Expressionist music is a style of composition and performance that emphasizes the expression of strong emotions and subjective experiences. It originated as a modernist movement in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century and was initially applied to poetry and painting before being adopted by composers. The term "expressionism" was first used to describe music in 1918, particularly in relation to the works of Arnold Schoenberg.
Key characteristics of expressionist music include:
- High level of dissonance, with a focus on jarring and unresolved harmonies.
- Extreme contrasts of dynamics, with sudden shifts between loud and soft passages.
- Constant changing of textures, with different instrumental or vocal combinations and timbres.
- "Distorted" melodies and harmonies, often featuring wide leaps and angular lines.
- Wild leaps in tempo, rhythm, and chord structure.
- Extreme pitch and tonal changes.
- Absence of traditional cadences.
Expressionist music aims to fully express darker and often extreme emotions through equally extreme, disruptive, and sometimes even violent musical elements. It is characterized by its emphasis on atonality and the rejection of traditional tonal and harmonic structures. The new musical forms born out of expressionism were primarily based on the implementation of instrumental range and contrasts in textures, tempos, and tonality.
