Music in the Romantic Era – 1825-1900 - Andrew Lesser Music

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 4distorted manner. The Expressionist movement in painting was subsequently taking place in theart world; many artists’ works represent feelings on the subconscious level, demonstratingconflict, anxiety, and distress. Artists who are most associated with the Expressionist movementinclude Edvard Munch (The Scream), Vincent van Gogh (The Starry Night), and WassilyKandinsky (Composition VII).After World War I, Schoenberg devised a further development of expressionism after notpublishing any music for six years. This development consisted of using sequences of each note ofthe chromatic scale in a series called “rows”, where each note would only be used once until thenext sequence began. The initial row could be altered in different ways to vary the melodic andharmonic content of the music, and is now known as serialism, or twelve-tone music. There arefour ways to present a tone row. First, the row can be performed in its original form, called theprime. From there, the row can be played backwards, known as retrograde. The original row canalso be inverted, or turned “upside down”, and finally, the original row can be played backwardsand inverted at the same time, which is called retrograde inversion. The tone row can be playedin any rhythm, instrumental combination, range, and can also start on any pitch, as long as itfollows two basic rules, which are that all twelve tones of the chromatic scale must be used in asingle tone row, and that all tones must be used only once, not repeating until the beginning ofthe next row. Some of Schoenberg’s most influential works containing twelve-tone techniqueinclude the Violin Concerto, Op. 26 (1936), A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46 (1947), and theunfinished opera Moses und Aron.Before immigrating to the United States in 1933 during the rise of the Third Reich,Schoenberg taught his method of composition to a group of devoted followers. Two of thesestudents in particular stood out as worthy successors toSchoenberg’s creation, Anton Webern and Alban Berg.Both composers studied under Schoenberg before hedevised the twelve-tone method, and each student’s worksduring the Expressionistic phase of their developmentreflects their own original understanding of personalexpression. Webern (see Composer Profiles) would useextreme brevity in his works, only applying the basicessentials in short, compact pieces that hardly ever stray tohigher dynamic levels. His combined thirty-one publishedworks are shorter than one Mahler symphony, yet containan enormous amount of musical activity. When he adoptedthe twelve-tone method after World War I, Weberncontinued his use of small textures and brief durations in themotivation to communicate clarity of thought throughcontrolled emotional reserve.Berg (also see Composer Profiles), however, utilizedAlban Berg (left) andAnton Webern (right). more freedom with Schoenberg’s methods and remains themost “Romantic” of the three composers. Like Webern, Bergbegan writing atonal works and updated his practice to the twelve-tone system when Schoenberg

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 7Olivier Messiaen. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice was later animated and remains the best known piecefrom Disney’s Fantasia (1940).The Soviets at the Turn of the CenturyAt the end of the nineteenth century, Russian music possessed a strong foothold onmainstream European influences, particularly the music of Tchaikovsky and the Russian Five. Ofall the Five, Rimsky-Korsakov would stand out as the major representative of Russian nationalism,while Tchaikovsky firmly stood as the keeper of the older nineteenth century traditions. Each ofthem would have successors that would further the scope of Russian music and both of themwould do so in completely opposing ways.Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943) firmly kept to the Tchaikovsky method of composition,rooted in the older forms and structures and never venturing beyond the realm of tonality. Unlikehis fellow student and friend Alexander Scriabin, Rachmaninov (see Composer Profiles) wouldnot follow his contemporary’s innovations. However, upon Scriabin’s death, Rachmaninovperformed a series of recitals dedicated solely to his colleague and friend’s works. Rachmaninov’sreputation spans both that of a piano virtuoso and a master composer. As a student at theMoscow Conservatory, Rachmaninov’s style of traditional Romanticism appeared early. Hisprimary mentor was Tchaikovsky, who seeing the young man’s talent, offered to haveRachmaninov arrange his ballet The Sleeping Beauty as a piano transcription. Rachmaninov’s Trioélégiaque was written in response to Tchaikovsky’s untimely death, revealing an intense darknessof emotion and sadness in the composer’s style.In 1917, Russia became engulfed in a Civil War later called the “October” or “Red October”Revolution. The political faction known as the Bolsheviks revolted against and ultimatelyoverthrew the Russian Provisional Government in Petrograd. The resulting Civil War lasted from1917 until 1923, where a number of independent countries were formed, including Estonia,Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. The former Russian Empire was renamed the SovietUnion, under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. Many independent Russians, includingRachmaninov, fled the country during this time and never returned. Rachmaninov himselfrelocated to Switzerland and finally America, becoming an American citizen in 1943, the year ofhis death.Another Russian composer that eventuallyimmigrated to America, though his journey in thehistory of music was noticeably divergent fromRachmaninov’s, was Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971).Known as one of the greatest composers of alltime, Stravinsky (see Composer Profiles) definednew tonalities and expressions that werecompletely opposite Rachmaninov’s nineteenthcentury traditionalism. Ironically, Romanticism iswhere Stravinsky’s career began as a student ofIgor Stravinsky, right, with Sergei Diaghilev.

