Musical Modernism &The Crisis of Tonality

I. Wright’s Textbook Take:

A. Modernism: Diversity and Radical Experimentation

Charles Ives: Variations on America

Charles Ives: Fourth of July

Bela Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra (IV)

Examples of Musical Modernism

II. Musical Modernism (general features: see pp. 333-339)

A. Melodies: frequent large leaps; angular

B. Harmony: much more dissonance

C. Rhythms: More complex, irregular

D. Tone color: extreme registers, often percussive, even ugly

III. CrisisA. Brave New World: Atonality

B. Retreat: Late Romanticism or Post-Romanticism

C. Alternative Lifestyle: New Scales

D. Anarchy: Ives and the American Experimental Tradition

E. Transformation: Polychords & Polytonality

Crisis= Collapse or Depletion of Tonality

Maurice Ravel, La valse