It is characterized by a visual impression of

Music of the 20th

the moment in terms of the shifting effect
Century of color and light. Impressionist artists paint
“Music of the 20th Century” with many colors, and their usual subjects
are the outdoors; for example, nature’s
The 20th century marked the
landscape. They want to capture images
invention of the gramophone records. The
without subtle details, but through the use
mass market of this invention made musical
of bold colors. Thus, their paintings can be
compositions available to many. Prior to
very bright and vibrant.
this period, during the 19th century, only
the elites or the rich could listen to live What is Impressionism in Music?
classical music concerts in theaters.
Impressionist music may be
When the phonograph was described generally as having refinement,
invented and mass-produced sometime in delicacy, and vagueness. Just like the effect
the 1890s, both the middle class and the of Impressionistic painting, this type of
lower class could have the chance to listen music projects a hazy atmosphere and
to less-expensive recorded concerts. dream-like quality. Popular examples of
Impressionist music are the works of
Radio broadcasting which was first
Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel of
commercially done sometime in 1920 also
France. Their music are those that have
allowed many people to listen to classical
sounds that “call forth such images as
music and opera music. Because of the
moonlight, waterfalls, and fireworks.”
innovation of the time, there were dramatic
changes in the forms and styles of the In the Philippines, Dr. Antonio
music of the period. Many composers, Molina was one of the 20th-century Filipino
musicians, and songwriters explored new composers who wrote art music. He was
forms. They challenged the established called the ‘Claude Debussy of the
music rules of the 18th century.  They Philippines’ for first introducing several
introduced the so-called altered chords important devices which are technical
and extended chords; an example is the characteristics of Impressionist music.
bebop jazz in the 1940s. The invention of
What are the characteristics of
loud guitar amplifiers and sound systems
Impressionism in Music?
also contribute to the new trend in music.
a) The rhythm of Impressionism music is
“Impressionism”
irregular in terms of phrases.
What is Impressionism?
b) It avoids the traditional harmonic
Impressionism is a movement in progression.
painting that started in France in the 1860s.
c) It has unresolved dissonance.

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 d) It uses the whole-tone scale, uses the “Claude Debussy (1862-1918)”

9th chord, and also frequently uses
Achilles-Claude Debussy was born
modality and exotic scales.
in France on the 22nd of August 1862. His
“Dissonance” parents were Manuel-Achille Debussy and
Victorine Manoury. Debussy’s mother was a
The lack of agreement and
very independent woman who kept him
consistency in the progress of harmony of
and two of his siblings in the care of his
music.
mother’s sister-in-law. He was the favorite
“Modality” among the siblings and was sent to his first
formal school at the Paris Conservatoire at
derived from the word "modal”, a general
the age of 10
term used with reference to melodic and
harmonic formations based on the church Debussy’s first documented musical
modes, as opposed to those based on the experience dates back from 1870–1871,
major and minor modes (tonality). during the visit of his aunt Clementine in
Cannes. Debussy entered the Paris
Who are the notable 20th-century
Conservatoire in 1872. On the 25th of
composers and musicians that belong to
October 1872, Debussy attended his first
the genre of Impressionism in music?
Conservatoire piano class under Jean-
In the 20th century, many musical François Marmontel, who was a highly
styles coexisted with Impressionism. This regarded piano professor during that
movement is represented by the two best period from 1848. All in all, the early years
composers of this era, Claude Debussy of Debussy’s stay in Conservatoire were
and Maurice Ravel. remarkably successful due to the fact that
he won several piano competitions. A
winner of the 1884 Prix de Rome with his
composition, L'enfantprodigue, Debussy
received a scholarship to the Académie des
Beaux-Arts, which included a four-year
residence at the Villa Medici, the French
Academy in Rome, to further his studies
(1885–1887).

