MICROCOSMS: Primitivism

Phillip Magnuson

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IMPRESSIONISM PRIMITIVISM NEO-CLASSICISM
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EXPRESSIONISM SERIALISM TOTAL SERIALISM
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INDETERMINISM TEXTURALISM MINIMALISM
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ELECTRONICISM NEO-ROMANTICISM ECLECTICISM
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PRIMITIVISM: an appeal to the intellect

Image Picasso juxtaposes recognizable images with unfamiliar ones (the masks on the two women at the right, for instance), creating new effects from simple colors and lines.
Pablo Picasso:
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon 		(1906)

Background

Primitivism, unlike Impressionism, uses musical elements that are well-defined and clear. Primitivistic music (note the adjective-- this is not about "primitive" music) is tonal, but the tonality is not achieved through expectation of resolution, as in the Common Practice Period, but through the asserting of one note as more important than others. New sounds are synthesized from old ones by juxtaposing two simple events to create a more complex new event.

Primitivism has links to EXOTICISM (use of materials from other cultures), NATIONALISM (use of materials indigenous to specific countries), and ETHNICISM (use of materials from European ethnic groups). It eventually evolved into Neo-classicism.

Composers associated with Primitivism

Musical elements

A. Tonality

(In the Common Practice Period: The essential organization is around a single pitch, the tonic, which provides a home base to the ear. All other pitches work to establish the pre-eminence of tonic. Furthermore, an organization of phrases (generally made up of 4, 8, or 16 measures) expand the establishment of tonic; all phrases end with a cadence which confirms this sense of tonic.)
  1. Tonality is achieved through the process of ASSERTION. The most important pitch (tonic) is asserted by emphasizing one note over all others, usually with several simultaneous means such as strong beat placement, agogic stress (longer note values), or serving as the point of departure and return.
  2. Phrases can be either regular or irregular, and end with many varieties of non-formulated cadences.

B. Vocabulary

(In the Common Practice Period: The essential vocabulary is a diatonic pattern of seven stepwise pitches called major and minor scales. Chromatic pitches, the remaining five, can be used, but only to enhance the diatonic ones.)
  1. Melodic sources can come from scales and modes, but tend to be PANDIATONIC (each pitch made equal, avoiding a hierarchy of function).
  2. Melodic sources, like Impressionism, can also use pentatonic or whole tone scales, or patterns of unusual or unique design such as the OCTATONIC scale or SYNTHETIC scales (new pitch formations created by the composer).
  3. Frequently, only segments of scales or modes are used. These segments, which will fall in a stepwise pattern, are named for the bottom note, the name of the "mode", and for the number of notes used (e.g., D minor trichord, D phrygian tetrachord, D lydian pentachord, or D major hexachord). It is possible to make any pitch in the segment into the tonic, through the process of assertion.
  4. A typical feature of Primitivism is the juxtaposition of two modalities simultaneously (BIMODALITY) or two tonalities simultaneously (BITONALITY).

C. Texture

(In the Common Practice Period: The essential texture is created with counterpoint, which is two or more simultaneous individual and independent lines, each of which confirms the pre-eminence of tonic and utilize the vocabulary of a major or minor scale.)
  1. Counterpoint is common, being either freely constructed or strict.
  2. Strict counterpoint can consist of traditional techniques, such as canon (imitation), mirror counterpoint (two lines in exact contrary counterpoint), melodic inversion (turning a line upside down), or contrapuntal inversion (switching the placement of two lines).
  3. Ostinati are common.

D. Sonority

(In the Common Practice Period: The essential sonority (chord) is consonant and is a group of three notes (a triad) arranged in thirds (tertian). Dissonance is used, which could be a group of four notes arranged in thirds (a tertian tetrad) or non-chordal embellishments (passing and neighboring tones, suspensions, and pedals, among others) All dissonances are required to resolve.)
  1. Harmonies can fall into traditional tertian constructions (built in 3rds), quartal (or quintal) harmonies found in Impressionism, or chords built in 2nds (called secundal harmonies, or clusters). These harmonies can be used in traditional contrapuntal structures, or planed, as in Impressionism, or simply inserted into the music.
  2. Two different harmonies can be juxtaposed on top of each other to create POLYCHORDS.

E. Time Organization

(In the Common Practice Period: The essential time organization is based on simple or compound meters, with 2, 3, or 4 consistent beats per measure. The first beat is always the strongest, and the others take on various degrees of strength.)
  1. Rhythms have clear profiles, but can occur in complex structures of non-traditional asymmetric meters.
  2. Meters may change frequently.
  3. Two or more meters can be juxtaposed on top of each other to create POLYMETERS.

Analysis projects

Suggested listening

Composition project

Write a Primitivistic piece for piano, one page or less, which is a complete musical thought. Include the following:

  1. Bi-modality and bi-tonality (do NOT use a key signature, maintain same pitch inventory throughout)
  2. Minimum of two phrases with appropriate cadences
  3. Melodic and contrapuntal inversion
  4. Ostinato, which switches from one part to the other
  5. Asymmetric meter, with proper beaming
  6. Tempo-mood-dynamics-articulations
Click here to view a sample Primitivism project

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This page was last modified Friday, 30-May-2008 11:23:35 EDT.