The Music of Machines

1. The Music of Machines • a machine means regular rhythm • metronome (Beethoven) • spinning wheel (Wagner - Flying Dutchman) • sewing machine (Charpentier - Louise) • trains (Honegger - Pacific 231) • airplane (Antheil - Airplane Sonata) • mechanical devices (Antheil - Ballet Mecanique) • telephone (Menotti - The Telephone) • foundry (Mossolov - Steel Foundry)

2. Facination with the Machine • Arthur Honegger 1892 - 1955 • Pacific 231 • composed in 1923 • a “symphonic movement” • description of a steam locomotive

3. Facination with the Machine • Heitor Villa-Lobos 1887 - 1959 • Bachianas Brasileiras • suites for various instrumental combinations • No. 2: The Little Train of the Caipira • inspired by a trip he took • “Caipira” means “yokel”

4. Technology and the listener • MUSIQUE CONCRETE • “natural” sounds • editing • ELECTRONIC STUDIOS • Herbert Eimert - 1952 • Edgard Varese 1883 - 1965 • Poeme Electronic (1958) • Le Corbusier • Philips Radio Corporation - Brussels World’s Fair • sound - projected images • no synchronization

5. TECHNOLOGY • Synthesizers • the impact of synthesizers • affordable • efficient • RCA Mark II (1955) • Robert Moog and Donald Buchla • Switched - on - Bach (1968) • Walter (later Wendy) Carlos • Live and Electronic Mixes • Live Electronic Music • Computer Music

6. TECHNOLOGY • IRCAM • Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique / Musique (IRCAM) • founded 1976 - Paris • Pierre Boulez • funded by the French government • IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE 20th CENTURY • phonograph • preserve • influenced the complexity • brought music to everyone

7. TECHNOLOGY • radio • 1920 • ideal music library - recorded and live • electronic music has the effect of blurring the distinction between musical sound and noise • tape recorder • greatest impact on compositional technique • passive or active

8. Philip Glass b. 1937 • Degrees from the University of Chicago, the Juilliard School, and studies with Boulanger • Withdrew the first 20 compositions after working with Ravi Shankar • His works since the mid 1960s are influenced by the rhythmic organization of Indian music • Einstein on the Beach - 1976 • Satyagraha - 1980 • Akhnaten - 1984 • The Voyage - 1992 • Koyaanisqatsi

9. QUESTIONS • Yehudi Menuhin plays the • violin • John Cage performed his famous piece 4’33” in the video on a street corner. What is the point of this work? • careful listening to the sounds around us • Pacific 231 is a musical description of • a steam locomotive • Villa-Lobos also composed a descriptive work about a train. It is called • The Little Train of the Caipira

10. QUESTIONS • Alban Berg and Anton Webern were disciples of • Schoenberg • The Hungarian composer who combined native folk music with European music was • Bartok • The first major figure in American Art Music was • Charles Ives • Who invented the prepared piano? • John Cage

11. RED-HOTQUESTIONS • Who is the composer of Poeme Electronique? • Edgard Varese • For what occasion was Poeme Electronique composed? • The 1958 Brussels World Fair • Musique Concrete means • naturally produced sounds altered electronically • The first electronic studio was developed by the German • Herbert Eimert

12. COOL QUESTIONS • The first synthesizer was the • RCA Mark II • IRCAM is located • in underground Paris • Pierre Boulez is the director of IRCAM and was conductor of • the New York Philharmonic Orchestra • The greatest technological impact on 20th century composition was the • tape recorder

13. QUESTIONS • International composer who admonished Americans to draw on their own background • Dvorak • First person to research the music of the Native Americans • Theodore Baker • Creator of the Wa-Wan press • Arthur Farwell • Father of Black American classical music • William Grant Still

14. QUESTIONS • Composer of thousands of works including classical and jazz • Duke Ellington • Composer of two ballets based on Western folklore • Aaron Copland • First American student of Boulanger • Aaron Copland • Composer of the “African-American Symphony” • William Grant Still

15. The Bridge Between

16. The Bridge Between • Building bridges • Copland • Gershwin • Ellington • Bernstein

17. George Gershwin 1898 - 1937 • Gershwin composed four works that cross the cultural divide • Rhapsody in Blue - 1924 • Piano Concerto in F - 1925 • An American in Paris - 1928 • Porgy and Bess - 1935

18. Porgy and Bess • Opera in the 20th century • Gershwin lived on a small island in South Carolina and worked with Charleston writer DuBose Heyward

