Classical Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Classical Music - Essay Example He broke from the unison form of sounds in the orchestral sound that he used; they were monophonic with instruments used individually contributing color for the whole break off. The register and combination that is played by the instrument does not reflect what the instrument is used for traditionally. Debussy emphasized muted brass, soft percussion and solo woodwinds. The motifs and themes are all fragmented upon the modes, tone scales and the pentatonic. For example the use the String Quartet found in g minor shows the use of Phrygian mode with tone scales wholly. His works portray a single theme that undergoes change throughout his art work. Debussy’s music‘s tonality is pentatonic, whole tone scales, modal and bitonal chords that produce bitonality. There is a slightly dissonant harmony in the music. The whole technique does not follow the sonata tradition. Schoenberg, an Austrian, was the leader of Second Viennese School and he was associated with expressionist work s of art. He extended the romantic styles of Germany that included Wagner and Brahms. He pioneered atonality innovation by developing the twelve-tone technique, a compositional method that manipulation of a series of twelve notes that were already ordered through the chromatic scale. Schoenberg developed motifs without using the traditional centralized melodic idea. Formalization of the compositional method was enhanced by his habit of inviting the audience to think analytically. Stravinsky was born in Russia and later changed to France and lastly America; he was a composer, conductor and pianist. His music composition was based on stylistic diversity. He also dabbed into the twelve-tone method in his work of cantata. One of his notable works was the Rite of Spring, although it was marred with demonstrations, it led to transformation of the rhythmic structure that pushed musical design boundaries. His work held a vein full of intense emotions beneath the surface appearance of auster ity. Stravinsky considered serial procedures. The compositions had rhythmic energy, melodic ideas with extended construction out of a few cell notes and forms of clarity, of utterance and instrumentation. Stravinsky tried to pit ostinations without regarding the tempo or harmony and some were extended ostinato lacking variation or melody accompaniment. Question 2 Music is an art and it contains a medium which can either be sound or silence. It’s characterized by the pitch which in turn governs the harmony and melody, it’s also characterized by rhythm which is associated with meter, tempo and articulation, the dynamics characterize music too, and the sonic qualities of texture and timber enhance musicality too. The performance and significance of music vary in accordance to the culture and mostly the social context. Music is categorized into various genres and subgenres but their relationship is subtle, sometimes it’s open to an individual to interpret and catego rize. Romantic music anciently tried to include emotional expression and energy to expose deeper truths encompassed in human feelings. Romantic music broke the rigid forms and styles of the classical music into more expressive and passionate pieces. Romantic love became the main theme in these songs. Ludwig Van Beethoven and Franz Schubert tried to bring