OBJECTIVES

1. Identify the distinctive musical elements of different musical styles from the early 20th
century famous composers.
2. Discuss the characteristics of 20th century music.
3. Appreciate how the distinctive musical elements and characteristics shaped the
development of music at present.

COMPETENCY

Describes distinctive musical elements of given pieces in 20th century styles.

MU10TC-Ia-h-2

3
 WHAT DO YOU ALREADY KNOW?

Pre-Test. Activity 1. Write a word on the table that correspond in each letter that will
describe MODERN MUSIC is. You can write your answer either in English or Tagalog.
Taglish is also acceptable

M O D E R N M U S I C

Pre-Test Activity 2. Below in the boxes are pictures and texts of related contents of
our lesson and some were not. You are going to check ( √ ) which pictures you think
included in this lesson.
EXPRESSIONISM
ATONALITY

2 4
1900 - WHOLE
TONE
1990 SCALE
1 3 5
Claude Debussy

2000 to AVANT-
GARDE 9
Present
10
6 8 The Theramin

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Claude_Debussy_1900.jpeg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin#/media/File:Theramin-Alexandra-Stepanoff-1930.jpg
https://www.flickr.com/photos/138224835@N02/39557420685
https://www.flickr.com/photos/130720149@N05/16775033971

4
 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Presentation of the Lesson/Topic

What type of music you are listening to? Do you like old music? (Opera, Symphony
Orchestra, Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn type) Or do you the modern sound? (Rock, Hiphop,
Pop, Disco type). Does music have a significant impact on how you think and do things in
your daily life? “Kapag in-love ka o broken-hearted, gusto mong ma-inspire, kung
nalulungkot ka at sa panahong may problema, anong kanta ang gusto mong naririnig?
Nakakarelate ka di ba?”
During our past lessons in Music from Grades 7 to 9, the goal is very simple by
appreciating the historical and cultural background of different music around the world.
Grade 10 music is not new thing because at the end of the quarter to will be able to
discover that this lesson is made for all of us in this era.

MUSIC OF THE 20th CENTURY

In the beginning of the 20th century saw the rise of distinct musical styles that
reflected a move away from common practices of earlier Western classical music. These
new styles were: impressionism, expressionism, neo-classicism, avant-garde music, and
modern nationalism. The distinct musical styles would not have developed if not for the
musical genius of individual composers such as Claude Debussy, Maurice Rave, Arnold
Schoenberg (shun-berg), Bela Bartok, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofieff (ser-jey prokofiv),
and George Gershwin. They stand out as the moving forces behind the innovative and
experiment styles that they have accomplished and others have followed including the
the development of electronic and chance music.

IMPRESSIONISM

One of the earlier forms of 20th century music was known as impressionism based
on an art movement started by 19th century Paris-based artists which found its way to
music in the late 19th century among French composers. The sentimental melodies and
dramatic emotionalism of Romantic period had themes and melodies that were easy to
recognized and enjoy was replaced in favor of moods and impressions in this musical style.

CHARACTERISTICS OF IMPRESSIONISM

• Extensive use of different timbre (tone color or tone quality) and effects, vague
melodies, and innovative chords and progressions leading to mild dissonances
through orchestration, texture, or harmonic usage.
• Highly expressive program music, or music with preconceived visual imagery.
• New combinations of extended chords and harmonies, whole-tone, chromatic,
and pentatonic scales.
• It was meant to create and emotional mood rather than a specific picture. (ARTS)
• Impressionistic forms were translucent and hazy, as if trying to see through a rain-
drenched window. (ARTS)
• The sound of different chords overlapped lightly with each other to produce new
subtle musical color. Chords do not have a definite order a sense of clear resolution.
• Lack of a tonic-dominant relationship which normally gives the feeling of finality to
a piece, moods, and textures.
5
 • Harmonic vagueness about the structure of certain chords
• The use of whole-tone scale
• Most of the impressionist works centered on nature and its beauty, lightness, ad
brilliance.

EXPRESSIONISM

The term expressionism "was probably first applied to music in 1918, especially to
Schoenberg as he avoided "traditional forms of beauty" to convey powerful feelings in his
music. Theodor Adorno (2009) interprets the expressionist movement in music as seeking
to "eliminate all of traditional music's conventional elements, everything formulaically
rigid". It is a music seeking "the truthfulness of subjective feeling without illusions, disguises
or euphemisms". It is also concerned with the unconscious, and states that "the depiction
of fear lies at the center" of expressionist music, with dissonance predominating, so that
the "harmonious, affirmative element of art is banished".

Expressionist music often features a high level of dissonance, extreme contrasts of

dynamics, constant changing of textures, "distorted" melodies and harmonies, and
angular melodies with wide leaps.

