🎵Music of the Modern Era Unit 7 – Experimental & Avant-Garde in Modern Music

Key Concepts & Definitions

• Avant-garde music pushes boundaries and challenges traditional musical conventions through experimentation and innovation
• Atonality lacks a tonal center or key, often using dissonance and unconventional harmonies
• Extended techniques involve unconventional ways of playing instruments or using the voice to create unique sounds and textures
  • Includes prepared piano (objects placed between or on strings), multiphonics (playing multiple notes simultaneously on wind instruments), and extended vocal techniques (whispers, screams, or spoken words)
• Indeterminacy introduces elements of chance or unpredictability into the composition or performance
• Musique concrète incorporates recorded sounds from various sources as the primary compositional material
• Minimalism emphasizes repetition, gradual transformation, and a reduced musical palette
• Aleatory music involves elements of chance or random choice in the composition or performance process
• Graphic notation uses visual symbols, shapes, or images to represent musical elements instead of traditional staff notation

Historical Context

• Avant-garde music emerged in the early 20th century as composers sought to break free from traditional Western classical music conventions
• World Wars I and II, as well as advancements in technology and recording, influenced the development of avant-garde music
• The rise of modernism in art and literature paralleled the growth of avant-garde music, emphasizing experimentation and rejection of traditional forms
• Post-war era saw increased interest in avant-garde music as composers explored new ways to express the complexities of modern life
• Developments in electronic music technology (tape recorders, synthesizers) provided new tools for avant-garde composers
• Socio-political movements of the 1960s and 1970s (Civil Rights, anti-war protests) inspired avant-garde composers to challenge societal norms through their music
• Globalization and cross-cultural exchanges exposed avant-garde composers to non-Western musical traditions, influencing their compositions

Pioneering Composers & Works

• Arnold Schoenberg developed the twelve-tone technique, a method of composition using all 12 notes of the chromatic scale equally
  • His works "Pierrot Lunaire" (1912) and "Suite for Piano, Op. 25" (1923) exemplify his atonal and twelve-tone compositions
• John Cage explored indeterminacy, chance operations, and extended techniques in his compositions
  • "4'33''" (1952) consists of four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence, challenging the definition of music
  • "Sonatas and Interludes" (1946-1948) features a prepared piano with objects placed between or on the strings
• Karlheinz Stockhausen pioneered electronic music and spatial composition
  • "Gesang der Jünglinge" (1955-1956) combines electronically generated sounds with a recorded boy's voice
  • "Gruppen" (1955-1957) employs three orchestras surrounding the audience, creating a spatial listening experience
• Iannis Xenakis used mathematical models and architectural principles to compose his music
  • "Metastaseis" (1953-1954) translates architectural designs into musical structures and textures
• Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry developed musique concrète, composing with recorded sounds
  • "Symphonie pour un homme seul" (1950) is an early example of musique concrète, using recorded sounds of the human voice and body
• Steve Reich and Philip Glass were key figures in the minimalist movement
  • Reich's "Come Out" (1966) features a looped and phased recording of a spoken phrase
  • Glass's "Einstein on the Beach" (1976) is a landmark minimalist opera with repetitive musical structures and non-narrative scenes

Experimental Techniques & Innovations

• Prepared piano involves placing objects (screws, rubber, paper) between or on the strings to alter the instrument's timbre
• Graphic notation replaces traditional staff notation with visual symbols, shapes, or images to represent musical elements
  • Allows for greater interpretive freedom and encourages unconventional performance techniques
• Extended vocal techniques expand the expressive range of the human voice
  • Includes whispering, screaming, speaking, and other non-traditional singing methods
• Tape music and electronic manipulation of sound became integral to avant-garde composition
  • Composers used tape splicing, looping, and layering to create complex sonic textures
• Spatial composition and multi-channel sound distribution create immersive listening experiences
  • Composers like Stockhausen and Xenakis experimented with positioning performers and speakers around the audience
• Chance operations and indeterminacy introduce elements of randomness or unpredictability into the composition process
  • John Cage used methods such as the I Ching or star maps to determine musical parameters
• Microtonality explores intervals smaller than the standard semitones used in Western music
  • Harry Partch created custom-built instruments to perform his microtonal compositions
• Unconventional instrumentation and new instruments expanded the sonic palette available to avant-garde composers
  • Harry Partch's "Cloud Chamber Bowls" (1950-1951) features custom-built microtonal instruments
  • Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music" (1975) consists entirely of feedback and noise from electric guitars and amplifiers

