A Brief Introduction to Expressionism, Impressionism, Serialism and Minimalism

In this blog post, I will outline the key features of Expressionism, Impressionism, Serialism and Minimalism. I will also include an example of each style and briefly analyse it.

Expressionism

The key features of Expressionism are:

• A high level of dissonance
• Extreme contrasts of dynamics
• Constantly changing textures
• ‘Distorted’ melodies and harmonies
• Angular melodies with wide leaps

An example of Expressionism is Arnold Schoenberg's 'Peripetie'.  Peripetie is a very intense and dramatic movement that frequently changes in orchestration, speed and mood.  It is based on a small number of motifs which are first stated and then transformed in different ways. The movement opens explosively, the motifs are played one after the other, loudly and dramatically.Each of the motifs is based on a hexachord (a set of six pitches.)

The movement falls into five sections A B A C A which could be described as a free rondo form. The motifs are developed in the middle three sections. Here are some of the ways in which they are developed:

• Imitation – where a motif in one part is repeated a few notes later in a different part overlapping the motif in the first part
• Diminution – where the note values are made smaller (usually halved)
• Inversion – where the melody is turned upside down

In the final section there is an orchestral tutti (all instruments playing at once). The motifs are piled up on top of each other and are played in counterpoint. Motifs are heard in canon.

Another example of minimalism is Anton Webern's 'Fünf Sätze'. This piece uses most of the characteristics of Expressionism. For example, the piece has a high use of dissonances, and does not have a clear tonal centre. It also uses a wide range of dynamics, and textures.  

Impressionism

Impressionism is a late 19th century and early 20th century artistic movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based painters, whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence in the 1870s and 1880s. As with most artistic movements, the impressionist movement in music was a reaction to the previous era of music (the Romantic era), in which the music of many composers is heavy and overly dramatic by comparison.

Musical Impressionism formed a transition from late-Romantic music to 20th century Modernist music. Musical impressionism was based in France, and the French composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel are generally considered to be the two "great" impressionists. Other important impressionist composers include; Ottorino Respighi, Frederick Delius, Igor Stravinsky and Manuel DeFalla.

Some key characteristics of music during the impressionist period:

• Music that conveys atmosphere and subtle emotion in contrast to the strong emotions expressed in music of the Romantic period.
• A departure from tradition major/minor harmonies to include the use of whole tone scales, advanced chromatic harmony and dissonance.
• A departure from traditional musical forms (symphony, concerto, and sonata) and the use of shorter musical forms such as the prelude and nocturne.
• Great emphasis on orchestration (the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra) as a form of art in itself.
• Melodies that lack directed motion
• Ornamentation
• Emphasis on instrumental timbres
• Rhythm

An example of impressionism is Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. This was first performed in 1913 in Paris at the Theatre of the Champs-Elyees by the prestigious ballet company, Ballet Russes. The audience was unaccustomed to the dissonant sounds.

• Harmony; polytonal  (2 tonalities going on at the same time). This means that it is difficult to hear either tonal centre. Each harmony sounds good alone, but when they are played together, they are dissonant.
• Melody; many are pentatonic. This captures a folk-like sound. It is brief and full of repetitions (small fragments are repeated and varied many times). 
• Rhythm; very irregular at times. There are frequent metre changes, and is also offset by frequent ostinato figures.
• Timbre; this is a HUGE ensemble with large woodwind, brass, and percussion sections, as well as a string section.
• Form: through-composed.

Serialism

A technique of composing devised by Schoenberg in 1920 (approx.), created to help bring structure and organisation to atonal music. It involves all 12 notes of the chromatic scale in any order. The whole composition is then based on this. All 12 notes are equally important and can appear only in the correct order. The series can also be used in retrograde, inversion, and retrograde inversion. It can also be transposed to start of a different note.

An example of Serialism is Stravinksy's Epitaphium. Epitaphium was composed by Stravinsky in 1959 as a clarinet and flute duet. Stravinksy also uses treble and bass instruments. He chose the harp as bass instrument in order to achieve a muffled effect, and because he found the low notes the most beautiful on the instrument. There are four antiphonal strophes (a poetic term originally referring to the first part of the ode in Ancient Greek tragedy) each in the harp and in the treble instruments.


Minimalism

The key features of Minimalism are:

Layers of ostinati (rhythmic, melodic or harmonic patterns which are repeated many times.)

Constantly repeated patterns that are subjected to gradual changes

Layered textures

Interlocking repeated phrases and rhythms

Diatonic (using notes which belong to the key rather than chromatic notes which are outside the key.) harmony

An example of Minimalism is Steve Reich's 'Electric Counterpoint'. Electric Counterpoint is in three movements, fast-slow-fast. Movement III has a time signature of 3/2. Steve Reich uses this idea throughout the movement, moving the accents and sometimes changing the time signature from 3/2 to 12/8.

Features of minimalist music that can be found in movement III of Electric Counterpoint are:

• a complex contrapuntal texture
• broken chords (where the notes of a chord are played singly rather than together)
• slow harmonic changes
• note addition (where notes are added to a repeated phrase)
• melodic transformation (where a melody gradually changes shape)
• rhythmic transformation (where a rhythm gradually changes shape)
• gradual changes in texture and dynamics

Another example of minimalism is Steve Reich's 'Music in Contrary motion'. In the first line of the piece, the pattern of the top line is as follows: EDCBaBCDE. The composition follows a similar pattern throughout, both on the top and bottom lines of notes. Aurally, the piece mimics the repetition of scales that a pianist would repeat in order to warm up before playing an actual piece of music. With Music in Contrary Motion Glass plays a trick on the listener by using what is traditionally considered the "warm up" as the main composition.