The modern era of classical music includes the years 1910 to 1975. The modern music continued with the works of the romantic era music. During the modern period, 20th-century modernism influenced music, like other arts. The modern era was accompanied by developments in science, philosophy, and art. Music in the modern era was very innovative and prolific, with composers redesigning musical approaches and structures.
Modernism in the modern period music is related to the aesthetics that provided the basis for change and development in the musical language. Classical music underwent great changes in its compositional styles and techniques in the modern era. For the first time, musicians and audiences realized that tradition should not limit music. Modernism is related to innovation and does not consider music as a static phenomenon. In modernism, music is like a stream that is evolving throughout history.
In the modern era music, styles of music such as jazz and folk were developed, which greatly influenced composers of the 20th century. Advancements in technology and changes in political conditions formed most of these transformations. In the modern era, two world wars, the Great Depression, and major advances in technology each greatly influenced music in their way.
In modern period music, composers tried to create different works with innovation compared to the past styles. The era of modern music includes a wide range of musical styles and movements. Modernism, impressionism, serialism, and minimalism can be mentioned among the main movements that were born in the modern era music.
In general, the modern period music, which is one of the most important eras in the history of classical music, underwent many innovations, changes, and transformations, so that its effects can be seen in contemporary music today.
In the modern era music, the homophonic texture became less important and the contrapuntal texture prevailed. They had decorations that made it difficult to read them, and grace notes, glissandi, and trills were used a lot. It was during this modern music that improvised pieces appeared more in music.
Impressionism in music
At the end of the 19th century, which is the modern era music, Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy created a new era in music in France. Impressionism in music is linked to the movement of visual arts. It is an aesthetic and philosophical term and is the same thing that can be seen in Debussy’s works. Impressionism in music was a movement among classical music composers in which music focused on mood and space. In modern impressionism, a piece conveys moods and excited emotions instead of a detailed image.
Impressionist composers did not adhere to strict traditional forms and spent little time imitating the structural forms of composers such as Mozart and Beethoven. Debussy tried to tell stories and events in his works and used new obscure chords to break the traditional methods. One of the most obvious signs of Debussy’s works was the chords regardless of the neighboring chords. In fact, Debussy abandoned the rules of connecting chords. In You can hear dissonant intervals in Debussy’s works. The influence of Impressionism in music can be seen in the works of other musicians such as Ravel and Albeniz.
Impressionist composers
Claude Debussy: Debussy is one of the composers of modern era music. Born in France in 1862, he was one of the most influential impressionist composers of the 20th century. As we said, Claude Debussy ignored the traditions of composition in the Romantic era and created works with vague and parallel chords. His works were far from strong and weighty hits and used melodic innovations in them. Among these innovations, we can mention the full curtain step, the five curtain step, and the church steps.
Among the works of this impressionist composer, we can mention Clair De Lune, which is one of Debussy’s most popular works. This piece is very popular among those who are learning the piano.
Another of his works is Reflets Dans L’eau, which means reflection of light in water.
Among other outstanding works of Debussy, we can mention Et La Lune Descend Sur Le Temple Qui Fut, Les Sons et Les Parfums Tournent Dans L’air Du Soir, Toccata, and Das Pas Sur La Neige.
Maurice Ravel: Maurice Ravel was one of the impressionist composers of modern era music who was born in France in 1875. Ravel was a skilled composer, conductor, and pianist. Although composers like Debussy influenced on his works, these are indeed completely original. Ravel’s piano works are more complex than Debussy’s. His works include Bolero, Waltz, Piano Concerto, and Rapsodie espagnole.
John Ireland: Another impressionist composer is John Ireland, who was born in 1879. He was a British composer and music teacher at the Royal College of Music in London. Ireland did not write symphonies and operas but welcomed small forms. He also wrote sacred chants for the church. His works include The Holy Boy, The Darkened Valley, and The Forgotten Rite.
Summary
As we said in this article, there were many developments in art, philosophy, and science in the modern era. Music was also greatly affected by innovative developments during this period. Then by the composer named Debussy, Impressionism entered the music and music took a new form. If you want to learn about other eras of classical music in history, you can refer to the article on classical music eras on the chang.education website.
