Music of Schoenberg and Debussy - Research Paper Example

? Music of Schoenberg and Debussy This paper discusses new tendencies in music of 20th century. Two pieces of music by Arnold Schoenberg and Claude Debussy are considered further on as bright examples of “different” music, where feelings and emotions of the composers rather than thematic development, play a decisive role for further succession. Key words: Impressionism, expressionism, tone, pedaling, metre, rhythm. Schoenberg’s Erwartung Op. 08 Schoenberg's creative heritage can be divided into three main periods. This composer is often distinguished by “twelve-tone period” and motivic development in his musical pieces. A trajectory of the development of this composer is very challenging: from his searching in the field of expressionism (1894-1907) to his abandonment and searching for free atonality (1908-1922). The third period was marked by his invention of “twelve-tone” method of composition. It is often claimed that musical pieces of this composer reflect the characteristics of Brahms and Wagner. On the one hand, the directions of musical developments of these two opposing composers cannot be compared, but on the other hand, Schoenberg succeeded in uniting them into one perfect conglomerate. A selected piece of music composed by Schoenberg is Op. 08, where he accelerates and escapes from traditional Wagnerian tones. A principle of linear time is reflected in a direct motion in music. The principles of tonality were very important for the musical pieces of 20th century and compositions of Schoenberg follow those tendencies as well. Historical context of this composition plays a very important role for further discussion. This piece of music is thought to be finished in 1909 and he completed it in 2 weeks. That period was a crisis for the composer and these feelings and emotions are evidently reflected in his music. The record Erwartung 6 lieder Op. 08 is believed to be a new stage for musical development of the composer, when he exceeded the limits of Romanticism and German culture (Evans, 2001). This piece of music is distinguished by depth of expression, easy comprehension and distinction, though it was often argued by critics.           The name of its piece of music is Erwartung or Expectation. It is a story about a woman, who is waiting for her lover, but then finds his body dead. The beginning and the end of the composition are calm ones, but in the middle of this piece of music are essential ascents. Therefore, these characteristics can be considered as belonging to non-conventional music. The composer’s personality was unconventional at that time as well, because Hitler did not like him because of his Jewish nationality. His musical pieces were full of subjectivity and unconscious. The implementation of atonal dissonance did not reflect the main characteristics of Romanticism. It was beyond harmony and it was something new and unique (McKay, 1987). Schoenberg was looking for the ways of new developments and he wanted a new field for his self-expression. A language of dodecaphony was invented by this composer. This language of music can be described in the following way: sounds, like words can be either expressed or not. They can become cultural symbols for expressions and reflections of a given individuality of a composer. This is the specific context of dodecaphonic musical expression. Lauro Machado Coelho claimed that Schoenberg managed to open new ways for musical aesthetics’ reflection. The composer did not intend to position his music as a revolutionary one. Schoenberg made an emphasis on creativity and imagination, that is why during 19071908 he refused from the concept of tonality and rushed into expressionism. This piece of music, “Erwartung” is a bright example of this tendency. Nevertheless, there is a huge psychological impact exerted on it, because it was written during a period, when Mathilde, a wife of Schoenberg, left him and had an affair with Richard Gerstl, who killed himself after Mathilde’s intention to come back to the family (Hicken, 1980).            Schoenberg provided his innovative ideas about "extensive tonality" and "emancipation of dissonance" and he was strictly criticized by the audience for that. Schoenberg’s music was considered by Nazis as degenerated one and different critics denied his contribution to music development. Still, for Schoenberg music plays a role of the instrument, which represents his feelings and emotions clearly. There are the following special features of this piece of music, which are appropriate for a creative heritage of the composer: hexachordal inversional combinatoriality/or hexachordal levels, linear set presentations, aggregates, partitioning/or isomorphic partitioning, harmony, metre, multidimensional set presentations (Walton, 2008). Music consists of complex instruments, reflecting inner features of the individuals, sublimation of those features, reflections of cultural background of individual, artistic and aesthetic values of one’s identity etc. Unfortunately, his music was acknowledged only after his death in the beginning of the 20th century. A human’s personality could have been reflected by means of music, where he reflected many innovations, transitions and echoes of different characteristics of his inner world. Op 08 is a piece of music, which is able to resist to time, space and any kind of criticism. Debussy’s La cathedrale engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral) Another