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 9of this time has not entered the permanent repertoire, but without a doubt contains theunmistakable hallmarks of Stravinsky’s stylistic innovations.The European Cosmopolitan SceneThe rest of Europe was not exempt from developing its own advancements in twentiethcentury music. From Eastern Europe to the British Isles, new forms of expression were made andnew talents were discovered that explored models of the past, traditional folk music, and chartednew courses in musical development. In Italy, Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) continued theoperatic tradition of his predecessor, Giuseppe Verdi. Puccini (see Composer Profiles) isconsidered the last of the great Italian opera composers, as his success rivaled Verdi’s and left nofuture composers to succeed him after his death. Puccini retained the traditions of the past anddid not participate in the radical musical advancements of the rest of Europe. Nevertheless, thatdid not have any bearing on his enormous popularity, and his operas still draw top billing aroundthe world.In Czechoslovakia, Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) was the leading composer into the twentiethcentury. While his works have not completely penetrated the modern repertoire, his use of thenative folk music of his homeland gave him recognition as a national figure. Inspired by hiscountrymen Antonin Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana, Janáček preceded the evolution of folk musicas a tool for mainstream composition in Eastern Europe. This development was realized in the useof Hungarian folk music by Béla Bártok (1881-1945) and Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967). Kodály isknown as much for his contribution to music education as his compositional work. His workscompletely absorb the stylistic flavor of Hungarian folk song, mostly in assigning priority to themelodic lines. Folk song, Kodály theorized, was essential to the cultural development in youngstudents, and his use of singing and playing folk songs in school is universally known as the“Kodály Method”.Bártok (see Composer Profiles) workedwith Kodály for many years piecing togetherthe numerous folk melodies that he called“peasant songs”. While Franz Liszt was one ofBártok’s earliest influences, he did not believethat Liszt captured the true essence ofHungarian music. Liszt worked chiefly fromusing gypsy melodies, which in Bártok’sopinion was a mere imitation of Hungary’scultural identity. Using a wax cylinderphonograph, such as the one pictured on left,Bártok and Kodály scoured the Hungariancountryside searching for authentic examples offolk music. The result was a number ofmasterpieces Bártok composed, reconcilingtraditional folk songs with orchestral technique.Béla Bártok (pictured fourth from left) recordingtraditional Hungarian folk music. Picture taken byZoltán Kodály.

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 10In addition to his importance as a composer, Bártok would later be called one of theworld’s pioneering ethnomusicologists. Ethnomusicology, or the study of music in specific localand worldwide contexts, focuses on music from around the world as a basis for understandingcultural traditions through music and the arts. Like Kodály, Bártok was also a consummateeducator, but more often through piano technique than with general classroom education. Hismajor contribution to the field of piano literature is the Mikrokosmos, a set of six volumes ofpiano etudes graded by difficulty. Today, the Mikrokosmos has the same influence in pianoeducation as Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier and the Debussy Preludes.In Northern Europe, the countries of Scandinavia produced two of its most belovedcomposers, Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) and Carl Nielsen (1865-1931). Sibelius, born in Finland,achieved fame by adapting the folklore of Finland’s culture in his orchestral works. Kullervo(1892), En Saga (1895), and the famous tone-poem Finlandia (1899) were all developed fromFinnish literature. Sibelius’ other source of recognition is his seven symphonies, each extendingthe late-nineteenth century tradition, but with a sense of originality and creativity that continuesto inspire musicians of the present day. Like Bártok, Sibelius drew from folk material in hismelodies, but diverges from Bártok’s path in his use of traditional tonal structures and anabundance of stepwise diatonic motion. Sibelius’ contemporary, the Danish born Carl Nielsen,also wrote using the more traditional nineteenth century symphonic style, yet was able to achievea personal form of expression through tonal structure. His works are known for their almostClassical-style textures and the heavy use of variation through melodic counterpoint, such as inhis most famous works, including his Flute Concerto, Clarinet Concerto, and his six symphonies.The New English TraditionWhile the rest of Europe had consistently developed its own musical culture since theClassical and Romantic periods, England had strangely remained silent since the death of HenryPurcell more than two hundred years prior. Since then, not one major English composer hadasserted themselves before the beginning of the twentieth century. A major reason behind thiswas the dominance of George Frederic Handel when he visited England during the first half of theeighteenth century. Extraordinarily popular with the English people, Handel’s impact on Britishmusic continued well after his death in 1759. During the nineteenth century, Handel’s popularitywas transferred to another German, that of Felix Mendelssohn. In addition to his own works,Mendelssohn frequently conducted works by Handel, Bach, and Haydn, which greatly appealed toEnglish sensibility. At his death in 1847, England had not produced a major composer in almosttwo hundred years.This period of stark inactivity changed dramatically with the new generation of Britishcomposers, beginning with the emergence of Edward Elgar (1857-1934). Elgar was the very imageof English militarism; tall, mustached, impeccably dressed, and very proper. Almost completelyself-trained, Elgar wished to study at the Leipzig Conservatory in Germany, but was unable toattend due to the fact that his father could not afford to send him there. His career as a composerignited quickly with the appearance of his Variations on an Original Theme for Orchestra,commonly called the “Enigma” Variations. The reason for this title is because the piece is designed

