HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL FACTORS IN musical style that covets a certain mood,

THE FORMATION OF THE 20th CENTURY emotion, or atmosphere through the use of
MUSIC bizarre harmony, unresolved or incomplete
chords, extreme chromatism, and heavy use
Twentieth Century music was a mirror
of the piano pedals. These produced
of the era’s discoveries and philosophies.
dreamlike musical sounds.
After the first World War, some composers
used NEOCLASSICISM, FUTURISM, 12- Derived from Monet’s painting
TONE SCALE, and MICROTONES. “Impression, Sunrise” which uses
contemporary visual art techniques,
NEOCLASSISM
Impressionist music’s modern characteristics
– drawing inspiration from the past
includes the use of extended chords, and
FUTURISM
– recreation of everyday sounds scales such as the whole-tone scale,
12 TONES SCALE pentatonic scale, and church modes.
- exploration of all possible tones Through breaking the rules of traditional
MICROTONES music theory, composers were still able to
- tones in between notes create musical “impressions” that are
pleasing to the ears.
Listeners were exposed to a wider range of FAMOUS IMPRESSIONIST COMPOSERS
music, and performances became visual
Achille-Claude Debussy was called the
through music videos. People were able to
first impressionist composer. Born to a
bring music wherever they want, through
modest family with little cultural
gadgets, though it also made piracy easier.
involvement, he showed enough music skills
Industrialization made music education and to be accepted in France’s leading music
performance more accessible and school, the Conservatory of Paris, at age 10.
widespread due to printing, mass media, and He first studied piano, but discovered his
technological inventions. The invention of passion for innovative composition, despite
more instruments developed new playing critics from his conservative professors.
methods and sound production techniques.
Discoveries of magnetic tape, computers,
synthesizers, multimedia processors, and
other electronic devices paved the way for
ELECTROACOUSTIC music. The invention of
loud guitar amplifiers and sound systems Debussy was influenced by the Symbolist
enabled people to enjoy concerts even poetic movement of the late 19th century. He
kilometers away from the stage. regarded Classical music as obsolete. Hence,
he focused on chamber music for different
As art and science pushed their own combinations of instruments. The “Prelude to
boundaries, music also widened its the Afternoon of a Faun” was his orchestral
definition, incorporating new, nontraditional height. Other famous orchestral parts include
ingredients. Many musicians challenged “La Mer”, “Nocturne”, “Images”, and “Claire
established music rules. Aside from the De Lune.”
fundamental major and minor chords,
composers introduced altered, extended, and
jazz music.
IMPRESSIONISM AND EXPRESSIONISM IN
MUSIC
Joseph Maurice Ravel is known for
Impressionist music was created experimenting with elements of modernism,
during the late 19th and early 20th centuries baroque, neoclassical, and jazz in his works.
and started amidst world wars. It is a new
Born to a family of music lovers, he also • Expressionist music often features a
attended the same school as Ravel and was high level of DISSONANCE.
not well regarded by its traditional
• Dissonance is the lack of agreement
establishment as well. His orchestration
and consistency in the progress of
abilities are shown in his famous works like
harmony music. The dissonant music
“Bolero” (1928) in which he made use of
includes clashing notes not very
repetition in the development of the music.
pleasing to the ears.
• Expressionism in music originated in
VISUAL ARTS.
• Expressionism is a nightmarish
reaction to the dreamlike sweetness of
Impressionism.
• Expressionism evokes fear, anger,
In the Philippines, Dr. Antonio Molina was one torment or anxiety creeping into
of the 20th century Filipino composers who
wrote art music. He was called the “Claude
Debussy of the Philippines” for composing
music that has characteristics of subconscious mind.
Impressionist music. One of his famous
works is the piano piece, “Malikmata.”
EXPRESSIONIST MUSIC
EXPRESSIONIST MUSIC
Expressionism is a musical style that
developed before World War I. Impressionist
and Expressionist musicians usually Pioneer expressionist composer Arnold
considered rebels because they tend to Schoenberg avoided “traditional forms of
break away from the conventional way of beauty” to provoke powerful feelings in his
writing music. They practiced musical music.
freedom and diversity. • He was an Austrian-American music
• Expressionist music is ATONAL. theorist, composer, professor, painter
and a writer.
• Atonality is music that lacks a tonal
center or home tone. It has tonal • One of the leading composers of the
structures, ignoring conventional 20th Century, he was also famous for
harmonies together. creating 12-tone scale.

• Harmony and Chords are not strictly

observed, and all 12 notes are given
equal importance.
• Composers maximize pitch ranges,
uses abrupt dynamics, tempo
changes, and different instrumental
timbres to bring out extreme emotions
through their music works.
• Tone quality is an important as
melody.
MODERNISM IN MUSIC
• The 20th Century gave birth to modern
music. Progress in the fields of science
and technology found its way to
music. Musical sounds were
maximized through new ways of sound
production.
• Recorded sounds from the
environment were used as
accompaniment to certain music. Such
techniques include Electronic Music,
Chance Music, Minimalist Sounds and
other unusual mixes of sonar
activities.
ELECTRONIC MUSIC
• Electronic music involves sounds
created electronically.
• Music can be produced by controlling
sound through electronic instruments,
keyboards, or synthesizers.
• For a sound to actually be considered
“electronic”, the composer must
interact with the medium and
electronic processing.