            All of Debussy’s musical pieces

were instrumental in the development of
this classical music until this age. The
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun was
his orchestral height. Other famous
orchestral parts include La Mer, Nocturne,

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 and Images. His string quartets are inherited a love of the Basque Country, its
pleasing and their practical difficulty is people, and its folklore, as well as a deep
astounding. His only opera, which is also sympathy for the music of Spain.
famous, is Pelleas et Melisande. Debussy
In 1882, shortly after his 7th birthday,
died on the 25th of March 1918 due to
Maurice took his first piano lesson under
rectal cancer, but he died with his great
Henry Ghys, who observed his young pupil
compositions like the Engulfed Cathedral
be “intelligent” and gave the youngster his
and Claire De Lune.
first lesson in harmony, counterpoint, and
What made Claude Debussy’s work known composition. Among his earliest essays
to the world are these characteristics: were several pieces for the piano:
variations on a chorale by Schumann, the
a) He used special melodic passages
movement of a sonata, and variations on a
which at times did not have specific
theme from Grieg’s Peer Gynt. He had his
tonality or key center.
first public performance on June 2, 1889,
b) He often used “parallel chords which where he performed an excerpt from
are just really chordal melodies and Moscheles’s Third Concerto.
enriched unisons.
          His career in the Paris Conservatoire
c) The use of bi-tonal chords; whole tones began on November 4, 1889, when six of
and pentatonic scales. (Whole-tone is a the faculty members of the Conservatoire
scale in which each note is separated made a unanimous decision to accept
from its neighbors by the interval of a Ravel in the preparatory piano division; his
whole step) audition piece was an excerpt from
Chopin’s Concerto.
d) He often used modulations randomly.
         In the piano competition held on July
“Maurice Raval (1875-1937)”
10, 1890, Maurice Ravel was awarded
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was born on 2nd place, making his initial year at the
March 7, 1875, to Marie Delourat and Conservatoire rather successful. The
Joseph Ravel in the town of Ciboure, following year, Maurice’s performance of
France. He was baptized in a Catholic Schumann’s Sonata resulted in the grand
ceremony in the local parish church of Saint prize in July of 1891.
Vincent, and then after three months, he
          He died on December 28, at the age
and his family moved to Paris.
of 62, in Paris. The famous works of his
          Maurice Ravel’s deepest emotional lifetime of compositions are Bolero,La
tie of his entire life was his attachment to valse, Ma mèrel'oie, and Miroirs.
his mother who sang Spanish folk
melodies to him, and through her, he

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            He studied in Vienna’s Realschule

Expressionism,
and learned to play the cello and the violin.
Electronic Music, and When his father died, he sought a job and
Chance Music became a bank clerk, and used his earnings
to continue his passion in arranging song
Expressionism is a modernist movement
and opera scores. The Three Piano Pieces
that started in Germany at the beginning of
is one of his first original compositions in
the 20th century and was initially an
1894. He also studied counterpoint under
expression in painting and poetry. This
Alexander von Zemlinsky.
evokes moods and ideas for which the
artist seeks to express meaning or           Arnold Schoenberg was also known
emotional experience rather than the for his radical sound of music. He also
physical reality. completely abandoned tonality. One of his
most popular expressionist compositions is
         In Germany, Expressionism became
the PierrotLunairein which he applied the
identical with the denunciation of the
style that we call sprechstimme—half-sang,
Western principles of Naturalism, and it
half-spoken. He also introduced the use of
started to symbolize the idea of modern
the 12-semitone scale.
and radical art.
What musical composition of Schoenberg
            In relation to music, Expressionism
uses an atonal system?
conveys true emotions in exaggeration
through the application of atonality and The best example of the atonal
dissonance or the lack of agreement and composition is Pierrot Lunaire composed
consistency in music. One of the famous by Arnold Schoenberg that used 21
composers who applied this technique in selected poems for its lyrics and used the
composition was Arnold Schoenberg. technique called sprechstimme, which
means half-sung half-spoken. Listen to this
“Arnold Schoenberg”
composition and compare it to the four
Arnold Schoenberg was a great atonal forms.
American composer born in Austria on
September 13, 1874, and died in Los
Angeles, California, the USA on July 13,
1951. As a composer, his method of
organizing his music was the use of 12
different tones, which was greatly
influenced by the modern technique and
development in composition during that
era.

