Chapter 82Music in the 1960s

and 1970s: Live Processes,

Minimalism, Metric Modulations

Music in the 1960’s & 1970’s• The 1960’s and early 1970’s were a transitional

period in the history of music, during which– composers continued to explore and search for

new styles

– looked for ways that modern music could communicate

and regain the interest of audiences.

• The song-like compositions in Luciano Berio and George Crumb are examples of this thinking.

– Both composers rely on sound per se to enhance the poetry that they set music to.

– Crumb adds additional expressive techniques • such as quotations from pre-existing music.

The Life of Luciano Berio (1925–2003)

• 1925 - born in Oneglia, Italy

• 1948-51 - attends the Conservatory in Milan

• 1951 - studies with Luigi Dallapiccola at Tanglewood

• 1954-59 - attends summer courses in Darmstadt

• 1955 - directs the electronic music studio at the Milan Radio

• 1963 - moves to the United States, teaches at Mills College

• 1972 - returns to Italy, travels and conducts

• 2003 - dies in Rome

Principal Compositions by Luciano Berio

• Operas include:– Opera– La vera storia– Un re in ascolto

• Orchestra: works include the series of Chemins (reworkings of other compositions)

• Chorus: works include Sinfonia and Coro

• Solo voice and vocal ensembles: works include– Circles– Recital I– Cries of London

• Solo instrument: series of Sequenzas

• Tape: works include Thema (Omaggio a Joyce) and Visage

Luciano Berio, Circles, 1960, “stinging”

Through composed

The Life of George Crumb (b. 1929)

• 1929 - born in Charleston, West Virginia

• 1956-59 - doctoral study in music at the University

of Michigan with Ross Lee Finney

• 1965 - appointed to the faculty of the University of

Pennsylvania

• 1968 - wins the Pulitzer Prize

Principal Compositions by George Crumb

• Voice and instruments: works include– Madrigals (4 books)– Ancient Voices of Children

• Ensemble pieces include Black Angels

• Piano: works include Makrokosmos (2 books)

George Crumb, Ancient Voices of Children, 1970, “¿De dónde vienes?”

Circular form

The Life of Elliott Carter (b. 1908)

• 1908 - born in New York City

• 1926–32 - attends Harvard University

• 1932–35 - studies in Paris with Nadia Boulanger

• 1935 - settles in New York

• 1960 - awarded the first of two Pulitzer Prizes

Characteristic’s of Elliot Carter’s Music

• Elliot Carter’s music of the 1950’s and 1960’s was unrelentingly complex– multiple and changeable tempos– complex counterpoint of lines

• The composer intended these features to create a wordless drama in his instrumental music.

• In the 1970’s he simplified his music’s texture and returned to a more traditional model of song composition.

Principal Compositions by Elliott Carter

• Orchestra: works include concertos (piano, oboe, violin, clarinet, cello) and– Symphony of Three Orchestras– Concerto for Orchestra

• Solo Voice: works include– A Mirror on Which to Dwell– Syringa– In Sleep, in Thunder

• Chamber music: includes string quartets (5), brass quintet, woodwind quintet

Elliott Carter, String Quartet No. 2, Introduction and movement 1

Free form

Minimalism• Minimalism is a style that uses a minimum of

materials that are spun out by repetition with gradual change.

• This music from the mid-1960’s was composed by a group of American composers including:– La Monte Young– Terry Riley– Philip Glass– Steve Reich

• This is seen in the music of Steve Reich as the result of a “phasing” process – by which an ostinato begun in unison by two or more

sources of sound gradually moves out of synchrony

– producing a changing series of secondary rhythmic patterns

The Life of Steve Reich (b. 1936)

• 1936 - born in New York

• 1953-63 - study at Cornell University, Juilliard, and Mills College

• 1969 - records with Steve Reich and Musicians

• 1970 - studies drumming in Africa

Principal Compositions by Steve Reich

• Ensemble pieces include:– Violin Phase– Drumming– Clapping Music– Music for 18 Musicians– Nagoya Marimbas– City Life– Vermont Counterpoint

• Mixed media works– The Cave– Three Tales

Steve Reich, “Clapping Music,” 1972

Symmetric (phase) form