A
s the 19th century drew to
a close, composers began
to realize that they were
facing a crisis point. Wagner had
undermined tonality, the system of
major and minor keys that had been
the cornerstone of Western music,
and introduced a style that some
found overemotional and lacking in
clarity. The new generation reacted
against Wagner’s music in various
ways, attempting to find a new
musical language that better
expressed modern times.
As a result, the first half of the
new century was characterized
by various “-isms”: impressionism,
expressionism, atonalism, serialism,
neoclassicism, and more. There
was one composer, however, who
defied such classification, Erik
Satie. He adopted a dry and witty
style, with peculiarly static pianopieces that harked back to
medieval and ancient music and
at the same time made reference
to popular Parisian café music.French developments
Satie’s lightness of touch was
also noticeable in the music of his
contemporary, Claude Debussy.
Yet Debussy chose a different
way of creating a new musical
language. Rather than reacting
against the lack of clarity that
came with a weakened tonality,
he embraced it, using exotic
harmonies as an impressionist
artist uses different shades of
color. Although he disliked the
term, he was a pioneer of musical
impressionism, which was further
refined by Maurice Ravel, and
influenced the strikingly colorful
compositions of Olivier Messiaen.After World War I, a group of
young French composers known
as Les Six (Francis Poulenc, Darius
Milhaud, Arthur Honegger, Georges
Auric, Louis Durey, and Germaine
Tailleferre) picked up on the
simplicity and wit of Satie’s music.
Poulenc, in particular, cultivated
an urbane style, unashamedly
classical in its tonality, setting
the style for neoclassicism, which
was especially strong in France.Twelve-tone serialism
Meanwhile, in turn-of-the-century
Vienna, Arnold Schoenberg
struggled to come to terms with
the implications of the breakdown
of tonality. After some early works
in the Late Romantic style, he
stretched tonality to its limits
and beyond, creating a violently
expressionistic style that wasINTRODUCTION
1894
1906
1914
1917
1912
1913
1924
1927
English composer Ralph
Vaughan Williams
composes The Lark
Ascending, inspired by
the English landscape
and folk music.The Wreckers, an opera
by British composer
and suffragette
Ethel Smyth,
premieres in Germany
to great success.Arnold Schoenberg’s
Pierrot lunaire
demonstrates his
concept of serialism—
using all 12 notes of the
chromatic scale.Charles Ives’s
Symphony No. 4, which
incorporates hymns,
gospel tunes, and band
music, is performed for
the first time.The premiere of
Igor Stravinsky’s
avant-garde ballet
Le Sacre du printemps
is greeted by a riot
in Paris.French composer
Claude Debussy’s
10-minute symphonic
poem Prélude à
l’après-midi d’un faune
premieres in Paris.George Gershwin writes
Rhapsody in Blue for solo
piano and jazz band,
featuring large contrasts
in musical texture
and structure.French pianist Erik
Satie’s ballet Parade
debuts, incorporating
“noise-making”
instruments such
as a typewriter.226
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