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.
