed in the United States predominantly by African American musicians and gained popularity in the early twentieth century.

Jazz rock (fusion) Style which combines the jazz musician's improvisatory approach with rock rhythms and tone colors; developed in the 1960s.

New Orleans (Dixieland) jazz Jazz style in which the front line, or melodic instruments, improvise several contrasting melodic lines at once, supported by a rhythm section that clearly marks the beat and provides a background of chords; usually based on a march or church melody, a ragtime piece, a popular song, or 12-bar blues.

Note In notation, a black or white oval to which a stem and flags can be added.

Pitch Relative highness or lowness of a sound.

Ragtime Style of composed piano music, generally in duple meter with a moderate march tempo, in which the pianist's right hand plays a highly syncopated melody while the left hand maintains the beat with an "oom-pah" accompaniment. Ragtime was developed primarily by African American pianists and flourished from the 1890s to about 1915.

Rhythm section Instruments in a jazz ensemble which maintain the beat, add rhythmic interest, and provide supporting harmonies. The rhythm section is usually made up of piano, plucked double bass, percussion, and sometimes banjo or guitar.

Riff In jazz, a short repeated phrase that may be an accompaniment or a melody.

Rock First called rock and roll, a style of popular vocal music which developed in the 1950s, characterized by a hard, driving beat and featuring electric guitar accompaniment and heavily amplified sound.

Scat singing Vocalization of a melodic line with nonsense syllables, used in jazz.

Subdominant Fourth note (fa) of the scale, or the triad (chord) based on this note.

Swing Jazz style which was developed in the 1920s and flourished between 1935 and 1945, played mainly by "big bands." Also, verb for what jazz performers do when they combine a steady beat and precision with a lilt, a sense of relaxation, and vitality.

Swing band Typically, a large band made up of fourteen or fifteen musicians grouped in three sections: saxophones, brasses, and rhythm. They play swing, a jazz style (see above).

Tag Brief coda sometimes played at the end of a piece in New Orleans jazz style.

12-bar blues In vocal blues and jazz, a harmonic framework that is 12 bars in length, usually involving only three basic chords: tonic (I), subdominant (IV), and dominant (V).

The American Musical

Chorus In jazz, a statement of the basic harmonic pattern or melody.

Musical (musical comedy) Type of American theater created to entertain through fusion of a dramatic script, acting, and spoken dialogue with music, singing, and dancing—and scenery, costumes, and spectacle.

Rock

Beat Regular, recurrent pulsation that divides music into equal units of time.

Computer Tool used to synthesize music, to help composers write scores, to store samples of audio signals, and to control synthesizing mechanisms.

Guitar Plucked string instrument with six strings stretched along a fretted fingerboard.

Polyrhythm Use of two or more contrasting and independent rhythms at the same time, often found in twentieth-century music.

Rock First called rock and roll, a style of popular vocal music which developed in the 1950s, characterized by a hard, driving beat and featuring electric guitar accompaniment and heavily amplified sound.