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 11so that every variation creates a characterature of each of Elgar’s personal friends. Elgar dedicatedthe work to “my friends pictured within”, and even mentionedthat there exists within each movement a “hidden theme” thatin Elgar’s words, is “not played”. To date this hidden theme hasnot been discovered, though scholars have postulated manytheories. The Enigma Variations were published in 1899, andgave Elgar instant recognition as a thoroughly Britishcomposer. In truth, Elgar was heavily influenced by the lateRomantic style of Germany and Austria, but his majorachievement was his ability to use those influences in a moreEnglish-sounding vein. His most popular work, the set of Pompand Circumstance Marches, exhibit the proud, dignified air ofnobility that set Elgar’s works apart from music on mainlandEurope. In addition, the String Quartet, Op. 83 (1918), CelloConcerto, Op. 85 (1919), and his two symphonies are gainingground in the mainstream repertoire. In his later life, Elgargrew disenchanted with the direction that modern music wastaking, and he decided to retire from composition in 1919. Edward Elgar, circa 1900.From then on, his music was seen as more of a look back to the past, rarely performed until hisworks were rediscovered by a more appreciative public in the latter half of the twentieth century.While Elgar began England’s return to the compositional main stage, Ralph VaughanWilliams (1872-1958) began a new tradition that gave him unprecedented success and a return toEngland’s cultural roots. Like Bártok and Kodály, Vaughan Williams (see Composer Profiles)toured the English countryside searching for English folk songs and carols to use in his ownworks. His traveling companion and friend was fellow composer Gustav Holst (1874-1934), whostudied with Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music. Vaughan Williams did not ascribeto the compositional developments of Bártok, and completely avoided the serialism ofSchoenberg: “Schoenberg meant nothing to me, but as he apparently meant a lot to other people,I dare say that it is all my own fault”. Instead, he favored the traditions of England’s past, fromJohn Dunstable to Henry Purcell and every British composer in between. His most famous work,the Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, remains one of Vaughan Williams’ most identifiablepieces. He was an especially prolific composer, writing nine symphonies, five operas, and musicfor plays, film, and radio. Although he was considered a nationalist by followers of his music,Vaughan Williams never considered himself a nationalist composer. He rejected an offer to beknighted and other government honors, and was involved in a number of both amateur andprofessional performing groups. In this way, his demeanor was starkly opposite that of Elgar,neither that of a formal scholar or visionary, but a humanist seeking to write the very best musiche could for the sake of all that would listen.Next to Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst was the most well-known and influential Englishcomposer before World War I. Holst (see Composer Profiles), a great friend and contemporary ofVaughan Williams, was much more cosmopolitan in his musical influences. While many of hisworks exhibit the same English folk song and carol influence as Vaughan Williams, Holst’s

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 12orchestral pieces reveal an early following of Wagner and other mainstream European models.Studying astrology and Eastern philosophy gave Holst a unique source of inspiration, mostnotably in his most popular orchestral suite, The Planets. Holst’s role in music education is alsosignificant; he was active in teaching young composers and musicians in both the St. Paul’s GirlsSchool and Morley College, in addition to lecturing at University College and his alma mater, theRoyal College of Music. Together with Elgar and Vaughan Williams, Holst served to create a newvision for English music from the unproductive period of inactivity it had experienced for almosttwo hundred years.The Early American SoundMuch of America’s concert music at the beginning of the twentieth century was cultivatedfrom European-born artists or European-trained American citizens. The typical method ofbuilding American composers and performers was to send them to European conservatories,particularly Paris or Leipzig, for their entire musical education. American-born composers such asLowell Mason (1792-1872), Amy Beach (1867-1944) and Edward MacDowell (1860-1908) were allextremely popular with American audiences, yet followed the strict European models that hadbeen taught to them by European musicians. Ironically, it was an immigrant European composerthat began to harness America’s folk music and open the path for further exploration. AntonínDvořák had left his native Czechoslovakia in 1892 and began teaching in New York at the newlyestablished National Conservatory of Music. His Symphony No. 9, commonly titled the “NewWorld” Symphony, drew inspiration from Negro folk-song like material, although no actual folkspirituals were used in the entire composition. Dvořák suggested to American composers that anew national musical language could easily be found in the rich folk songs of their own country.American already had possession of a lasting heritage of popular song. Stephen Foster (1826-1864), known as “the father of American music”, had become known throughout the country withsongs such as Camptown Races, My Old Kentucky Home, I Dream of Jeannie with the Light BrownHair, and Old Folks at Home. These were parlor songs, however, and America had yet to develop anational identity in the concert hall as well as the dance hall.Though not considered a “concert” composer, an early figure in America’s musicaldevelopment was John Philip Sousa (1854-1932). Sousa, born in Washington, D.C., distinguishedhimself as the conductor of the Marine Band, commonly called “The President’s Own”. His father,John Antonio Sousa, was a trombonist in the band when Sousa was young and encouraged him toenlist in the Marine Corps. After directing the Marine Band for twelve years, he formed his ownband and toured the country performing original songs of American patriotism, mostly drawnfrom his own considerable number of marches, one hundred and thirty six in all. Many of hismarches have become staples of the American patriotic repertoire, specifically The Stars andStripes Forever, now America’s official National March, and Semper Fidelis, the official march ofthe Marine Corps. To this day, Sousa’s marches are played at ceremonial and public eventsthroughout the country, and his name has become synonymous with American military music.One of the most original voices in the development of a unique American style was that ofCharles Ives (1874-1954). Though trained in the European tradition when he attended Yale, Ives’