Expressionism revealed the composer’s mind, instead of presenting an impression

of the environment. It used atonality and the twelve-tone scale, lacking stable and
conventional harmonies. It served as a medium for expressing strong emotions, such as
anxiety, rage, and alienation.

NEO-CLASSICISM

Neo-classicism was a moderating factor between the emotional excesses of the

Romantic period and the violent impulses of the soul in expressionism. It was, in essence,
a partial return to an earlier style of writing, particularly the tightly-knit form of the Classical
period, while combining tonal harmonies with slight dissonances. It also adopted a
modern, freer use of the seven-note diatonic scale. Examples of neo-classicism are Bela
Bartok’s Song of the Bagpipe and Piano Sonata. In this latter piece, the classical three-
movement format is combined with ever-shifting time signatures, complex but exciting
rhythmic patterns, as well as harmonic dissonances that produce harsh chords. The neo-
classicist style was also used by composers such as Francis Poulenc, Bela Bartok, Igor
Stravinsky, Paul Hindemith, and Sergei Prokofiev.

Neo-classicism was simply a partial return to a classical form of writing music with
carefully modulated dissonances. It made use of a freer seven-note diatonic scale.

Have you ever watched a film or a movie that didn’t have musical background or
musical effects on each scene? What does it do to the film you are watching? These
musicals style maybe weird for you or difficult to understand, however, most of the music
produced from this era are felt and heard today especially in films, stages and animated
movies. Lest us continue to other musical styles emerged in the 20th century and discover
more of their contributions in today’s world of music.

6
PRIMITIVISM

Primitivistic music is tonal through the asserting of one note as more important than
the others. New sounds are synthesized from old ones by juxtaposing two simple events to
create a more complex new event.

Primitivism has links to Exoticism through the use of materials from other cultures,
Nationalism through the use of materials indigenous to specific countries, and Ethnicism
through the use of materials from European ethnic groups. Two well-known proponents of
this style were Stravinsky and Bela Bartok. It eventually evolved into Neo-classicism.

AVANT-GARDE

The avant-garde style was associated with electronic music and dealt with the
parameters or dimensions of sound in space. It made use of variations of self-contained
note groups to change musical continuity, and improvisation, with an absence of
traditional rules on harmony, melody, and rhythm.

It exhibited a new attitude toward musical mobility, whereby the order of note
groups could be varied so that musical continuity could be altered. Improvisation was a
necessity in this style, for the musical scores were not necessarily followed as written. For
example, one could expect a piece to be read by a performer from left to right or vice
versa. Or the performer might turn the score over, and go on dabbling indefinitely in
whatever order before returning to the starting point.

MODERN NATIONALISM

Modern nationalism is a looser form of 20th century music development focused on

nationalist composers and musical innovators who sought to combine modern techniques
with folk materials.

The new musical styles created by 20th century classical composers were truly
unique and innovative resulted to emerge new styles of electronic music and chance
music as they experimented with the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, tempo, and
timbre in daring ways never attempted before. Some even made use of electronic
devices such as synthesizers, tape recorders, amplifiers, and the like to introduce and
enhance sounds beyond those available with traditional instruments. These expanded the
concept of music far beyond the conventions of earlier periods, and challenged both the
new composers and the listening public.

7
 20th CENTURY MUSIC COMPOSERS

8
9
 WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED?

Post-Test. Write ONLY THE LETTER of the correct answer on the space
provided before each number.
______1. It was the music that was created after the 19th Century which brought
impressionism, expressionism, neo-classicism, avant-garde and modern
nationalism.
a. Modern Music
b. Popular Music
c. Classical Music
d. Baroque Music
______2. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic style of the modern music?
a. Avant-garde
b. Impressionism
c. Expressionism
d. Romanticism
______3. Which of the following techniques or methods cannot be related to modern
music of the 20th century?
a. Blurr and Translucent
b. Traditional
c. Experimentation
d. Innovation
______4. (For #s 4-6) Which of the music styles was NOT developed or innovated by the
following composers?
a. Primitivism (Bartok)
b. Neoclassicism (Prokofiev)
c. Modern Nationalism (Ravel)
d. none of the above
______5. (For #s 4-6) Which of the music styles was NOT developed or innovated by the
following composers?
a. Stravinsky (Neoclassicism)
b. Bernstein (Avant-Garde)
c. Schoenberg (Impressionism)
d. none of the above
______6. (For #s 4-6) Which of the music styles was NOT developed or innovated by the
following composers?
a. Impressionism (Debussy
b. Expressionism (Schoenberg)
c. Avant-garde (Gershwin)
d. None of the above
______7. To whom 20th century composer does the 12-tone scale is attributed?
a. Claude Debussy
b. Igor Starvinsky
c. George Gershwin
d. Arnold Schoenberg
a. None of the above