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 I: Teil “Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse

(1883–1965)”
“Modestrunken”
Considered
Excerpt on the first part of the
the father of
PierrotLunaire
electronic music.
He is a French
composer who
spent most of his
career and life in
the United States
of America.

          Varèse's music highlights rhythm and

timber. He was the proponent of the word
"organized sound, which means a grouping
of rhythms and timbers to define music
“Electronic Music”
itself. He added one layer of sound to the
Electronic music came about as a polyphony to create a new form of sound.
result of the transition from traditional
         To further your understanding of
music instruments and the use of recording
electronic music, listen and watch the
materials like vinyl records, compact
music video of the 2 Unlimited bands with
cassettes, and compact discs to the current
their songs “Tribal Dance” and “Any Music
digital technology in music and recording.
Mix” and observe what are common to
          Electronic music is the process of them.
creating music using computers in
           Once the similarities of the two
synthesizing or producing digital audio
musical compositions are noticed, try to
signals. Using this electronic way of
relate it to the synthesized performance
producing sound, music is produced out of
using the computer and synthesizer and
the range of traditional musical instruments
compare it to the two compositions that
and can create other sounds from nature
have been played and to which you have
and the environment which are of a larger
listened initially.
range, higher pitch, and with different
qualities of sound. The musical sounds that “Chance Music (Aleatory Music)”
are produced or composed can be played
Many musical compositions are
at a slow speed, fast speed, and can be
arranged logically according to the
forwarded or rewound.
composer’s perception or to the influence
of another composition. In chance music, it

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 is different. Chance music is also called the sequence becomes the beginning of
aleatory music, which is derived from the your composition by chance.
Latin word alea, meaning “dice.” As the
Using the above numbers and
name suggests, it is a composition created
considering number “2” is the “C”
by chance rather than its logical order. It
may also be called “indeterministic
music”.

          It is a style of music were different

sounds, musical or non-musical, are
(+6396-487-2765), then this is what has
assembled and combined together to
become of your composition.
create any kind of musical composition
based on chance.

          The result of the experimentation by

chance is the composed song to be
played, and that is the aleatory or chance
music.

John Cage (1912-1992)

John Cage, an American avant-

garde composer, was the son of an
inventor. He was considered the Father of
Indeterminism. To escape being influenced
by his own likes and dislikes, he then
sought to remove the creative process from
his composition, often relying on coin flips
and dice rolls to decide where or how to
place a certain note.

How is chance music created?   

To create chance music, a musician

needs to think of a source to get the
desired melody from available resources.
This can be from a mobile phone number
or from pages of a book. To illustrate, if you
choose a phone number, like
+6396-487-2765, and use the digits as your
musical notes and place it on the staff, then

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 development, and canonizing of rhythm in

Afro-Latin American
the Caribbean, and during this period
Music another art is born in North America
“What is the History of Afro-Latin containing a rich mix of musical cultures.
American Music?” This includes the incorporation of drums
and rhythms from Africa, and the use of
The history of Afro–Latin American
cymbals from India, in combination with the
music can be traced during the European
harmony, instruments, and musical
colonization and slave trade in Africa. Latin
syncopation which is called jazz.
America is comprised of different regions
such as the Caribbean Islands, Mexico, and          This developed a unique musical
Central and South Americas which are of culture in countries in the Caribbean, and
diversified cultures of the European, Moors, its influences include Latin rhythms and
Mexicans, and other tribes in Africa. dances like habanera and bolero in Cuba,
European countries contributed to religions samba and bossa nova in Brazil, and tango
and languages like Spanish and in Argentina. This is the reason for the
Portuguese.  existence of rich music and dance like jazz,
tango, cha-cha, rumba, foxtrot, and
           Their music is identified by their
pasodoble.
rhythms, which they adapted from the
elements of Moorish music and other “What are the characteristics of Afro-
African and Caribbean music in the slave Latin American music?”
trade from 1550 to 1880. The enslaved
1. Conversation: "Call and response" –
Moors of North America in 1776 were
a performance of voice interaction as
prohibited from playing drums, but in the
an answer to the first chant.
Congo Square in New Orleans, Caribbean
slaves were free to play their drums for 2. Improvisation: Non-scripted ways of

recreation and entertainment and also for singing which allow for sincere

communication. These were their “talking” conversations. It is a framework

drums, so-called because they can where the artist has freedom in

somewhat imitate the human voice, creating the musical mood.

