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| Neue Musikbewegung | |
|---|---|
| Name | Neue Musikbewegung |
| Originated | Vienna, Darmstadt, Berlin |
| Genres | Contemporary classical music, Serialism, Electronic music, Aleatoric music |
| Years active | 1910s–present |
| Notable figures | Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez |
Neue Musikbewegung
The Neue Musikbewegung emerged in early 20th-century Vienna and later in Darmstadt and Berlin as a radical current reshaping compositional practice, performance, and music institutions; its proponents included Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, Igor Stravinsky, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, Elliott Carter, Arnold Schoenberg and organizations such as the International Society for Contemporary Music, the Donaueschingen Festival, and the Darmstadt International Summer School for New Music. The movement intersected with events like the First World War, the Second World War, the Weimar Republic, the Cold War, and festivals such as the Wiener Konzerthaus and led to institutions including the IRCAM, BBC Proms, and ensembles like the London Sinfonietta, the Ensemble Modern, and the Kronos Quartet. Major personalities ranged from composers Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, Arthur Honegger, Paul Hindemith, György Ligeti, Boris Blacher, Luigi Nono, Gérard Grisey, Helmut Lachenmann, Luciano Berio, Karl Amadeus Hartmann, to performers and conductors such as Herbert von Karajan, Bruno Walter, Pierre Monteux, Otto Klemperer, and critics at publications like Die Reihe, Tempo, and the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik.
The Neue Musikbewegung denotes a constellation of composers, ensembles, festivals, and institutions pursuing innovation in harmony, rhythm, form, and timbre; early milestones include works premiered at the Wiener Musikverein, the Prague Conservatory, and the Gürzenich Orchestra influenced by figures such as Alexander von Zemlinsky, Franz Schreker, Hanns Eisler, Ernst Krenek, and pedagogues at the Vienna Conservatory, Bologna Conservatory, and Stern Conservatory. The movement’s roots trace to theoretical shifts by Heinrich Schenker critics, interventions by patrons like the Gustav Mahler circle, and commissions from institutions including the Salzburg Festival, the Bayreuth Festival, and broadcasters such as the BBC and Deutsche Welle that supported premieres and broadcast experiments.
Central composers include Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, Igor Stravinsky, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Béla Bartók, Paul Hindemith, Dmitri Shostakovich, Benjamin Britten, Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luigi Nono, Luciano Berio, György Ligeti, Iannis Xenakis, Elliott Carter, Giacinto Scelsi, and Edgard Varèse. Key institutions included the Darmstadt International Summer Course for New Music, the Donaueschingen Festival, the International Society for Contemporary Music, the Wiener Konzerthaus, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, the IRCAM, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and ensembles such as the Ensemble InterContemporain, the Ensemble Modern, Asko Ensemble, and the Pogus Ensemble; influential conductors and performers included Pierre Boulez (conductor), Simon Rattle, Riccardo Muti, Georg Solti, Carlo Maria Giulini, Michael Gielen, Günter Wand, and soloists like Mstislav Rostropovich, Sviatoslav Richter, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, and Yehudi Menuhin.
Practices associated with the movement encompassed twelve-tone serialism codified by Arnold Schoenberg and expanded by Anton Webern and Pierre Boulez, stochastic methods by Iannis Xenakis, spectral techniques advanced by Gérard Grisey and Tristan Murail, electronic synthesis developed at IRCAM and by Karlheinz Stockhausen, and aleatoric procedures employed by John Cage, Morton Feldman, and Luca Francesconi; compositional innovations were promoted through scores published by Universal Edition, Boosey & Hawkes, and Schott Music. Performance practices integrated extended techniques championed by Berio and Lachenmann, spatialization experiments by Stockhausen and Henry Brant, and notation revolutions advocated in manifestos by Theodor Adorno, Hanns Eisler, and critics at Die Zeit.
Key premieres and repertoire milestones include Arnold Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire", Alban Berg's "Wozzeck", Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" in the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Pierre Boulez's "Le Marteau sans maître", Karlheinz Stockhausen's "Gesang der Jünglinge", Luigi Nono's "Il canto sospeso", Olivier Messiaen's "Turangalîla-Symphonie", György Ligeti's "Atmosphères" at the Donaueschingen Festival, Edgard Varèse's "Ionisation", Iannis Xenakis's "Metastasis", Luciano Berio's "Sinfonia", John Cage's "4′33″" and performances at the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program, Darmstadt Summer Courses, and broadcasts on WDR, RAI, and the BBC. Landmark recordings were issued by labels such as Deutsche Grammophon, EMI Classics, Nonesuch Records, and Columbia Records featuring conductors Pierre Boulez (conductor), Herbert von Karajan, and ensembles like the Ensemble InterContemporain and the London Sinfonietta.
Reception ranged from scandalized audiences at early performances like the Rite of Spring riot to critical endorsement by theorists Theodor Adorno and denunciation by political authorities in Nazi Germany and during Soviet cultural campaigns; debates occurred in journals such as Die Musikforschung, Tempo, The Musical Times, Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, and newspapers like The Times and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Critics and composers engaged in polemics involving Arnold Schoenberg, Igor Stravinsky, Pierre Boulez, John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and institutions like the Darmstadt courses, while legal and funding disputes involved bodies such as the European Cultural Foundation and national broadcasters including ARD and BBC Radio 3.
The movement reshaped curricula at conservatories like the Juilliard School, Royal College of Music, Conservatoire de Paris, Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, and universities such as Harvard University, Columbia University, Yale University, University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University; it influenced film composers at Hollywood studios, experimental theater in Berlin and Paris, and cross-disciplinary centers like IRCAM and the Centre Pompidou. Later composers who trace debts include Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Thomas Adès, Harrison Birtwistle, John Adams, Georg Friedrich Haas, Helmut Lachenmann, Kaija Saariaho, Unsuk Chin, Magnus Lindberg, and institutions that sustain contemporary practice include the WDR Electronic Music Studio, the Gesamtkunstwerk festivals, and recording projects by Deutsche Grammophon and Naxos Records.