10
 ______8. This musical style made use of the whole-tone scale.
a. Chance Music
b. Electronic
c. Impressionism
d. Neo-classicism
______9. It made use of variation of self-contained note groups to change musical
continuity, and improvisation with the absence of traditional rules of musical
composition.
a. Avant-garde
b. Classical Music
c. Electronic
d. Expressionism
______10. This new style experimented with the elements of music by means of electronic
devices to introduce and enhance sounds beyond those available with
traditional instruments.
a. Avant-garde
b. Impressionism and Expressionism
c. Chance and electronic
d. None of the above

11
 ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY 1

DISSECTING THE ELEMENTS. Describing the elements of music with the

musical styles emerged in the early 20th century can be done by finding
them from the presentation of the lesson. Write the first word/s
(ADJECTIVES) before those elements in the table below.

Musical Styles Impressionism Expressionism Neo- Avant-Garde

Elements Classicism
Scale Ex. Whole- 1. 2.
tone
Tonality/ Melody Ex. Atonality 8.

Texture 3.

Harmonies 4. 9.

Chords 5. Ex. Self-

(note group) contained
Rhythm/ 6. 10.
Rhythmic
Patterns
Timbre/Musical 7.
Color
Tempo

Dynamics

Note: You do not have to complete all the spaces in the table. Write only
the numbered elements and musical styles.

12
 ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY 2

Watch, Listen, and React! This activity is something that you always do
while you are at home. All you need to do is watch movies, stage plays
or musical concerts videos. Listen to all the music that you can hear.
Then write reactions or comments of what have you felt while listening
and watching those things. Write you answer in the chart below.

Title of Video
have heard from the video
Playlists. Titles of music you

Write your reactions or comments about the video you have

watched and listen. Check the icons below for your reaction
and write the comments below.

Note: Watch videos that are related to the musical styles and works of the
composers of the 20th century.

13
 ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY 3

Below are titles of music composed by the 20th century composers.

Draw some images that will interpret the title of the song. Use some
colors to make it livelier and more creative.

Claire de Lune (Moonlight)

The Rite of Spring - “A Tribe Offering Ritual”

14
15
What Do You Already Know? What Have You Learned?
1. check 1. a
2. check 2. d
3. check 3. b
4. check 4. c
5. check 5. c
6. no check 6. d
7. no check 7. d
8. check 8. c
9. check 9. a
10. check 10. c
Activity Number 1
1. 12-tone
2. seven-note diatonic
3. translucent and hazy
4. lacking stable and conventional
5. harsh
6. exciting
7. new subtle
8. absence of traditional rules
9. absence of traditional rules
10. absence of traditional rules
ANWER KEYS
 REFERENCES

Books

1. Raul Sunico, Evelyn Cabanban, Melissa Moran HORIZONS: Music and Arts Appreciation for
Young Filipinos Grade 10 Learner’s Material (Philippines: Tawid Publications, 2015), page/s
3-31

Journals or Magazines

Online Sources

1. Expressionist music. Wikipedia. Accessed on June 21, 2020.

@https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expressionist_music#:~:text=Expressionist%20music%20often
%20features%20a,melodies%20with%20wide%20leaps%20(Anon.

Royalty-Free Pictures and Illustrations

1. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Igor_Stravinsky_1965.jpg 06/21/2020
2. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arnold_sch%C3%B6nberg_man_ray.jpg
06/21/2020
3. https://tr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dosya:Bart%C3%B3k_B%C3%A9la_1927.jpg 06/21/2020
4. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sergei_Prokofiev_circa_1918_over_Chair_Bain.jpg
06/21/2020
5. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Gershwin_1937.jpg 06/21/2020
6. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leonard_Bernstein_(1987).jpg 06/21/2020
7. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Philip_Glass_018_crop.jpg 06/21/2020
8. https://tl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talaksan:Maurice_Ravel_1925.jpg 06/21/2020
9. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nikolay_A_Rimsky_Korsakov_1897.jpg 06/21/2020
10. https://www.pianoversal.com/en/?limit=4&start=32 06/21/2020
11. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Claude_Debussy_1900.jpeg 06/18/2020
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin#/media/File:Theramin-Alexandra-Stepanoff-
1930.jpg 06/18/2020
13. https://www.flickr.com/photos/138224835@N02/39557420685 06/18/2020
14. https://www.flickr.com/photos/130720149@N05/16775033971 06/18/2020

16