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 14The World at WarIn 1918, World War I drew to a close with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The worldhad been badly shaken by the extreme devastation and destruction left in the war’s wake. Itinvolved all the world’s major military powers, and forever changed the political and geographicalboundaries of Europe. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was torn apart, and from there emergedseveral newly established independent states, including Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary,Romania, and Yugoslavia. Russia had pulled out of the war after its collapse in 1917, during theaftermath of the “October” Revolution. Its new revolutionary government had already begun toestablish the Soviet Union as a communist state, and Adolf Hitler used Germany’s defeat to gainpower with the National Socialist Party. He succeeded in winning the chancellorship and laterturned Germany into a complete dictatorship. The period between the wars was marked withgrave uncertainty, as rising international tensions threatened to once again plunge the world intoconflict.As was the case for a major overhaul in political and geographical restructuring, worldculture would also be largely affected by the war’s end. The philosophies of artists and musicianshad dramatically changed from their earlier viewpoints assuming that science and technologywere the source of new inspiration and creativity leading into the future. Once they had seen thecapabilities of the new war machines, laying waste to entire cities and causing mass destruction ofa level previously unheard of, these attitudes changed instantly. Deeply traumatized by thebrutality of the war, new artistic reactions against technology shifted to less complicatedstructures focused on promoting economy and more simplistic means of musical communication.A renewed effort for providing clarity and efficiency permeated Europe’s artistic atmosphere, andan interest in reconciling with the past, created more order in both tonal and atonalcompositions. Another aspect of the war’s impact on musicians was the desire to write music thatwas more accessible to the general public. As Kodály and Bártok demonstrated in their use of folksong material in their writings, many others composed music that could be used with morepracticality and utility. The rising tide of these new ideas would lead to create a new generation ofmusicians, and would also serve to alter the compositional methods of already establishedcomposers.France Between the WarsA particular composer whose style had changed dramatically after the war was IgorStravinsky. In 1920, Stravinsky moved to Paris and became a French citizen. After hearing theworks of composers such as Erik Satie, Stravinsky started to develop his own music in the styleknown as neo-classicism. As exclaimed earlier, the term “neo-classicism” does not only refer to anincreased use of techniques stemming from Classical genres, but also incorporated earlier modelsfrom the Baroque and Renaissance periods. From the conclusion of the war stemmed a desire tocreate works of art dedicated to a simpler ideal. The French poet Jean Cocteau railed against thecomplexity of the “Wagnerian fog” and “Debussian mist”, declaring that all such music rests in “its

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 15convolutions, dodges, and tricks”. His concept, found in the music of Satie, represented a morecommon musical atmosphere: “What we need is a music of the earth, every-day music”. Satieembodied those qualities in his brief, melodic works that weave together fragments of musicalmaterial that are interconnected in a seamless, flowing structure. Satie’s works lack the granddesigns of the late Romantic era, and is more casual, suitable more for the café than the concerthall. A singular work that inspired those around Satie was the ballet Parade (1917), set to a story byCocteau and performed by the Ballet Russes. This work and others brought Satie a cult following,particularly in younger French composers that followed the ideals of the post-war ethic.Six composers in particular began to gather around Satie, and in 1919 they began givingconcerts playing each others’ works and referring to themselves as “Les Six” (“The Six”).Composed of Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger, Georges Auric, GermaineTailleferre, and Louis Durey, the name “Les Six” was more of a reaction of French pride analogousto the Russian “Mighty Handful”. Of these composers, three stand out as the best representativesof the French post-war aesthetic. Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) was the closest to Satie in hisstylistic idiom. His groundbreaking work La Création du monde (“The Creation of the World”-1923) was one of the first concert pieces to use American jazz as a structural foundation. Anothertechnique associated with Milhaud was polytonality, also used by Charles Ives in America. In hispiano suite Souvenirs of Brazil (1921), Milhaud alternates between G major in the left hand whilethe right hand is playing material in D major.Arthur Honegger (1892-1955) achieved his first success with the dramatic oratorio Le RoiDavid (“King David”) in 1921. His music around the 1920’s is marked by the ideals of Le Six; morelyrical and down to earth. However, after the 1920’s his compositions turned away from casual,simplistic forms and started to become more complex. His extended compositions include fivesymphonies and three string quartets that show an interest in more formal counterpoint,particularly in his Fifth Symphony, written in 1951. The most dominant composer of Les Six wasFrancis Poulenc (1899-1963), who was mostly self-taught in composition. His musical sound ismostly reserved, returning to the more traditional format of tonality and harmonic structure. Hismusic has a light, simplistic quality, particularly in the piano piece Mouvements perpétuels(“Perpetual Motion” – 1918) and his final piece, the Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1962).Post-War GermanyThough Germany was defeated at the conclusion of World War I, in the decade followingthe war, the country’s artistic and cultural life began its own rebirth. A strong reaction against theideals of Wagnerian late-Romanticism started to take root in the younger generation ofcomposers, and a call sounded for music that demonstrated more objectivity and efficiency. Thegreatest German composer to come out of this post-war aesthetic was Paul Hindemith (1895-1963). Trained as a violinist, Hindemith (see Composer Profiles) demonstrated an early aptitudewhen he was accepted into the Hoch Conservatory at the age of thirteen. Some of Hindemith’searly compositions reflect a debt to Brahms and Richard Strauss, but during the early 1920’sHindemith broke free of these traditional methods and began to chart his own course. Strausseven remarked to Hindemith at one point: “Why do you have to write this way? You have talent”.

