Musical Primitivism: Bartok and Stravinsky

In the late 19th century, composers like Debussy and Griffes were writing music that focused on obscuring tonality, rhythm, and harmony, drastically reducing the use of counterpoint. The use of both new and old scales and modes aided Impressionistic composers in their quest to obscure the melody and harmony, leaving only pedal points to identify tonality. Impressionism was moderately limited in its nature and so it seemed that it was destined to be short lived. During the las

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To a Russian the obsession with personal feeling, a common feature of most European art between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries, seemed relatively superfluous. People initially reacted to Primitivism with contempt because they are not at ease with the wild animal living inside them, waiting for the right moment to emerge from the cold, civilized shell. The audience booed and hissed, fainted and slapped each other around. The frequent disturbance of rhythmic ostinati by percussive syncopation and odd meters in Le Sacre is a defining characteristic of Primitivism. Bartók also made use of Slavic folk tunes, which defining characteristics include asymmetrical rhythmic and melodic figures.

Stravinsky gradually became aware that such a ritualistic and primitivistic approach might be a solution to the disturbed self-consciousness of the modern world. 3 Primitivism in its purest form is to combine two familiar or simple ideas together creating new sounds. These extremes are considered unchangeable because of the quality of the chord itself; the two middle voices could be manipulated at the composer’s discretion. He studied their for 8 semesters and afterwards traveled to Germany where he met yet another son of Rimsky-Korsakov, Andrei. ” The structure rests on polytonal chords that in their tonal ambiguity initiate extreme tension and harmonic dissonance.

Melodic sources can come from a variety of places in Primitivism, but the bases for most Primitivistic melodies tends to be pan-diatonic. The ideas of Gauguin and Picasso affected the world of primitivistic music in the concept of the introduction of familiar ideas and themes gradually transitioning into unknown or unfamiliar elements. Stravinsky concocted this primitivistic, programmatic masterpiece with thematic material partially provided by archeologist/artist Nichilas Roerich in 1911.

Some sources for melodic themes come from pentatonic or whole tone scales, not unlike Impressionistic melodic themes.

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Approximate Word count = 3135
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)

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