Musical Shifts: Impressionism, Expressionism & Early Avant-Garde

Musical Evolution: Impressionism & Expressionism

Impressionism and Expressionism can be seen as two distinct manifestations stemming from a similar post-Romantic position. Musically, both movements mark a shift away from the traditional laws of tonality and functional harmony.

Impressionism

Occurring in the late 19th century, Impressionism was a reaction against prevailing realistic and naturalistic currents. Musically, it is a typically French movement related to these artistic trends.

Characteristics:

• Blurred melody lines without clear cadences.
• Free harmony, with chords valued for their sound rather than tonal function.
• A new concept of timbre, using instruments individually.
• Creation of a sound atmosphere based on auditory impressions.

(Composers: Debussy, Ravel)

Expressionism

Expressionism is a German movement predominantly affecting painting, literature, and music.

Features:

• Search for the dramatic through continuous use of dissonance.
• Utilization of an atonal system.
• Substitution of melody with a type of sung recitation (Sprechgesang).
• Interpretation often for small chamber ensembles where each instrument has a solo role.

(Composer: Schoenberg)

Avant-Garde Rupture: Futurism, Dadaism, Twelve-Tone

Futurism, Dadaism, and Dodecaphonism (Twelve-Tone technique) constitute the first avant-garde movements, marking a significant rupture.

Futurism

Born in Italy in 1909, this movement rejected past art to champion a new modern era characterized by machines and motion. While the strict Futurist movement didn't last long, its idea of connecting music with reality by using the sounds of everyday life greatly influenced modern music. (Composers: Varèse, Honegger)

Dadaism

Dadaism was a deliberately anti-aesthetic movement, primarily active in Germany, France, and the U.S. between 1916 and 1920. The very term, chosen by founder Tristan Tzara, lacks inherent meaning ('Dada' is nonsensical). Dadaism celebrated the absurd and the destruction of established values, denying history and all traditional forms of art. Its musical importance lies less in specific compositions or composers and more in its anticipation of later avant-garde movements.

Twelve-Tone Technique (Dodecaphonism)

This is a compositional technique based on the twelve tones of the chromatic scale. Developed by Arnold Schoenberg around 1923 following the perceived exhaustion of free atonality (associated with Expressionism), it's a method of composing 'with twelve tones which are related only with one another'. These 12 sounds are arranged in a specific order, called a 'series' or 'row', which forms the basis for the composition. Schoenberg's twelve-tone method was adopted and further developed by his disciples, notably Alban Berg and Anton Webern.