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 16Hindemith’s response was simply: “Herr Professor, you make your music and I’ll make mine”.Hindemith’s music of the early 1920’s was influenced by jazz and popular music, but also featureda predilection for returning to a more neo-classical vein, particularly in the forms and textures ofthe Baroque era. The philosophy of music as a vehicle for functional means permeatedHindemith’s compositions as well. He is credited for embodying the German concept ofGebrauchmusik, or music used specifically for utilitarian ends. A function of this philosophy liesin Hindemith’s compositions designed for amateurs, to be used solely for teaching purposes. As alifelong teacher, Hindemith published several texts on music, most notably The Craft for MusicComposition in 1937, which remains a seminal work on music in the twentieth century.Hindemith was dismissed from his teaching position at the Frankfurt Conservatory in thesame year after members of the Nazi Party denounced his work as not representative of the “pure”German culture. Joseph Goebbels, Germany’s Minister of Propaganda, publicly labeled Hindemithas an “atonal noisemaker”. In truth, Hindemith did not follow the innovations of Schoenberg orthe Second Viennese School. He had a strong belief in tonality, as he exclaimed that “music, aslong as it exists, will always take its departure from the major triad and return to it”. LikeSchoenberg, however, Hindemith also left Germany and eventually settled in America, where heaccepted the position of professor of composition at Yale University. His tonal system, describedin The Craft of Musical Composition, is not diatonic, but uses all twelve notes equally, rankingeach interval from the most consonant to the most dissonant. His counterpoint owes more to J.S.Bach than any other composer, and many of his fugues display homage to him. Hindemith’sprolific output includes music for practically every instrumental combination, including solo,chamber, concerto, and orchestral works. His most famous pieces are the symphony based on hisopera Mathis du Maler (“Mathis the Painter” - 1935) and his orchestral piece SymphonicMetamorphosis on Themes by Carl Maria von Weber (1943). Hindemith’s music had a pronouncedeffect among younger composers around World War II, and his influence continues to affectcomposers in the present day.The only other German composer of Hindemith’s generation that approached his level ofinfluence was Kurt Weill (1900-50). Both Weill and Hindemith left Germany at the rise of theNazi Party, but their compositional careers took very different paths. Weill studied compositionat the Music Academy in Berlin with Engelbert Humperdinck and later Ferruccio Busoni. Hardlyany of Weill’s early works before the 1920’s have survived, but most of what remains displays aninfluence of Strauss and Mahler. Later in the decade, Weill turned away from the late Romantictendencies and starting composing music as an instrument of social change. He believed the mosteffective means to accomplish this was through opera, and with his collaborator, the playwrightBertolt Brecht, Weill created his first success, a series of six extended songs titled the Mahagonny-Songspiel. Their first large-scale work, The Threepenny Opera (1928), was based on the eighteenthcentury Beggar’s Opera by the English composer John Gay. The opera was an enormous success,and Weill and Brecht continued to work together until Weill left Germany in 1933. After spendingsome time in France, Weill came to the United States, where most of his remaining years wasspent writing for Broadway and musical theater. He produced a number of shows, includingDown in the Valley and Street Scene, which later inspired Broadway composers including LeonardBernstein and Stephen Sondheim.

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 17Rise of the Soviet UnionBefore the end of the war, Russia abruptly pulled out of the conflict to fight an internalbattle. In October of 1917, a group of working class citizens known as the Bolsheviks led byVladimir Lenin (1870-1924) used their political influence to begin taking over governmentinstallations in the city of Petrograd. Disgusted with the absolute and oppressive rule of the Tsaremperors, Lenin and his followers took over the Winter Palace, seat of the ProvisionalGovernment in Petrograd. The so-called “October” Revolution sparked a civil war that was to lastuntil 1922, when Russia was transformed into a socialist state. To confirm the rise of the people’srights under the new government, Lenin changed Russia’s name to the Union of Soviet SocialistRepublics (U.S.S.R.). After Lenin’s death in 1924, Joseph Stalin emerged as the political leader ofthe Soviet Union and proceeded to further isolate the U.S.S.R. from the West as it developed intoa Communist state. Many Russians during the Revolution and the ensuing Civil War fled thecountry, uncertain as to the future of their country’s government. Both Igor Stravinsky and SergeiRachmaninov left for Switzerland within a few years of each other, and eventually settled inAmerica. Those that stayed had to adapt to a new regime whose definition of what music “should”represent affected their music, their careers, and their lives.Though he lived outside of the Soviet Union between the years of 1918 to 1934, SergeiProkofiev (1891-1953) returned to his native country after Stalin consolidated his grip on Russia’spolitical power. Prokofiev (see Composer Profiles) studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory andimmediately made a name for himself as a young man of considerable talent. After touring abroadin Europe and America, Prokofiev returned to Russia after establishing himself as a “modernist”composer. In truth, Prokofiev operated mainly within traditional forms, and his best known worksemploy a heavy use of neoclassical techniques, including his famous “Classical” Symphony (1917).Prokofiev rejected the late Romantic style and could not be considered a nationalist composer,which would bring him trouble with the ruling government upon his return to Russia. Russia hadundergone a major shift in the way art and culture was perceived. Lenin stated that all art should“belong to the people”, and that any artistic creation not designed to serve the populace wasdeemed “alien to the Soviet people”. Music as a tool for social propaganda became the sole reasonfor composition in the eyes of the government, and Prokofiev often felt himself at odds with thegovernment’s acceptable policies. Being accused of “formalism”, or any modern music that did notserve to promote Soviet ideals, was death to a composer’s career. Artists were even thrown in jailif their work had any signs of foreign influence or did not reflect the struggles of the workingclass. Though Prokofiev was celebrated by the government, winning six Stalin Prizes, a LeninPrize, and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, he constantly treaded on thin ice betweenwriting “acceptable” music and pursuing his own artistic preferences.Born in Armenia, Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) did not formally study music untilafter Armenia was declared a Soviet Republic in 1920. However, Khachaturian possessed suchgreat natural musical ability that he was admitted to the Gnessin Institute, where he studied celloand composition. He later transferred to the Moscow Conservatory and graduated in 1934.Khachaturian joined the Communist Party in 1943 and became popular with his ballets Gayaneand Spartacus, both of which use Russian and Armenian folk music, particularly in the famous