Avant-Garde Movements & Styles

• Futurism, an Italian art movement, embraced technology, speed, and noise in music
  • Luigi Russolo's "The Art of Noises" (1913) manifesto advocated for the use of industrial and urban sounds in music
• Dada, an anti-art movement, influenced avant-garde music through its emphasis on absurdity and chance
  • Marcel Duchamp's "Erratum Musical" (1913) consists of three pieces of music drawn randomly from a hat
• Fluxus, an interdisciplinary art movement, blurred the boundaries between art and life
  • Many Fluxus performances involved unconventional musical instruments or actions
• Minimalism focused on repetition, gradual transformation, and a reduced musical palette
  • Terry Riley's "In C" (1964) consists of 53 short musical phrases played in sequence, with each performer choosing when to move to the next phrase
• Spectralism used computer analysis of sound spectra to inform compositional decisions
  • Gérard Grisey's "Les espaces acoustiques" (1974-1985) is a cycle of works exploring the relationship between sound spectra and musical form
• New Complexity emphasized intricate, highly detailed musical scores and virtuosic performance techniques
  • Brian Ferneyhough's "Time and Motion Study II" (1973-1976) features extremely complex rhythmic structures and extended performance techniques
• Noise music embraced non-musical sounds, feedback, and distortion as primary compositional elements
  • Merzbow's "Pulse Demon" (1996) is a seminal work of Japanese noise music, featuring layers of harsh, distorted sounds

Influence on Contemporary Music

• Avant-garde techniques and aesthetics have been incorporated into various genres, including rock, jazz, and electronic music
  • The Beatles' "Revolution 9" (1968) features tape loops and musique concrète techniques
  • Miles Davis's "Bitches Brew" (1970) incorporates electric instruments, rock rhythms, and avant-garde improvisational approaches
• Contemporary classical composers continue to build upon the innovations of avant-garde pioneers
  • György Ligeti's "Atmosphères" (1961) employs micropolyphony and dense tone clusters, influencing the soundtracks of films like "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968)
• Sampling and digital manipulation in hip-hop and electronic dance music (EDM) can be traced back to musique concrète and tape music techniques
• Avant-garde approaches to performance and presentation have influenced multimedia and installation art
  • Ryoji Ikeda's "datamatics" (2006-2008) is a series of audiovisual installations exploring the aesthetics of data and mathematics
• Experimental music festivals and venues provide platforms for contemporary avant-garde artists to showcase their work
  • The Bang on a Can festival in New York City has featured avant-garde and experimental music since 1987
• Academic institutions and research centers continue to explore and develop avant-garde musical concepts and technologies
  • The Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music (IRCAM) in Paris is a leading center for avant-garde music research and creation

Notable Performances & Recordings

• The premiere of Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" (1913) caused a riot due to its unconventional rhythms and dissonant harmonies
• David Tudor's performance of John Cage's "4'33''" (1952) at the Maverick Concert Hall in Woodstock, New York, is considered a seminal moment in avant-garde music history
• The Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music, held annually in Germany since 1946, have been a crucial platform for avant-garde composers and performers
  • Karlheinz Stockhausen's "Kontakte" (1958-1960) was first performed at the Darmstadt courses in 1960
• The ONCE Festival, held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, from 1961-1966, showcased avant-garde music, dance, and theater
  • Robert Ashley's "The Wolfman" (1964), an early example of multimedia opera, was performed at the ONCE Festival
• The Merce Cunningham Dance Company collaborated with avant-garde composers like John Cage and David Tudor
  • Cage and Cunningham's "Variations V" (1965) featured dancers triggering electronic sounds through their movements
• The Sonic Arts Union, formed in 1966 by Robert Ashley, David Behrman, Alvin Lucier, and Gordon Mumma, presented avant-garde and experimental music performances throughout the United States
• The Philip Glass Ensemble, formed in 1968, has been a leading proponent of minimalist music
  • The ensemble's performances of works like "Music in Twelve Parts" (1971-1974) and "Einstein on the Beach" (1976) have been influential in the development of avant-garde music

Criticisms & Controversies

• Some critics argue that avant-garde music is elitist and inaccessible to general audiences
  • Works like John Cage's "4'33''" (1952) have been dismissed as "not music" or as a joke
• The emphasis on experimentation and unconventional techniques has led some to question the musical merit of avant-garde works
  • Critics have described some avant-garde compositions as chaotic, random, or lacking in structure and meaning
• The use of chance operations and indeterminacy has been criticized as a way for composers to abdicate responsibility for their creative decisions
• The high level of abstraction and conceptualism in some avant-garde works has been seen as prioritizing ideas over musical substance
• The rejection of traditional musical forms and conventions has been viewed by some as a rejection of the Western classical music canon and its associated values
• The use of non-musical sounds, noise, and extended techniques has been criticized as gimmicky or shock value-oriented
• Some avant-garde works have faced controversy due to their political or social content
  • Luigi Nono's "Intolleranza 1960" (1960-1961), an opera critiquing fascism and intolerance, faced protests and censorship attempts during its early performances
• The high cost and technical demands of producing some avant-garde works have been seen as a barrier to wider performance and appreciation
  • Karlheinz Stockhausen's "Helicopter String Quartet" (1992-1993) requires four helicopters and specialized audio equipment, making it logistically challenging and expensive to perform