The Fin de siècle music and the Revolutionary period in Western Classical music

The Fin de siècle music and the Revolutionary period in Western Classical music

Fin de siècle music refers to the music composed in the late 19th century. It was a time of great expectations for the future, and composers experimented with new genres and styles.

Composers

Richard Wagner: Completed his final masterpiece, Parsifal, in 1883.

Bedřich Smetana: Premiered Libuše in Prague.

Alexander Borodin: Wrote the Second Symphony and In the Steppes of Central Asia.

Modest Mussorgsky: Wrote Khovanshchina.

Gustav Mahler: His Third Symphony is considered a comprehensive reflection of the fin de siècle spirit and is the longest symphony known. His Eighth Symphony, Symphony of a Thousand, arguably ends the period. His last two are more in the modern style. Died 1911.

Claude Debussy: Nocturnes and La Mer. Died 1913.

Jean Sibelius: Finlandia and the Karelia Suite. His Symphonies are more modern in approach. The Seventh being a single movement work. Died 1957 after 20 years of no composing, having burned his Eighth Symphony. He was possibly worried about the “Curse of the Ninth”…

Antonín Dvořák: Symphonies, especially the Ninth, From the New World.

Anton Bruckner: Final Symphonies.

Richard Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra.

Camille Saint-Saëns: Third Symphony.

César Franck: Symphony in D Minor.

Édouard Lalo: Symphony in G Minor.

Ernest Chausson: Symphony in B-flat Major.

Vincent d'Indy: Symphonie sur un chant montagnard français and the Second Symphony.

Paul Dukas: Symphony in C and The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Edward Elgar: Dream of Gerontius and 3 Symphonies.

Features

Nationalist strands of orchestral and operatic music.

A diversity of musical genres and national styles.

A co-existence of late-Romantic opulence and modern sounds.

A contrast between the decadence of a fading century and a visionary view of the future.

Other aspects

The fin de siècle period was also marked by profound changes in architecture and art.

The French repertoire of the fin de siècle has been brought back to popularity in recent years.

The end of the end

1913: Stravinsky's Rite of Spring killed the movement, dead. A riot ensued at the first Ballet Russe performance. Modernism was born.

Pierrot Lunaire by Arnold Schoenberg, in 1912, had knocked it out. Not Twelve-tone but still atonal, the music was not well received.

Gustave Holst: The Planets Suite is still a popular piece from this new music period. 1918 premiere.

Sergie Prokofiev: Classical Symphony, 1917. Neoclassicism is born.

Stravinsky: Pulcinella, 1920. Symphony in C, 1940. Symphony in Three Movements, 1945. Symphony of Psalms, 1930. Symphonies of Wind Instruments, 1920. More Neoclassicism.

Dimitry Schostakovitch. 15 Symphonies.

Then came Britten, Stockhausen, Cage, Riley, Glass, and Reich. Post Modernism was born in the last three.

The Curse of the Ninth

Beethoven (plus student works), Schubert (7th a sketch, 8th Unfinished), Dvořák, Mahler (plus one Tenth unfinished, he coined the phrase), Bruckner (plus the 0th and “00”, as well as the unfinished 9th), even Vaughn Williams... Nine official symphonies, all.

No wonder Sibelius was worried. This had happened many times: the composer died while "working on" a tenth symphony. Dimitry Shostakovitch eventually wrote 15, so the curse was apparently lifted. Or it was nonsense. Haydn: 106+, Mozart: 41+, Stamitz: 58... And Beethoven had various student works. Finally, Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde is essentially a symphony, bringing Mahler to 10 and a half...

Who survived?

Gabriel Faure (1845 -1924): Mid-Romantic Piano, chamber and vocal.

Jean Sibelius (1865 – 1957): Nationalist/Neo-romantic/Modernist 7 Symphonies, Tone Poems, Operas. (Stopped composing around 1937).

Edward Elgar (1857 -1934): Late Romantic 3 Symphonies, 4 Pomp and Circumstance Marches, Enigma Variations, The Dream of Gerontius. 

Giacomo Puccini (1858 – 1924): Late Romantic Operas, Missa de Gloria.

Richard Strauss (1864 -1949): Late Romantic Also sprach Zarathustra, other tone poems, operas.

Ralph Vaughn Williams (1872 - 1958): Neo-Romantic/Modernist 9 Symphonies, Tone Poems, chamber music.

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943): Late Romantic 3 Symphonies, Piano works, 4 Piano Concertos, Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, Tone Poems. Pretty much ignored Stravinsky.

Gustav Holst (1874 -1934): Late Romantic/Modernist The Planets, St Paul's Suite.

Arnold Schoenberg (1874 -1851): Neo-Romantic/Modernist/Dodecaphonic, founder of 12-tone and atonality generally. Second Viennese School. Piano works, Verklärte Nacht, Pierrot Lunaire.

Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937): Neo-Classical/Modernist Piano works, Bolero, La Valse, Concerto for left hand only. Piano Concerto.

Béla Bartók (1881 - 1945): Modernist Chamber, orchestral, Music for strings, percussion and celeste, Sonata for 2 pianos and percussion,  3 Piano concertos, Concerto for Orchestra.

Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971): Modernist/Neo-Classical/Dodecaphonic The Rite of Spring, other ballets, Operas, Chamber, piano, vocal. My choice for the inventor of the "Revolutionary period"...

Anton Webern (1883 - 1945): One of the three Second Viennese School composers. Modernist/ Dodecaphonic. Short dodecaphonic works for various forces.

Alban Berg (1885 -1935): One of the three Second Viennese School composers. Modernist/Dodecaphonic. Piano Sonata, Violin Concerto. Operas.

Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953): Modernist/Neo-Classical Operas, ballets, piano, chamber, vocal.

Also, Satie, Gershwin, Ellington and Korngold.

An aside: Rock music in the 1970s

The Sex Pistols sort of pulled off a similar trick against the establishment in 1976: Pink Floyd had just brought out Wish You Were Here. Their huge tracks like "Echoes" and "Atom Heart Mother" were too much for the punks. Johnny Rotten tried to destroy rock music but simply sent out a new way of thinking: Pink Floyd's 1977 album Animals sort of echoes Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols. New Wave music was born and Floyd passed into history after a few aborted attempts to revive and survive. Duran Duran, Adam and the Ants, New Order/Joy Division, to name a few, were the new music. Queen really was dead... Or were they?...

Conclusion

Arguably, Schoenberg and Stravinsky, and their co-conspirators, started a revolution in music around 1912. This "Revolutionary period" is still upon us and requires a Counter-Revolution to balance it out. We need new hip young things to do this. None of us vanguard can possibly do it. Come on! Musicians of the world, pop, rock, classical, jazz, blues, folk, etc. unite! You've nothing to lose but your vanities!

A warning: AI will not help, yet. It is far too young. That is for another time.

Iain McIntyre