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 18“Sabre Dance”. Khachaturian’s career took a major downturn in 1948 after the premiere of hisThird Symphony. While Khachaturian wrote the work as atribute to communism, Andrei Zhdanov, secretary of theCommunist Party’s Central Committee, denouncedKhachaturian, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich, as “formalist” and“anti-popular”. By then the three composers had become the“titans” of Soviet music, but their worldwide popularity hadno effect on Zhdanov’s judgment. All three composers wererequired to publicly apologize for their indiscretions, whichaffected Khachaturian profoundly: “Those were tragic days forme; I was clouted on the head so unjustly. My repentingspeech at the First Congress was insincere. I was crushed,destroyed. I seriously considered changing professions”.Regardless, Khachaturian and the others regained politicalAram Khachaturian (1903-1978)favor, himself receiving four Stalin Prizes, a Lenin Prize, aU.S.S.R. State Prize, and the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. Though he lived most of his life inRussia, Khachaturian was a great inspiration to Armenian composers, and served to bring itsculture into the mainstream.The third of the Soviet “titans”, Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) also began his musicaltraining after the Revolution, and unlike Prokofiev, remained in Russia for his entire life (seeComposer Profiles). His music, therefore, is completely tied to the political trends of the newgovernment regime. Shostakovich himself spent his life under the constant threat of censorshipand incarceration. His life became a paradox: while enjoying the worldwide fame of a mastercomposer and the idolization of his fellow countrymen as a true Soviet artist, he also livedperpetually fearing the regime he imagined would put him in jail for being too “formalist” andmodern. His predictions came true before the Zhdanov decree at the 1934 premiere of his opera,Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. While the opera enjoyed repeated success and wasacclaimed as a paragon of Soviet art, in 1936 an article in Pravda, the official Communist Partynewspaper, announced the opera as “negative” and a “deliberately dissonant, confused stream ofsound”. It is not known why Lady Macbeth was particularly chosen as an example of the Party’sire, but it served to effectively censure all Soviet art that contained any hint of material notconforming to the government’s mandates. The later 1948 decree was not merely directed at anyparticular Shostakovich work, but at each of the three composers in turn, possibly simply to forceobedience as the government feared the composers’ popularity was too high. In any case, allthree, particularly Shostakovich, acquiesced, and at the end of his life revealed a loss ofconfidence in himself and his work: “There were no particularly happy moments in my life, nogreat joys. It was gray and dull and it makes me sad to think about it”. Shostakovich did not live tosee his music surge in popularity in the West after the breakdown of the Soviet Union and theCommunist Party, and he is remembered now as a man broken by his own government andforced to write according to their expectations, compromising both his personal and artisticintegrity.

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 19Other Composers of EuropePaul Hindemith at the time between the wars had established himself as the leadingGerman composer of his day, though like many others he had fled to America during the rise ofthe Third Reich. Composers who elected to stay in Germany were forced, much like in the SovietUnion, to write as the government dictated. Most idealistic composers decided to leave thecountry rather than incur the wrath of the dictatorship. A German composer who was successfulin both pleasing the authorities and creating a unique, personal style was Carl Orff (1895-1982).Best known for his cantata Carmina Burana (1937), Orff’s style is direct and often primal,demonstrated in the famous song “O Fortuna”. His vision of musical theater consisted of eachaspect, dance, music, and action, being equal on stage. This is most clearly found in his trilogy ofstage works based on Greek literary themes, including Antigonae (1949), Oedipus der Tyrann(1966), and Prometheus (1966). Another important aspect of Orff’s career is his work in musiceducation. In 1924 he developed a school specifically to train young children in cooperativeensemble performance and musical foundation. He created easily playable instruments and wrotea series of songs designed to exercise the young student’s emerging musical abilities. Known asthe Orff-Schulwerk, his methodology is practiced by elementary music educators around theworld.Folk influences had dominated the music of Spain through to the beginning of thetwentieth century. Spanish nationalism up to this point had been championed by composers suchas Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909) and Enrique Granados (1867-1916). The most successful Spanishcomposer of the first half of the twentieth century was Manuel de Falla (1876-1946). Falla spentseven years in France consorting with composers including Paul Dukas, Debussy, and Ravel,which had a more worldly effect on his music. Combined with Spanish folk influences and expertorchestrations, Falla’s main body of work includes the set of three pieces for piano and orchestraentitled Nights in the Gardens of Spain (1915) and the two ballets Love, the Magician (1915) and TheThree-Cornered Hat (1919). With these works, Falla is considered responsible for bringing Spanishorchestral music into the twentieth-century mainstream.Born right at the beginning of the twentieth century, Austrian composer Ernst Krenek(1900-1991) enjoyed his first success with the jazz opera Jonny spielt auf (“Jonny Strikes Up” -1926). He began composing in the twelve-tone method in 1930, which was targeted by the Nazis in1933. His music was subsequently banned, forcing him to relocate to America in 1938. He becamean American citizen in 1945. Following World War II, Krenek composed in a variety ofexperimental medium, including serial, aleatoric (“chance” music), and even electronic music.Pieces that best represent his later style include From Three Make Seven (1961) and Fibonaccimobile (1964).Italy at the start of the twentieth century remained in the grip of late-Romantic styleopera, particularly with the immense popularity of Puccini. Several composers sought to breakopera’s hold and renew the Italian symphonic tradition. One composer who was successful incontributing fresh orchestral material to Italy’s twentieth century development was OttorinoRespighi (1879-1936). Known primarily for his trilogy of nationalistic tone poems, including theFountains of Rome (1916), Pines of Rome (1924), and Roman Festivals (1928), Respighi also had a

