As a direction in art, music has been chosen due to its ability to strongly influence feelings and emotions. The modernist genre of music is closely associated with innovation and creativity, and a number of prominent composers have left a rich cultural legacy that has influenced other musicians. Claud Debussy, Arnold Schoenberg, and Igor Stravinsky are the outstanding representatives of this genre, and their music is able to inspire and discover new artistic forms. Today, the modernist movement manifests itself in a creative and aesthetic manner and is distinguished by the flexible means of expressing creative thought.
Reasons for Choosing the Modernist Movement in Music
The modernist movement in music seems appropriate for this paper because of the unique and exciting styles of composing modern-era music, such as jazz, pop, and rock. The emerging music aimed to embrace abstract musical sounds and abandon the world of tonality (Weir et al. 488). Prior to modern music, composers in the romantic era focused on expression and feeling over restraint. However, modern music composers found new ways to approach tonality by hiding or deemphasizing the tonal or key center. They used voices to produce non-vocal instruments such as non-textual noise, sound effects, and wide leaps in serial and expressionist work. In addition, new scales, such as the whole-tone scale, were adopted.
Claude Debussy’s and Arnold Schoenberg’s Contribution
There are connections between the modernist movement in music and other composers from the early 20th century. Claude Debussy, the leading French impressionism composer, aimed to convey moods, feelings, and images instead of depicting literal descriptions through his music (Weir et al. 494). He used the whole-tone scale to separate all pitches to create sensual and lush music that kept listeners on edge. He is regarded as the bridge between the romantic era and the 20th century (Weir et al. 494). Arnold Schoenberg is another expressionist who revolutionized music in the early 20th century. He composed his music by experimenting with harmonies and established the 12-tone system, which used 12 varying tones to develop a tone row (Weir et al. 497).
Igor Stravinsky’s Contribution to the Modernist Movement in Music
Igor Stravinsky modernized music by following the traditional norms and rules of composing music while introducing creative and unusual ideas in these rules, a style referred to as neoclassicism. In order to make conventionally composed music appear contemporary, he introduced techniques like polytonality, which is the simultaneous use of two different tonal midpoints, and chromaticism. He used Schoenberg’s 12-tone style to compose famous works such as The Rite of Spring (1913), Petrushka (1911), and Firebird (1910) (Weir et al. 501). His work articulated dissonant and bold sounds that initially fended off listeners because it portrayed the wildness of nature, mating scenes, and violence.
Creativity, the Modernist Movement, and Current Times
Creativity relates to the modernist movement because people in the art world did not want to be stuck in a system that obstructed and limited creative processes. In addition, the rise of technology was replacing human labor fast, and people had to adapt to these changes to avoid anxiety. Artwork is a worldview and viewpoint of life, people, and all related things (Weir et al. 504). The aspect of creativity in the modernist movement was connected to originality and innovation. Today, this movement allows people to address issues, express themselves, record events, document history, and ask questions (Weir et al. 506). Creativity in the modernist movement helps people develop through the flexibility to change and affirm that ideas can evolve with time.
Conclusion
As a style of art, music is chosen as one of the strongest directions that can evoke emotions and feelings. The analysis of the modernist movement in music has made it possible to identify outstanding composers who, with their work, influenced subsequent generations and created unique masterpieces. Creativity is a characteristic feature of this movement in music. Moreover, modernism is relevant today as a trend that is directly related to innovation. Flexibility to change is a feature that reflects contemporary art, and the trend in question fits into the modern agenda.
Work Cited
Weir, Christof, et al. “Investigating Style Evolution of Western Classical Music: A Computational Approach.” Musicae Scientiae, vol. 23, no. 4, 2019, pp. 486-507.