Peripetie - Schoenberg

Arnold Schoenberg was Austrian. He was born in Vienna in 1874; died 1951

Painter as well as a composer - composed and painted in Expressionist style

Created the "twelve-note system" or serialism - new compositions technique

Related composers - Alban Berg ; Anton Webern

Expressionist composers poured intense emotional expression into their music

Features of expressionist music;

• High levels of dissonance
• Extreme contrasts of dynamics
• Constantly changing textures
• 'Distorted' melodies and harmonies
• Angular melodies with wide leaps

Melody - using chromatic and dissonant intervals, spiky and angular, melodies based on note rows

Harmony - Extreme dissonances, more discord, hexachords

Rhythm - Vigorous & dynamic, syncopation, polyrhythms, ostinato

Timbre - greater concern with tone-colour, striking, contrasting; expansion of percussion, extreme pitch-ranges

Free Rondo - A B A1 C A2

Written for a very large orchestra using some unusual instruments. There are three flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons (instead of the normal pairs) plus piccolo, cor anglais, clarinet in D, bass clarinet and contrabassoon.

Extra - horns, trumpets, trombones & a tuba

Percussion - Xylophone, cymbals, tam tam and bass drum