piece of music to be considered is Debussy’s and his musical impressionism. La cathedrale engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral) is a prelude composed by the French composer for solo piano. Form, content and harmony of this piece of music are developed in compliance with other pieces of music by this composer. The composer borrowed a legend about a cathedral rising from the bottom of the sea. Debussy uses different methods to reflect peculiarities of the plot of the legend and reflect them in the style of musical impressionism. Howat claims that "with one exception this piece follows an arch form, ABCBA, with the main divisions at bars 28, 47, 72 and 84, and the two outer portions forming introduction and coda…although the sections are all thematically related, they are still clearly distinguished in other ways. The 27-bar introduction contains the one departure from a pure arch form--an anticipation in bars 7-13 of the central C section, so that this long introduction itself forms a ternary sequence” (cited by Smith 2006, p. 21). Different critics argue about a proper division of this part of music: some of them claim that there are three parts, referring to the first glimpses of cathedral from the sea, the second can be about the appearance of the cathedral and the third one is its succumbing from the sea. The composer uses the meter signature in this piece: 6/4=3/2. There are evident shifts of rhythm in that motion: measures 1-6 and 14-21 the motion is in quarter notes. Measures 7-13 and 22-83, the movement is in half notes (Bruhn, 1997). Therefore, it is interesting to think about the real intention of the composer. In his initial performance of this work, the composer rushed between the slower tempo and rallentando. There are no proportional relationships indicated in the score. The notes are changed from what they initially were, as quarter notes. Debussy’s tempo of this piece of music is actively negotiated. The composer played this piece of music as he wanted it to be heard by others. His tempo is close to quarter note=63. In one place there is an evident speed up of tempo (measure 20) (Bruhn, 1997). There are also many other difficulties in the performance of this piece of music: the use of contrasting tone colors and pedaling. These two issues are interrelated and the pianist has to put all his efforts to make them sound in harmony. Pedaling in Debussy’s is a complicated question, because he mentioned only 20 pedal indications in his piece of music. The composer reflects different ideas in this piece of music and creates musical allusions. It can be said that there is more motivic development in this piece of music, rather than thematic one. Moreover, he explores chordal sound ranging throughout the piano and comprising Debussy's signature chords. The composer masterfully creates a parallel harmony, especially in measure 28 (Antokoletz, 2004). In such a way he brings new colors to a melodic line. The chords are expressions of the melodic line. Nevertheless, the contemporaries are challenged with Debussys’ performance and it is relevant to note whether this composer is a guide of impressionism in music, or, maybe he sets additional toning to create a perfect performance? Colors of tone and pedaling are helpful tools for every performer at different times to reflect their own inner feelings and emotions. Conclusion Music of Arnold Schoenberg was often considered as incomprehensible one and many critics were too strict in their critical responses to it. Only future generations of the 20th century were able to appreciate his music and his music influenced such composers, as John Cage, Milton Babbitt and Marc Blitzstein. There is more self-expressionism, more feelings and emotions in the music of Schoenberg. The composer was beyond the limits of Romanticism, he was more focused on expressionism and his creative ideas and imagination totally reflect his real feelings and emotions. Schoenberg did not compose a revolutionary music; he composed music for creative and open minds. Debussy's works were a landmark in the music of impressionism. Sensations and emotions were key factors determining musical developments of his works. Debussy discarded negative connotations from the word “impressionism” and underlined positive features of this concept. Ambiguous tonality in the music of the composer, pedal points, dissonance and other challenging features of his music contributed much to the popularity of it and underlined an impressionistic nature of his music.   References Antokoletz, E. (2004). Musical Symbolism in the Operas of Debussy and Bartok: Trauma, Gender, and the Unfolding of the Unconscious. New York: Oxford University Press. Bruhn, S. (1997). Images and Ideas in Modern French Piano Music: The Extra-Musical Subtext in Piano Works by Ravel, Debussy, and Messiaen. Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press. Evans, J. (2001). Hans Rosbaud and the Music of Arnold Schoenberg. Canadian University Music Review, 21(2), 41+. Hicken, K. L. (1980). Tonal Organization in Schoenberg's Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19. 130+. MacKay, J. (1987). On Tonality and Tonal Form in the Serial Music of Arnold Schoenberg. 62+. Smith, J. B. (2006, August/September). Solving Performance Problems in Debussy's: La Cathedrale Engloutie. American Music Teacher, 56, 18+. Walton, C. (2008, Summer). Bach, Brahms, Schoenberg: Marginalia on Berg's Violin Concerto. Musical Times, 149, 81+. Read More