Prokofiev

Prokofiev was known for his nationalistic compositions. His 6th Sonata, along with the 7th and 8th, are known as the war sonatas. His music is very distinct in that it is very dry, has motoric rhythms, and has biting sonorities. He did not try to hide the dissonance of his music but rather was proud of it. His music always has ties to tonal centers though.

Shastakovich lived during the same period that Prokofiev did but was much less compliant to Stalin. Prokofiev outwardly obeyed Stalin's nationalistic desires of music. Shastakovich was censored by authority and was told his music should be accessible to workers. He wrote a set of 24 Preludes, Op. 34, and another set of 24 Preludes and Fugues Op. 84. The final prelude and fugue in d minor, begins with large chord clusters. The texture becomes much thinner and it ends that way, making a smooth transition into the fugue which is a double fugue and shares the same key of Bach's final fugue.

Ginastera

Ginastera, considered the most famous Latin American composer, had three main periods to his music. The Objective Nationalism period from 1934-1948, the Subjective Nationalism period from 1948-1958, and a period of Neo-Expressionism from 1958-1983. His piano sonata no. 1, op. 22, was composed in 1952, which was his Subjective Nationalistic period. During this period he would include Argentine folk themes in abstract forms. This sonata, made up of four movements, use a very driving rhythm, a lot of chromaticism, and folk melodies and ornamentation. Each movement uses material that is repeated multiple times and developed throughout the movement. The range throughout each movement, and the sonata as a whole is very huge. The third movement, in particular, is much slower and thinner in texture than the other movements, but it builds back up in the fourth movement.

Hindemith

Hindemith was a German composer who lived from 1895 to 1963. During the empowerment of the Nazi's he was termed as writing degenerative music. Eventually, in 1942, he left Germany took on a professorship at Yale. His Suite "1922" is made up of five American dance styles. They are the Marsch, Shimmy, Nachtstuck, Boston, and Ragtime. Marsch begins with a very dissonant introduction and continues with a very rhythmic emphasis. There is a repeated falling chromatic pattern throughout the movement. The second movement that is interjected between the chords. The shimmy has a more free feel to it with the same descending chromatic five note line as in the Marsch. It is much more prominent in this movement though. The Nachtstuck, or Nocturne, is much slower and lyrical. It still remains very dissonant though. The Boston has a very chromatic melody line, with a folk influence. It has an almost improvisatory feel composed of slow, more contemplative melodies which suddenly burst into a stream of notes. The final movement, the ragtime, is like the first one in that it is very rhythmic. It seems to use more syncopation though, and plays around with the rhythms.

Szymanowski

Szymanowski is probably the most famous Polish composer since Chpin. Needless to say, he was inspired by Chopin, was well as Scriabin, Debussy, Strauss, and Stravinsky. His music tends to be very chromatic, remains tied to tonality, uses exoticism, and is very coloristic.

Milhaud

Milhaud was another French composer. His music, unlike many other composers we have studied, was influenced by Jazz. This can be heard in many of the rhythmic elements of Saudades do Brasil. He is also known for his use of polytonality. Saudades do Brasil is a suite of 12 short dances, about 2 minutes each. They are based off of South American rhythms. There are two types of Saudedes, ones that feature a Brazilian dance rhythm in the left hand with a slow, simple melodic right hand in a different key. The other type of Saudedes plays polytonal chords on the down beats in both hands emphasizing the rhythm of the music.

Poulenc

Poulenc was a very versatile French composer, composing chamber music, ballet music, orchestral music, and probably most famous for his art songs. His music is very french sounding in that it has a clear texture, has much lyricism, has a transparent texture and uses harmonies that still sound pleasing. This qualities can all be heard in his piano piece, Napoli, a suite for the piano. It is composed of three movements, a Barcarolle, Nocturne, and Caprice Italien. The Barcarolle has a very clear texture. All the parts are very distinguishable, and the melody remains prominent. It is very short however, and lasts only about one minute. The second movement is much different than the other two movements. It begins with an arpeggiated pattern in the base that repeats through much of the piece. This is very similar to Chopin's nocturnes. It is very lyrical and sounds like melody and accompaniment. The third movement has a fuller sound with more "crunchy" sounding chords. Throughout the large build up however, it remains very lyrical, giving it its French sound.