relaying current and timeless messages 3. The voice as an instrument. It is the

which are their history, struggle, and manipulation of the freely controlled
revolting joy. All of these were performed piece where they can change the
by replaying the traditional rhythms of   tone of voice, its tempo, creation of
Moorish and African music through drum moods, and even changing the range
beats. and vocal power.
          By the 18th and 19th centuries,
African music started by the spread,

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 4. The instrument as a voice. The by the subordinates. Today, Maracatu is a

instrument serves as a “singer” along combination of music for the processional
with the performer. ceremony, theater, and dance.

What is African Music? What are the other vocal forms of African
music?
African music is a rich and diverse
cultural heritage that exists in hundreds of 1. Blues – This is the gloomy folk music
different languages. The music in Africa of African American origin, which is
always has the technique of “call and naturally in a twelve-bar order. This
response” in which a person leads by was developed in rural areas in the
singing a phrase and followed and United States by the end of the 19th
answered by a group of singers. century and became popular upon
the migration of African Americans in
          This group of singers usually perform
the cities in the 1940s. This urban
by singing and using percussion
blues gave birth to rock and roll, and
instruments played either by hands or with
rhythm and blues. Listen to Bobby
sticks, drums, and others, and they use
McFerrin’s music and describe how it
them also for communication, to convey
is performed.
news, to teach, to tell a story, and for
religious purposes; this includes the 2. Soul – This is a kind of music that
Maracatu. combines the basics of rhythm and
blues and gospel music, which was
What is the African rhythm called
Maracatu? popularized by African Americans. It
is characterized by vocal emphasis
         Maracatu is the ceremony of the
and emotional and improvised
Coronation of the Black Kings in 1674 in
delivery. The performers associated
Recife. This coronation of a king in Congo
with this kind of music are Aretha
happened when the Portuguese were still
Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding,
the ruling government in Brazil was about
and James Brown. Listen to and
dedicating a king who will represent the
watch the music of James Brown on
African slaves to their masters. Each king is
the Internet.
a representative of a nation or tribe. This
designation of the king is called Maracatu 3. Spiritual – This kind of music always
Nação. has a Christian or religious theme. It
is monophonic in nature and in a
          The Baque or Toque is considered as
capella which is the origin of the
the rhythmic pattern used in Maracatu. This
blues.  A  spiritual song provides
rhythm uses the Toada, which is the singing
comfort and eases the boredom from
part of Maracatu. It begins with singing a
one's
song leader and with a response in chorus

Page 8 of 12
­

 daily activities. They are an expressio
n of spiritual devotion and a desire fo
r freedom from bondage.

4. Call and Response – This is a

sequence of two different phrases
usually played by two or more
musicians.

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 is original Brazilian music. It gives

Latin American Music,
more emphasis on percussion and
Jazz Music and melody.               
Popular Music 5. Pasodoble — It is Spain’s traditional
“What is Latin American Music?” couple dance. It uses music that is
traditionally played in bullfighting.
         The rhythm and styles of Latin
American music are influenced by the 6. Reggae – This is a Jamaican form of
United States and other countries in music and dance with strong
Europe like Spain and Portugal. accented and supplementary beats.
In the 1960s, it was known as the ska
Latin music is the combination of
and is a variation of rhythm and
four musical elements, musical styles,
blues. The popular artist of this genre
cultural backgrounds, language, and
was Bob Marley.
geography. Some of the musical styles are
tango, bossa nova, merengue, and salsa 7. Rumba – This is a kind of song and
and also of other genres such as reggae, dance which originated from Cuba
jazz, rock, and Latin pop. with a percussive rhythm and a
combination of Cuba’s musical and
What are the Vocal and Dance Forms of
dance traditions.
Latin America?
8. Foxtrot – It is a ballroom dance of
1. Cumbia – It is a type of dance and
two quick slow steps and two quick
music similar to salsa and uses
steps and is executed alternately in
instruments like accordions, guitars,
4/4 time signature.
and percussions.
“What is Jazz Music?”
2. Tango – This is a lively and spirited
dance of two people. It is a Just like other music with different origins,
passionate kind of dance that shows jazz is a type of music of African American
expression and connection and is origin, and it started in the early 20th
performed in a traditional or modern century with syncopated beats, improvised
style.                             sounds, and a regular and forceful rhythmic
pattern. The instruments that are
3. Cha cha – This is a Latin American
commonly used in jazz are woodwind
ballroom dance with a fast basic
instruments, piano, and brass wind
pattern of three steps with a shuffle.
instruments. Sometimes, it uses guitar and
It has a fast rhythmic pattern.             
violin for swing, jazz, bebop, and Dixieland.
4. Bossanova – This is a style of music
that was derived from samba, which

