Musical Styles and Composers: From Caribbean to Avant-Garde
Musical Articulation
Staccato: Can be translated as “prominent,” and is also indicated by the word of articulation *picado*. It is a term that applies to certain notes upon which a short *punto* is placed. These notes should be played, reducing their real duration. To achieve staccato articulation, reduce the value of the notes by about half.
Accent: The sign is placed by the note you want to be interpreted with greater force or intent, i.e., *accentuated*. It is indicated by a small angle above the note.
Legato: This term is translated as “linked.” It applies to two or more notes that are encompassed by a ligature, indicating that these should be played closely, ensuring that there is no interruption of the sound between them. In wind instruments, it is achieved without issuing air during changes of note, and in bowed string instruments, it is achieved unceasingly through the arc motion.
Caribbean Music
Steel Drum: It is a very characteristic set of very special musicians in the Caribbean.
Calypso: is a style of music originating in Trinidad and Tobago, a republic of northern South America, but is very popular throughout the Caribbean, Costa Rica, Panama, and northern Venezuela. It is closely linked and remains as its source, street music.
Characteristics of Calypso
- Syncopation
- Part B – Responsorial style dialogue between choir and soloist or soloists
- The unmistakable sound of the steel drum
Form of Calypso
Consists of three parts and an introduction of one novelty measure. A very important novelty in this composition is that it is played with sheet instruments, which are much more appropriate for flute music, such as rhythm and percussion. The origin of this style is mostly found in the arrival of African slaves who were forbidden to talk to each other in the Antilles. As they were forbidden to talk during work hours, they began to create songs for communication and entertainment.
Carl Orff
Conclude the study of the history of music with a work that links the Middle Ages with the 20th century. This is part of the work *Carmina Burana*, by the composer Carl Orff, and is based on a collection of medieval poems of the 12th and 13th centuries. *Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi* is a majestic hymn to the fortune that rules the world.
Impressionism
Traditional scales are added to the pentatonic scale and the scale of less defined tones. Harmonies and melodies, and orchestration are very subtle. The exponent of this style was the composer Claude Debussy (1862-1918), and Maurice Ravel with his *Bolero*.
Expressionism
The music joins the strong arguments. The invention of *Sprechgesang* (spoken song). The language of expressionism is the hue (neglect or lack of shade).
Pierrot Lunaire (1912) by composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) and opera composer Alban Berg’s *Wozzeck* (1885-1935).
Atonality
The absence of tonality.
Nationalism
Nationalist composers of the 20th century dominate scientific research techniques and use recording equipment for their work documentation.
Spain
The composer Manuel de Falla (1876-1946), *Love, the Magician*, *The Three-Cornered Hat*. Albéniz, Granados, and Joaquín Rodrigo: *Concierto de Aranjuez*.
Russia
Sergei Prokofiev: *Peter and the Wolf*. Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975): *First of May*, or *The Eleventh Leningrad* (1905 Russian Revolution).
USA
Jazz. George Gershwin: *Rhapsody in Blue* in 1924. Brittany Vaughan Williams, Jean Sibelius in Finland.
Igor Stravinsky
Alongside Schoenberg, Stravinsky is considered one of the composers who stepped into the 20th century, although he spent much of his life in France, Switzerland, and the USA. His works were heard by Sergei Diaghilev (a skilled entrepreneur who managed the Ballets Russes): *The Firebird* in 1910, *Petrushka* in 1911, *The Rite of Spring* in 1913.
Other Composers
German Paul Hindemith (1895-1963): opera *Mathis der Maler*, Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953).
Avant-Garde Music
Avant-garde movements move away from traditional instruments and ways of composing music. Avant-garde, concrete music, electronic, and electroacoustic music are considered.
Concrete Music
1948, French Pierre Schaeffer (1910-1995) produced works from recorded natural sounds (train, piano, footsteps).
Electronic Music
Devices such as oscillators and noise generators, and finally synthesizers. The forerunner of this music is the German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen.
John Cage
Modified piano sound by placing rubber on the cords.
Songwriter
An artist who generally writes and performs their own songs.