History of Music - 20th Century Formal

• see also:
  • History of Music
  • History of Medieval Era of Music
  • History of Renaissance Era of Music
  • History of Baroque Era of Music
  • History of the Classical Period of Music
  • History of the Romantic Era of Music

Introduction:

• new styles:
  • modernism (Schonberg, Stravinsky, Bartok, Hindemith)
  • neoclassicism (Stravinsky)
  • expressionism (Berg, Webern)
  • serialism (Boulez)
  • electronic music (Stockhausen)
  • aleatoric music & indeterminancy (Cage)
  • minimalism (Reich, Glass)

Composers:

• Pre-WWII:
  • Edward Elgar (1857-1934):
    •  
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958):
    • Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis
    • Fantasia on Greensleeves
    • Symphony #3
  • Aaron Copland (1900-1990):
    • Fanfare for the Common Man
    • Appalachian Spring
  • French impressionists (based music on non-functional harmonic principles):
    • Claude Debussy (1862-1918):
      • French composer influenced by Wagner
      • orchestral:
        • Nocturnes (1899)
        • La Mer (1905)
        • Images (1912)
        • the ballets Jeux (1913), Khamma (1912), La boite a joujoux (1913)
    • Maurice Ravel (1875-1937):
      • works:
        • Bolero
        • Daphnis et Chloe, La valse
  • Arnold Schonberg (1874-1951):
    • Austro-Hungarian composer, citizen of America from 1941
    • freer treatment of dissonance in the twelve-tone music of the New Viennese School of Schonberg, Berg & Webern
    • Chamber Symphony #1, Pierrot Lunaire, Verklarte Nacht
  • Alban Berg (1885-1935):
    • Austrian composer, a pupil of Schonberg
  • Anton von Webern (1883-1945):
    • Austrian composer, one of Schonberg's 1st pupils
    • Music for string quartet, Five orchestral pieces
  • Paul Hindemith (1895-1963):
    • Mathis der Maler symphony
  • Carl Nielsen (1865-1931):
    • Symphonies 1-5
  • Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959):
    • Bachianas Brasileiras
  • Georges Enesco (1881-1955):
    • Romanian poem, Romanian rhapsodies
  • George Gershwin (1898-1937):
    • American composer wrote for pop music as well as concert music, writing songs, Broadway musicals which not only define the 1920's & 30's (esp. Oh Kay!, Girl Crazy, Lady Be Good), but break paths which would be fully exploited later by Rogers & Hammerstein.
    • the American equivalent of Verdi
    • Rhapsody in Blue (1924), Piano Concerto in F (1925)
  • Gustavus Holst (1874-1934):
    • English-born German
    • The Planets
  • Leos Janacek (1854-1928):
    • Quartets for strings, Sinfonietta
  • Bela Bartok (1881-1945):
    • introduced folk elements into music
    • Concerto for orchestra, concertos for piano, quartets
  • Jean Sibelius (1865-1957):
    • Concerto for violin, Finlandia, Symphonies #2,5
  • Carl Orff (1895-1982):
    • Carmina Burana (1936)
  • Erik Satie (1866-1925):
    • piano music: Gymnopedie, Gnossienne
  • Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936):
    • Ancient airs & dances, Fountains of Rome, Pines of Rome
  • Sergei Prokofieff (1891-1953):
    • Classical Symphony, Concerto #3 Piano, Peter and the Wolf, Sonatas for piano (6,7,8), Symphony #5
  • Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971):
    • Russian composer who in 1934 became French nationalty & then in 1945, American nationality
    • works:
      • The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911), The Rite of Spring (1913)
      • Pulcinella (1920) sparked neo-classicism
      • Piano Concerto, Sonata, Serenade in A
• post-WWII:
  • Samuel Barber (1910-81):
    • American composer
    • Adagio for Strings
  • Aram Khachaturian (1903-78):
    • concertos, Gayane ballet
  • Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-99):
    • Concierto de Aranjuez for Guitar & Orchestra
  • Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975):
    • String Quartets #8, Symphonies 5,7,10
  • Leonard Bernstein (1918-90):
    • Chichester psalms
    • West Side Story
  • John Cage (1912-92):
    • American composer
  • Maurice Durufle (1902-1986):
    • Requiem
  • Luigi Nono (1924-90):
    • Austrian composer
    • works:
      • Intolleranza (1960), Il canto sospeso (1956), Hay que caminar
  • Witold Lutoslawski (1913-94)
    • Polish composer