101:20 SPCM outline Atonality Purpose: To inform the class about Atonality as the underappreciated musical genre Introduction I. What is Atonality? a. Atonality is music that lacks a tonal center b. Music usually written after 1907; beginning of the Modern Period Transition: Hard to listen to, because of this lack of tonal center. Body II. Composers and Musical Selections a. Introduce piece: Pierrot Lunaire by Arnold Schoenberg - Play: 15-20 seconds - Schoenberg, father of Atonality, made the twelve-tone series - Twelve-Tone Series is a combination of all twelve tones in a chromatic scale. - As a composer, you must forget all the conventional rules and make up your own like Schoenberg did with the Twelve-Tone series. b. Introduce piece: Wozzeck by Alban Berg - Play: 15-20 seconds - Atonal opera - Very difficult piece to learn and sing Transition: Considering all the difficulties within learning atonal music, many critics are led to believe that Atonality should not be used as a form of music. Maybe many of you felt like this III. Criticism and Emotional Impact a. Criticism from Ernest Anserment - Swiss composer and musical philosopher - He states, that atonal music does not and can not evoke any emotion out of a person
Transition: I would like you to judge for yourself whether or not you any receive emotional impact. b. Introduce Piece: Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky - was composed for a ballet with the scene being a ritualistic human sacrifice - Disney used it for Fantasia for the Dinosaur scene (Genesis, Evolution, and Extinction) - Play: 15-20 seconds - Ask if anyone received any emotion out of it c. Introduce Piece: Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta by Bela Bartok - a neotonal piece, which is a branch off of atonality, there is no clear tonal center but "tonal" through repetition of certain intervals or rhythm - Play: 15-20 seconds - Ask if anyone received any emotion out of it Conclusion IV. I hope the next time you hear something you don't quite get at first or think it is "Garbage" give it another shot before you throw it away. Thank you
Works Cited
Burkholder, J. Peter, and Claude V. Palisca, comps. Norton Anthology of Western Music. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2006. "atonality." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 9 Feb. 2008 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9356084>. "Wozzeck." By Alban Berg. "Rite of Spring." By Igor Stravinsky. "Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta." By Bela Bartok. "Pierrot Lunaire." By Arnold Schoenberg.