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 20great interest in 16 th , 17 th , and 18 th century Italian music, and published new editions of works byClaudio Monteverdi and Antonio Vivaldi.The next generation of English composers after Holst and Vaughan Williams were bestrepresented by William Walton (1902-1982), Michael Tippett (1905-1998), and Benjamin Britten(1913-1976). Britten (pictured on right), was encouraged by hiscompositional teacher, Frank Bridge, to experiment on advancedharmonic forms, and Britten was quick to assimilate thesetendencies. Though his music is essentially diatonic and very tonal,Britten’s style is characterized by clearly defined formal structuresand a haunting quality of expression. His tribute to his teacher, theVariations on a Theme by Frank Bridge (1937) for string orchestra,began a series of masterpieces that includes the operas Paul Bunyon(1941) and Peter Grimes (1945). Peter Grimes, and the ensuingorchestral suite Four Sea Interludes based on themes from the operacatapulted Britten to international fame. This was followed by moresuccesses such as Billy Budd (1951) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream(1960). Of his non-operatic works, Britten is most known for hisYoung Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (1945), and the 1961 War Requiem.The American SceneFollowing World War I, American composers were beginning to take their first stepstoward developing a musical language of national identity. Though previously rooted heavily inthe European tradition, American music began to take on a quality incorporating the folk andspiritual melodies of its homeland and the rhythmic complexities of jazz music. These driving,heavily stylized qualities were embodied in the works of George Gershwin (1898-1937), born inBrooklyn, New York. Gershwin (see Composer Profiles) was equally comfortable writing for boththe concert hall and the theater, most notably with hismost popular concert work, the Rhapsody in Blue (1924).The piece employs a heavy use of jazz motifs,specifically in the “blue” note, or lowered third in theblues scale. The opening clarinet glissando has becomesynonymous with the musical styles of the American1920’s. Gershwin’s stage and film works have also earneda permanent place in the repertoire, and his opera Porgyand Bess (1935) was the first opera to feature a castcomposed entirely of African-American singers. Thesong “Summertime” has been performed by countlessmusicians, and in 2001 the opera was named the officialSeattle Opera Company production ofPorgy and Bess, with Gordon Hawkins asPorgy and Lisa Daltirus as Bess.opera of the state of South Carolina, where the opera isbased.

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 21Though recognized as “the Dean of African-American composers”, William Grant Still(1895-1978) did not achieve the widespread popularity that Gershwin enjoyed. Nonetheless, Still(see Composer Profiles) was a pioneer in developing the American voice based on his workincorporating his experiences with jazz from his youth into the orchestral mainstream. HisSymphony No. 1 “Afro-American” (1930) is a masterpiece worthy of any modern symphony, and hisorchestral suite The American Scene (1957) is a programmatic tone poem reminiscent of Smetana’sThe Moldau. Still achieved a number of accomplishments as a black man living in the first half ofthe twentieth century, including the first African-American to conduct a major symphonyorchestra, and to have an opera performed on national television. His nationalistic views of blackculture being integrated into classical music were a defining step toward establishing a uniqueAmerican style.Another American composer that incorporated popular song elements into his music wasLeonard Bernstein (1918-1990). Bernstein (see Composer Profiles) is mostly remembered for hisposition as conductor of the New York Philharmonic from 1957-1969, but is equally known for hisworks including the musical scores to On the Town (1944), On the Waterfront (1954), and WestSide Story (1957). Combining the rhythmic elements of jazz and song with his knowledge oftraditional orchestral technique, Bernstein echoed the newly acquired awareness of music servinga more nationalistic purpose. Following the beginning of the Great Depression at the end of the1920’s, American music took on a new importance as composers actively sought out new outlets ofexpression in the goal of creating a uniquely “American” sound. Among these composers includeWalter Piston (1894-1976), Virgil Thomson (1896-1989), Howard Hanson (1896-1981), RogerSessions (1896-1985), Roy Harris (1898-1979), William Schumann (1910-1992), and Samuel Barber(1910-1981).The most influential American composer out of all ofthese figures was undoubtedly Aaron Copland (1900-1990).Copland (see Composer Profiles), like many other Americancomposers in the first half of the twentieth century, studiedabroad in Paris under Nadia Boulanger, who encouragedCopland’s experimentation in more modern techniques asopposed to the nineteenth century Romantic tradition. Anadvocate of the newly established call for Americannationalism, Copland spearheaded a group of composers thatwould become the American version of France’s Les Six andRussia’s Mighty Handful. His most popular works are primarilybased out of the folk idioms of the American heartland,particularly in the western-based motifs of his ballets Billy theAaron Copland in 1970.Kid (1938), Rodeo (1942), and Appalachian Spring (1944). His“Fanfare for the Common Man” theme from his Third Symphony is one of the most recognizedpurely “American” pieces worldwide. He also composed a number of scores for film music, mostnotably for the 1939 film Of Mice and Men and Our Town in 1940. But during the years precedingand following World War II, music had again started to venture toward new approaches, and

