An Outline of The History of Western Music Grout ... - The Reel Score

ii- "prepared piano" of John Cage (1912-1993)
2: Now
i- unfamiliar sounds produced by new uses of conventional instruments
ii- dense chromatic clusters or "bands" of sound for strings or voices were
used by Iannis Xenakis (b.1922), Krzysztof Penderecki (b.1933), Luigi
Nono (1924-1990)
iii- introduction of spoken & whispered sounds by vocalists and
instrumentalists
iv- new instruments such as the vibraphone and the Ondes Martenot appeared
in the orchestra
v- the percussion section was greatly expanded including instruments from
Africa & Asia
3: Edgard Varese (1883-1965) wrote music in which timbre played a most
important role
i- sounds as such were the essential structural components of music
ii- more basic than melody, harmony, or rhythm
2. Electronic Resources
a) Musique Concrete (late 1940's)
1: raw material consisted of recorded musical or natural sounds that were
transformed in various ways by mechanical and electronic means
2: then assembled on tape to be played back
3: next step was electronically generated sounds
b) this new medium free composers from depending upon performers
1: in the electronic studio every detail could be calculated and recorded
2: whole new realm of sounds not producible by "natural means" became
available
3. New Technology
a) by 1980's electronic keyboards combined with computers made synthesized
music accessible outside the large complexes of the 50's & 60's
b) combined with the MIDI protocol definition and control of all parameters of pitch,
timbre, dynamics, and rhythm could be directly translated into music production
4. Influence of Electronic Music
a) electronic & synthesized music has not superseded live music but did stimulate
the invention of new sound effects obtainable from voices and conventional
instruments
b) stimulated the experiment with spatial effects - the dispersing of the various sound
sources throughout the concert hall - to manipulate space as an additional
dimension of music
1: not a new discovery - the spatial effects of multiple choirs and instrumental
ensembles of the 16th century in St. Marks in Venice
2: the use of space was more calculated and inventive - thus direction & location
in space became a factor in the overall work
5. The Pitch Continuum
a) from at least the end of the 17th century, Western music generally utilized a set of
12 - more or less - equidistant semitones dividing the space of an octave
b) by mid 20th century, distinct pitches and intervals (including the octave itself) could
be supplemented by a continuum