There were several important trends to look at when examining 20th Century music styles. Here are just a handful of them. Note: some of the links on this page go to YouTube and access to this site may be blocked on the Schools Broadband. Schools can alter their
filtering levels (PDF).
ImpressionismOne device, the
whole-tone scale, causes a blurred, dreamy effect. A piece that is based on such a scale is
L’Isle Joyeuse by Claude Debussy. An interactive score of Debussy’s
Gollywog’s Cakewalk may also be examined. (The Scorch plug-in is required). Programme note for a performance of Debussy’s orchestral work
L’Après-midi d’une faune. MIDI versions of some of
Debussy’s most famous piano pieces.
Short piece about Maurice Ravel taken from
The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, with links to other relevant
composers. Radio broadcast of three different versions of
Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite with a short spoken introduction. Performance of Ravel’s String Quartet in F major (2nd movement) on
YouTube. Ravel’s Boléro as interpreted by Torvill and Deane at the 1984 Olympics on
YouTube.
Atonalism, Serialism & ExpressionismAtonalism explained Serialism, using a mathematical device called the 12-tone series, is explained and illustrated
well in this
Flash movie.
A short explanation of how
Expressionism differs from Impressionism in the world of art is helpful (scroll down to relevent links):
A seminal expressionist work is
Arnold Schoenberg’s Second String Quartet. It caused a riot at its first performance.
Excellent Flash movie showing the score of
Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire in time with the audio: (Needs Flash 6 player). Excerpts from
Schoenberg’s Jacob’s Ladder accompany this excellent spoken description of the 12-tone row he used.
Analysis of
Anton Berg’s opera, Wozzeck, as an example of an expressionist work.
Further discussion of Wozzeck and an extract from Wozzeck on
You Tube.
Listen to extracts by
Anton Webern.
NeoclassicismA well-shot video recording of the start of Igor Stravinsky’s opera The Rake’s Progress, composed in 1951, is on
YouTube. This is a fine example of neoclassical music.
Quirky extract from a documentary showing
Stravinsky being interviewed on a ship on his way across the Atlantic while a lifeboat drill is taking place. Also shows him conducting his music. Music for the Stravinsky ballet The Rite of Spring is discussed in a
radio broadcast at NPR.
MinimalismMinimalism as a movement in Art.
There is a short extract from John Cage’s piano piece
Music of Changes.
Read about
Philip Glass.
Find out about
La Monte Young or listen to music by
Terry Riley.
Holy Minimalism Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No 3
Sorrowful Songs was performed and recorded in Auschwitz.
Biographical note on
Arvo Pärt. Song for Athene was composed by John Tavener and was performed at the funeral of
Princess
Diana.AleatoricThe composition or performance of aleatoric music is determined by chance. In this newspaper article about John Cage various people describe his importance. Reference is made to Cage’s infamous 4’33” in which no note is played. A
performance of 4’33” has to be experienced to be believed!
Biography with a list of
Witold Lutoslawski’s most significant compositions.
Jazz-InfluencedA short article about the influence of Jazz may be found on the
NPR website. (Real Player is required to hear the audio extract supplied).
The French composer Darius Milhaud was a member of ‘
Les Six’ Apart from championing polytonality, Milhaud included Jazz idioms into concert works such as
La Creation du Monde (1923) which sounds American.
Interactive site with extracts from many works written by
George Gershwin and his brother Ira. Clip from the Gershwin opera
Porgy and Bess.
In this video recording of Gershwin’s
Rhapsody in Blue, Leonard Bernstein is both conductor and pianist
Folk-InfluencedHamilton Harty used Irish folk tunes in his works most notably An Irish Symphony (1904).
Zoltan Kodaly used modes, tonal harmonies and strong rhythms. The instrument used at the front of the orchestra in this
video clip from Kodaly’s Hary Janos Suite is called the cimbalom. Here is
Kodaly’s Dancing Song, a choral work for female voices.
Kodaly’s Dances of Galanta are performed on YouTube by performers in national dress.
Biography of
Béla Bartok. Detailed description of
Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra. Bartok’s
Romanian Dances on YouTube.
Musique ConcrèteIt is explained well here in this piece about
Pierre Schaeffer. He recorded trains on tape and produced
Etude aux Chemins de Fer in 1948.
Other composers working in this field include
Steve Reich. It is also worth listening to Reich speak about 'It’s Gonna Rain' on
The South Bank Show.
Electronic MusicThe ondes martenot was one of many
electronic instruments invented at the start of the twentieth century. Here are some details about them, including images and sound files.
A summary of
Edgar Varèse’s achievements with many relevant links. In 1958 Varèse composed
Poème Electronique.
Karlheinz Stockhausen’s obituary from the Times. Tribute to Stockhausen.
Podcast on BBC3 with extracts from some of his works. Requires Real Player.
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