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Evolution of Music throughout History
Evolution of Music throughout History
Evolution of Music throughout History
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Recommended: Evolution of Music throughout History
During the nineteenth and the twenty centuries musicians adopted new rules. Some of the rules would be not to follow rules or some composers would follow the rule that required them to return to emotional restrains. Whether it was the Impressionistic composer Claude Debussy performing La Mer or the Neoclassical composer Igor Stravinsky performing The Rite of Spring, the composers of this time period certainly had noteworthy ideas.
“I love music passionately. And because I love it I try to free it from barren traditions that stifle it. (brainyquote.com)” Claude Debussy (1862-1918) never caged himself with rules that composers usually confine themselves to. He was once asked by a professor, “What rules do you observe. (Smith and Carlson, 178)” The budding musician replied, “None-only my own pleasure! (Smith and Carlson, 178)” Unfortunately there are some rules that are best followed. Through Debussy’s life, a number of tragedies were observed. He had suicidal tendencies as well as marital issues that led to divorce. Debussy’s life and music was spent by breaking rules. Some of the rules were valuable whereas others were cells just waiting to be broken out of. Claude Debussy both harmed and helped the world with his life, but he certainly paved new trails in almost whatever he did.
The group of musicians that tried portray sounds, smells, feeling, or tastes in their music are called Impressionistic composers. The Impressionistic Period lasted from about 1870-1920 (Kabule, Martin E.). If a person were to compose a song titled “The Smell of Leaves” of “The Ticking of a Clock” a listener would probably be able to imagine themselves smelling died leaves in a forest or the sound of ticking from a clock on the wall. The Impressi...
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....brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/claude_debussy.html>.
6. "Neoclassical Music - Definition." Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. .
7. Albright, Daniel (2004). Modernism and Music: An Anthology of Sources. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226012670.
8. Samson, Jim (1977). Music in Transition: A Study of Tonal Expansion and Atonality, 1900-1920. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
9. Busoni; trans. Roasamond Ley (1957). The Essense of Music and Other Papers. London.
10. "Neoclassicism (music)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Apr. 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. .
11. "Milestones of the Millenium: The Rite of Spring." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. .
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie, 20 vols. (London: Macmillan, 1980)9: 708-709
TitleAuthor/ EditorPublisherDate James Galways’ Music in TimeWilliam MannMichael Beazley Publishers1982 The Concise Oxford History of MusicGerald AbrahamOxford University Press1979 Music in Western CivilizationPaul Henry LangW. W. Norton and Company1941 The Ultimate Encyclopaedia of Classical MusicRobert AinsleyCarlton Books Limited1995 The Cambridge Music GuideStanley SadieCambridge University Press1985 School text: Western European Orchestral MusicMary AllenHamilton Girls’ High School1999 History of MusicRoy BennettCambridge University Press1982 Classical Music for DummiesDavid PogueIDG Books Worldwide,Inc1997
Howard, John Tasker, and George Kent Bellows. A Short History of Music in America. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957. 342-3. Print.
...frican American Musicians as Artists, Critics, and Activists. Berkeley, CA: University of California, 2002. 54-100. EBSCOhost. Web. 8 May 2015.
Composers effectively reflect and communicate how universal human experiences can explicitly modify an individual’s understanding and acceptance of one’s sense of identity and maturation. Goldsworthy’s novel Maestro, Don McLean’s song ‘Vincent’ and Baz Luhrmann’s film Australia all inter-relate within the deeper realisation of the impact the appreciation of art, and the development of understanding the concept of love acting as a compelling emotion can create towards one’s self-image.
White, Michael. "Classical Music: Sweet Dream, Sour Looks." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 22 May 1994. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.
Mussorgsky was too knowledgeable about contemporary aesthetic philosophy and was too self-conscious, to the extent that his mental wrestling cut down on further composing. However, he knew what he wanted and felt it his job to flesh out his artistic intuitions. Mussorgsky's music challenged the music in the Nineteenth Century, and laid outside the standard Brahms-vs.-Wagner fight. He opened up a new musical path and a new aesthetic attitude. Even with being a patronized composer in the Nineteenth Century, he escalated to become a hero in the Twentieth.
Taruskin, R., & Taruskin, R. (2010). Music in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
On the tails of the Romantic Era, a particularly intriguing form of musical composition evolved: Early Modernism. Composers began challenging formal the formal structure and rigidness of classical composing and created music to depict stories and evoke emotions in listeners. One of the most influential composers of this period was Claude Debussy. Of French descent, Debussy rejected traditional form and musical characteristics as he was taught in his musical training and developed a more artistic and expressive collection of music. Debussy’s experiences in his early life, artistic inspirations, and his French heritage led him to be a successful Early Modernist composer.
Calinescu, Matei, "Modernism and Ideology." Modernism: Challenges and Perspectives. Ed. Monique Chefdor, Chicago: U of Illinois Press,1986
Siddons, James. "On the Nature of Melody in Varèse's Density 21.5." Perspectives of New Music
“I love music passionately. And because I love it I try to free it from barren traditions that stifle it.” (-Claude Debussy) As the Father of Impressionist Music, Claude Debussy stove to create music anew from feeling. By restructuring the musical scale and reformatting the typical orchestral piece, his unique style emerged. His innovative approach to classical music revamped the classical scene, and the world well remembers it. For greater understanding of Debussy’s approach to music, we will examine his personal life, career, and legacy.
Achille-Claude Debussy was one of the most renowned French composers who stimulated the music of the twentieth-century. Debussy’s life experiences have given an emotional and relatable truth in his work. Works such as Clair de Lune, Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, and La Mer are great achievements of Debussy that are the most familiar today. Debussy is worth reviewing because he uniquely structured his compositions that served as a base for musicians in the past, and will easily continue to motivate musical masterpieces for years to come.
The task of giving an overview of the life of Claude-Achille Debussy is not easy. Without hesitation, this dynamic character made courageous strides that pushed the limitations of music to another level. His ultimate goal was not to be glorified through fame but to find his own unique voice, or the ‘musique a moi’. Even though his goal was to create his own unique sound, he had many influences, such as art, literature, and Wagner, that guided him in the creation of his style. Regardless of his teachers protestations and fellow peers’ critiques, he experimented with different sounds in music. When listening to Debussy’s music, one can clearly tell that it belongs to Debussy because of his use of different harmonies, rhythms, the pentatonic and whole tone scale, and his instrumentation.
Auner, Joseph. Chapter Ten “Trajectories of Order and Chance” of Music in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2013. pp.199-208