Dictionary of Music - Birding America

neume 259composers learned its rudiments from NadiaBoulanger, who taught, among others, AaronCopland, Roy Harris, and Elliott Carter. Mostnotable among composers of neoclassical workswere Stravinsky, in such compositions as his PianoConcerto, Oedipus Rex, and Symphony of Psalms,and Hindemith, in the first version of his songcycle Das Marienleben (“The Life of Mary”) andhis many chamber works of the 1920s. Otherswere Albert Roussel in France, Alfredo Casellaand Gian Francesco Malipiero in Italy, MaxReger in Germany, Walter Piston and Vittorio Rietiin America, and Sergey Prokofiev in Russia.Hindemith’s work in particular illustrates thetransformation of classical elements into a modernstyle. In many of his compositions he used thecounterpoint of the baroque, but his harmoniesare those of the twentieth century, and he used acomplete range of chromaticism.Few of the neoclassical composers confinedthemselves to neoclassical styles. For most, it wasbut one of a number of influences and stylespresent in their music, and in some instances,notably that of Stravinsky, it appeared for a limitedtime, being replaced (from about 1950 on) bynewer developments.neoromanticism Also, new romanticism. A termloosely applied to a style of composition dating fromthe late 1960s that is reminiscent of nineteenthcenturyromanticism in emphasizing emotionalexpressiveness rather than strictly rational formalism,in exploiting the sonorous possibilities of a fullorchestra, in an interest in such large traditionalforms as the symphony, and in using tonal melodiesand consonant harmonies which both had beenlargely avoided in serial and postserial music (seeSERIAL MUSIC). Among neoromantic composers wereNicholas Maw of Britain and two Americans, DavidDel Tredici, best known for his lush, lyrical Alicein Wonderland series (1968–1984), and GeorgeROCHBERG, who in the mid-1960s abandoned theatonal serial idiom of earlier works and by the 1970swas producing tonal, melodic compositions such ashis String Quartets nos. 4, 5, and 6. Another wasEllen Taaffe ZWILICH, with her use of tonal harmony,tunefulness, and nineteenth-century forms.neo-soulSee under SOUL.Netherlands school A name used by someauthorities for the composers of the BURGUNDIANSCHOOL and the FLEMISH SCHOOL.nettamenteSee NETTO.netto (net′tô) Italian. Also, nettamente (net′′tämen′te). A direction to perform in a neat, clear, distinctmanner.neume (noo — m, nyoo — m). A term for the signs thatwere used to write down the plainsong of Gregorianchant from the eighth to fourteenth centuries. Thesesigns, written over the words of the various chants,indicated the direction of the melodies (up or downin pitch) and sometimes also the manner of performance.Some neumes stood for single pitches; otherssignified groups of two, three, or more pitches.During the six centuries when they were used, theshape and meaning of neumes changed considerably.The earliest neumatic manuscripts, datingfrom the ninth and tenth centuries, show neumesthat look like little curves and hooks and dashes,similar to the accent marks of Greek poetry, fromwhich neumes are thought to derive (such markswere used not to show emphasis of syllables in thepoetry but raising and lowering of the voice infig. 162 p/u from p. 268reciting). During this early period, the neumesappear to have shown only whether a melody wentup or down, and not the actual musical intervals. By