20th Century Music: Analysis of Three Works by Berg, Webern, and Varese

Running head: MUSIC
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Introduction
The 20th Century music was characterized by different kinds of orchestral and
instrumental works along with different genres of music like the operas, choral, ballets,
symphonies and other similar. This century did not have a dominant or a particular type of
music. There were various kinds of and genres of music that had been featuring the 20th century
musical scenario. People were responding to all kinds of musical styles, and artists were using
their own independence to innovate1. In the previous century there were various types of music
depending on the themes such as “Modernism, impressionism and post-romanticism.” In the
early 20th Century the styles that were introduced were “Neo classicism and expressionism”.
The primary genre and theme that dominated music during the turn of the century was
“Romanticism”. After the starting of the new century the “Post Romantic phase” begun. The
impressionist movement in art started around this time itself. The person behind the idea was
Claude Debussy, this was mainly developed in France. The composers namely Gustav Mahler
and Richard Strauss were composing Symphonic music in the post romantic era, whereas
Maurice Ravel had been experimenting with which was mainly based on impressionist ideals.
The Romantic era was starting to be replaced by the post romantic ideas.
Discussion
The three works chosen in this case are “Three pieces of Orchestra” by Alban Berg,
Anton Webern’s, 5 Sätze Für Streichquartett, and “Ameriques” by Edgard Varese.
In music Tonality is the arrangement or the placement of the musical notes and pitches in
a series of hierarchy which have relation and directionality2. The tonality of the music or the
1 Seeger, Anthony. "Music of Struggle and Protest in the 20th Century." In Springer Handbook of Systematic
Musicology, pp. 1029-1042. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2018.
2 Straus, Joseph N. Introduction to post-tonal theory. WW Norton & Company, 2016.

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arrangement of the notes make sure that the final sound that is being heard by the listener is
having a balance and appeal. The first mention and analysis of tonality was made by Jean
Phillipe Rameau in his “Treatise on Harmony in the year 1722. In the period of early 20th
Century the tonality that prevailed all along through the years starting from the 17th Century was
broken. The analysis of tonality at this period is problematic because the system was now not
following any principles or system. Ambiguous and unpredictable chords were used, harmonic
arrangement was not probable, the melodies that were now designed were unusual. Listening of
the new kind of music of the early 20th Century followed no proper harmony of notes and
unusual effects were the characteristic feature of the period3. There were no restrictions of how
the tonality must be utilized in the musical system to bring uniformity. This was the time when
it was seen that the triadic structure is not really necessary for generating a particular tone, non-
triadic may be made to function in the same way as well.
The work by Berge’s called the “Three pieces for orchestra”. The musical instruments
used in the particular piece are 4 flutes, 4 Oboes, 4 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, 6 horns, 4
trumpets, 4 trombones. 1 tuba, 4 timpani, 4 percussions, 2 harps. And a number of strings,
violins, and violas. All these musical instruments were used in various scales and various
unusual methods.
This work became a revolutionary work of the artist. This came about from his idea of
composing a purely orchestral master piece. The initial two of the three pieces were debuted on 5
June 1923 amid an "Austrian Music Week" in Berlin, led by Anton Webern. The primary
execution of the entire work (which requires gigantic symphonic powers) was not given until 14
3 Phull, Hardeep. Story behind the protest song: a reference guide to the 50 songs that changed the 20th century.
Greenwood, 2015.