19. Leonard Bernstein 1918 - 1990 • Bernstein represented American Music in the last half of the 20th century • Bernstein was a pianist, composer, teacher, and conductor • Protégé of Serge Koussevitsky at Tanglewood • As a pianist, he played everything

20. Leonard Bernstein • As a conductor, he was permanent conductor of the New York Philharmonic • As a composer he composed ballets, musicals, symphonies, operas • West Side Story - 1957

21. Setting the Stage for the 21st Century Total Serialism, New Sounds, Freedom, Chance, Postmodernism, Fusion

22. After WW II • The Audience • Technology • The struggle between popularization and classical • The end of the war marked a turning point • A period of conflicting tendencies: • Extreme control • Complete freedom

23. Total Serialism • Composers felt Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern had not gone far enough • Serialism means the notes are arranged in a series • The first composition based on total serialism was Structures I by Pierre Boulez

24. Structures I • Boulez was trained in math and music • Structures I was written for two pianos • Boulez made series for four different musical elements • Pitch • Duration • Attack (the way a pianist strikes the note) • dynamics

25. Structures I • Demands skilled performers and a lot of effort by the listeners • sounds like a random, disjointed piano piece but is actually a carefully constructed work • You hear the shifting textures and contrasting panels of sound

26. Other Composers of this Style • Karlheinz Stockhausen 1928 - • Luciano Berio 1925 - • Milton Babbitt 1916 -

27. A Late Development • Electronic Music Technology • Development of the synthesizer in the 1950s • All aspects of music could be controlled • The performance no longer needed a human

28. New Sounds, Freedom, and Chance • Popular composers began to overwhelm the music of serious composers • The most interesting experiments were happening in serious music

29. New Sounds • Many experiments revolved around new technology provided by • Synthesizer • Tape recorder • Computer • New techniques on traditional instruments

30. New Sounds • Two composers working with sound textures • Gyorgy Ligeti 1923 - • Krzysztof Penderecki 1933 - • Ligeti worked with large blocks of sound • The blocks can expand or contract

31. Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima • Penderecki’s most famous composition • 1960 • For string orchestra

32. Freedom and Chance • Total serialism and block sounds require very careful control • Freedom and Chance are a move away from control • The idea was John Cage’s • Cage studied with Schoenberg who told him he had no ear for music! • Cage said “Everything we do is music”

33. John Cage 1912 - 1992 • Prepared piano • The toss of dice • Works include • Imaginary Landscape No. 4 1951 • 12 radios • 4’33” • Performer does nothing • “If my work is accepted, I must move on to the point where it isn’t”

34. Postmodernism • The meaning of art was no longer certain • Is paint dropped on the floor “art”? • Is subway graffiti “art”? • Concert organizations are presenting the music of the past • Are orchestras simply museums? • The economy forced cuts in support for the arts

35. Postmodernism • A deliberate return to the past • A return to tonality • Neo-tonality • Neo-Romanticism • Quoting earlier styles and cross-fertilization • The rapid spread of recorded music • Do all moments in history exist with equal weight?

36. Postmodernism • The dividing line between opera and musicals is narrowing • Performing groups deliberately mix genres • String quartets play Jimi Hendrix • Chamber groups use amplified instruments

37. Postmodern Music • It began by quoting earlier music • Nach Bach - George Rochberg • fragments of Bach’s harpsichord music • Renaissance Concerto - Lukas Foss, 1986 • Based on the music of Orfeo’s lament from Monteverdo’s Orfeo

38. Renaissance Concerto • Recitative - after Monteverdi • Many repeated pitches • The opening phrase is a direct quote

39. Other Features of Postmodern Music • Return to tonality • David del Tredici 1937- • Multimedia Postmodern • Laurie Anderson 1947-1999 • Incorporation of musical elements from other cultures • Alan Hovhaness 1911-

40. Other Features ofPostmodernism • Merging of popular and “Serious” music • Minimalism • Philip Glass 1937- • John Adams 1947-

41. Fusion • The most important aspect of Postmodern Music is the narrowing of gaps between all types of music • A mix of jazz and rock is called fusion • Miles Davis • Keith Jarrett • William Bolcom • Bobby McFerrin

42. Fusion • The theater • Les Miserables • Phantom of the Opera • Both works contain the style of the Broadway Musical and the continuous musical settings of the opera

43. Inclusion • Women and minorities are taking their place in American music making • Sound Patterns by Pauline Oliveros 1932- • Sometimes by Olly Wilson 1937- • Wings by Joan Tower 1938- • Symphony No. 1 by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich 1939-

44. The Performers • The traditional barriers between classical and popular music are disappearing • The Kronos Quartet