Stravinsky

Stravinsky's Sonata, like many of his other compositions, uses music from the past. It is similar to Bach's keyboard concerti because of the base line. His first movement is almost entirely pizzacato in the left hand left hand. The second movement begins with a trill. The majority of it is a melody above two note groupings in the bass. The last movement begins almost fugue like. It is similar to Beethoven Op. 54 Sonata last movement.

Bartok

Bartok, like many composers, had multiple periods to his musical career. His first period, lasting from 1907 to 1917, was strongly influenced by folk music. This can be heard in Allegro Barbaro, which was composed in 1911. He uses scales from both Hungarian and Romanian folk tunes. Hungarian folk music is largely based off of the pentatonic scale, while the Romanian folk tunes are based more off of chromatic scales. This piece begins in a "Tempo Giusto" style, which has a quicker and more biting sound. The middle section might be considered Parlando Rubato because it is slower, with a thinner texture, and chant like melody. Throughout the entire piece, however, the melody remains very similar, filled with a lot of half steps and ornamentation similar to the many folk songs Bartok was so familiar with.

Bartok's second period was from 1918 to 1935. It was at the beginning of this period that he composed Op. 20, in 1920. In this opus was Bartok's improvisations on Hungarian peasant songs. These are, like mentioned before, largely structured on the pentatonic scale. The harmonies are much more dissonant in this work than in Allegro Barbaro, which is characteristic of his second period. The texture is much sparser and he accentuates the biting sound.

Janacek and Dohnanyi

Many composers we have looked at previously have been influenced by folk music. This is also the case for composers Janacek and Dohnanyi. Their folk influence can be heard in both "From and Overgrown Path" and "Ruralia Hungarica." Both are a collection of short movements, maybe similar to a collection of folk songs. Both use dotted rhythms, taken from folk influences. Janacek, specifically, was influenced by speech. He studied the Czeck speech to develop "speech tunes." Janacek is also regarded as a nationalistic composer. Dohnanyi was not, although he did work closely with Bartok who was a nationalistic composer. He wrote his music based off of Hungarian folk music, his music is strongly tied to traditional western art music.

Ives and Griffes

Ives was one of the most influential figures to 20th century music. What is most interesting about him compared to most other composers, is that he composed as a hobby. His main occupation was selling insurance. He was well versed in music however, probably because of the way his father encouraged him to explore music growing up. His father wanted him to have an open mind in music, and to look into bi-tonality and polytonal harmonies. One exercise he would have Charles do was to sing in one key while he would accompany it in another key, maybe only a half step away from the original key. This different way of looking and exploring music is probably what made him such an innovative composer. Probably his most famous work is the piano sonata no. 2. The third movement, Alcotts, begins very lyrical with a clear tonality. The tonality begins to become more ambiguous as it goes along. More chord clusters are heard as the texture builds up. He also throws in the motive from Beethoven's fifth symphony but constantly is changing it and building upon it. The music builds up and becomes more disturbed but always seems to die back down to a more peaceful atmosphere of sound. This is much different from the pieces "Some South-Paw Pitching" which begins with a single chord before breaking out into clusters. It again has a lyrical quality but Ives uses many different textures and articulations back to back, like a staccato left hand phrase, juxtaposed with a slurred, washed sound right after.

Griffes was another influential American composer. His music has been known to be very impressionistic. His 3 Tone Pictures clearly represent that. The first movement is titled "The Lake at Evening." It has a repeated pattern of notes in the left hand that occur under the melody throughout most of the piece. This helps create unity throughout the whole piece, maybe trying to portray the stillness of the lake. The second movement is titled "The Vales of Dreams." It has a lot of embellishments in the melody, with a very free, rubato feeling to it. This creates a very "dream-like" state. The last movement,"The Night Winds," has running arpeggiated patterns up and down to the piano with a melody intertwined. He uses this flourishing motion to depict the winds.