Page 10 of 12

 What are the different types of jazz? “Popular Music”

• Ragtime - popular American music What is popular music?           

from 1890 until 1915;  it has a  steady
Popular or Modern Music or “pop music” is
syncopation and melody with a two-
an ample and imprecise category of
four-time signature.
modern music not defined by artistic
• Big band - a type of musical ensemble considerations but by its potential
of jazz music that usually consists of ten audience or prospective market. It
or more musicians with four sections: belongs to a variety of genres distributed t
saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and o a number of audiences through
a rhythm section. Big bands originated the music industry. Popular music is commo
during the early 1910s and dominated nly preferred by a certain group of people. 
jazz in the early 1940s when swing was Age bracket and location are some of the
most popular. factors that determine what type of music
is popular
• Bebop - Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie
among certain people. Some people could 
Parker introduced this kind of musical
choose jazz, pop, rock, or soul depending 
genre in the 1940s. It is performed in a
on their preference. Pop music is
smaller group rather than a larger
composed with deliberate intent to appeal
ensemble of musicians. The focus of
to the majority of its contemporaries.
this kind of music is for the solo
musician to show brilliance and What are the different types of popular
harmonic knowledge. Bebop replaced music?
Big Band jazz in popularity and pushed
• Ballad - a light simple narrative poem
it into a more knowledgeable tone to
of folk origin, composed of short
capture audience interest and this is
stanzas and adapted for singing. It is a
the start of the transition from pop
simple song, especially one of
music to music as an art.
sentimental or romantic character,
• Jazz-rock (Jazz Fusion) - the music that having two or more stanzas all sang to
is produced when funk and R&B are the same melody. One example is the
combined. It was very popular in the song composed by the Neocolours
late 1960s till the early ’70s.  Jazz band, “Maybe.” Listen to the
musicians are well-known to be highly composition available on the Internet.
talented in improvising and modifying
• Rock and roll - just like other genres of
techniques in playing musical
music and dance, rock and roll started
instruments. The musical instruments
with pride in the 1950s, the
that are commonly used for this type of
characteristics of which are simple
music are wind and brass instruments.
melodies with accented beats. Rock

Page 11 of 12

 and roll are considered a combination

of white country music, rhythm, and
blues and it is of twelve-bar structure
with the music of guitar, drums, and
bass. One best example is the “Jail
House Rock” sang and performed by
the “King of Rock and Roll,” Elvis
Presley. Listen to and watch the music
video available

• Alternative music - started in the late

1980s and early 1990s. It is a do-it-
yourself type of music of different
musical bands. Its definition refers to its
distinction from typical rock music,
which is expressed by distorting the
guitar sound in a different and defiant
attitude. The two most popular bands
with this kind of music are R.E.M. and
Nirvana (famous for its frontman, Kurt
Cobain). Listen to the new alternative
music sang and performed by Nirvana,
“Smells Like Teen Spirit,” online.

• Disco - the word disco derives from the

word "discotheque," which refers to
nightclubs people frequent in the 1960s
and 1970s. Disco music is music for
dancing or for encouraging dance.
Disco music is usually played and
enjoyed in nightclubs where songs are
mixed by DJs. Listen to the song of KC
and the Sunshine Band, “Get Down
Tonight.”

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