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 22soon composers began to experiment with tonalities that would usher in a new age of how musicwas defined and performed.In the years leading up to World War II, music had once again begun to redefine itselfwith new experimental techniques completely separated from European-based traditional tonality.A group of American composers following in the footsteps of Charles Ives envisioned music as apure soundscape, free of the limiting rules dictated by more accepted means of musicalcomposition. Most of these composers worked without receiving the traditional training of formaltechnique, and worked in relative isolation to mainstream musical developments. Among thesemore avant-garde musicians include Carl Ruggles (1876-1971), Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000), HenryCowell (1897-1965), Harry Partch (1901-1974), Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953), Henry Brant (1913-2008), and Edgard Varèse (1883-1965). A similar movement toward developing an indigenous styledevel0ped in South America, which up until the twentieth century had been rooted in European,particularly Italian traditions. Composers such as Carlos Chávez (1899-1978), Heitor Villa-Lobos(1887-1959), and Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983) distanced themselves from the mainstreamEuropean practices and incorporated popular song elements with modern avant-garde concerttechniques.Music Beyond World War IIThe result of World War II led to a variety of developments in Western music. Since manyprimary European composers immigrated to America during the pre-war years, the United Statesquickly became the dominant musical influence in the modern world. The rise of Russia andChina as rival world powers transformed the global landscape, and the advent of technologiessuch as global communication created an idea of a single world culture, a so-called “global village”where information is exchanged almost as soon as it occurs. Styles and genres of music wereconstantly shifting, and no one musical movement held sway over the next generation to come.The only concept that tied together these diverse tendencies was the search for a new, morepersonal means of expression. Popular music began to fuse more readily with traditionalorchestral techniques, and more composers were inclined to break from the older Europeantradition entirely.The first break from all notions of prior convention occurred through serialism.Surprisingly, it was not Arnold Schoenberg that sparked a new treatment of serial form, but themusic of his student, Anton Webern. Webern’s works were highly praised by the youngercomposers of the post-WWII generation because of their highly systematic treatment, far more sothan in Schoenberg’s music. The pre-determined set of pitches and their relationships was seen asa more “objective” method of composition, one that mirrored the post-war aesthetic that musichad to take a fundamental shift from the past. One of Webern’s greatest champions is the Frenchcomposer Pierre Boulez (born 1925). Boulez took the example set by Webern and applied it tomore than just pitch relationships. Rhythms, dynamics, orchestrations, and articulations werecomposed according to those same principles as the twelve-tone method, resulting in a new formof serial technique called integral serialism. Boulez’s Structures I (1952) for two pianos is basedon a design that serves as a “key” to each row, which not only affect pitch, but duration, attack

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 23and dynamics as well. This method can be seen as almost taking the freedom away fromcompositional method, but Boulez believed that it actually freed the composer to focus on higherpriorities, such as musical texture. Texture became a defining characteristic of Boulez’s work andhis contemporaries, most notably the German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007).Stockhausen took the concept of musical objectivity a step further by completely rejecting allnotions of musical theme and thematic continuity. Musical structure influenced primarily bymathematical and scientific techniques became a defining feature of his work, particularly in hisserial compositions. Stockhausen was also an innovator of “group” composition, a structure basedon larger musical sections comprised of separate ensemble groups. An example of this method isfound in Gruppen (“Groups”) for three orchestras, written between 1955 and 1957. The piececonsists of separate instrumental sections, each playing their own musical material in differentstyles, tempos, and key signatures. The entire tapestry of sound seems to meld together into onelarge sound mass. Like Boulez, Stockhausen places texture as the defining musical feature, andtraditional elements such as melody, harmony, and rhythmic direction are completely absent inthe larger whole.Both Boulez and Stockhausen studied with Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992), a Frenchcomposer who had an enormous influence upon the younger generation. Messiaen himselfstudied at the Paris Conservatory under Paul Dukas andCharles-Marie Widor, among others, and was influencedprimarily by the music of Debussy and Ravel. During WorldWar II, Messiaen was enlisted as a medical auxiliary, butwas subsequently captured by the Germans in 1940 andbecame a prisoner of war. While interned at the prisoncamp of Stalag VIII-A, Messiaen composed what hasbecome his most influential work, the Quatuor pour la findu temps (“Quartet for the End of Time”), written forclarinet, violin, cello, and piano. The quartet is an intenselysystematic work; it employs limited ideas of thematicdevelopment and harmonic progression, but concentrateson rhythmic complexity throughout the four parts. In theQuartet and many of his other pieces, Messiaen uses avariety of bird-call effects, specifically in his Réveil desoiseaux (1953), which is entirely based on bird songs obtainedOlivier Messiaen (1908-1992)recording bird calls.through the composer’s personal research. Messiaen was also partial to incorporating exoticmusical techniques into his works, including Greek modes, Hindu rhythms, Javanese gamelan,and Japanese influences.The most influential American composer to advance integral serial technique was MiltonBabbitt (1916-2011). In addition to his serial works, Babbitt was one of the first pioneers of usingelectronic medium in music composition. Among his many students while teaching at PrincetonUniversity and the Julliard School include Donald Martino (1931-2005), Charles Wuorinen (born1938), and the theater composer Stephen Sondheim (born 1930).

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 24Music of ChanceAnother significant development in the 1950’s was the creation of music inspired entirelyby methods based on chance, taking the concept of musical choice completely out of thecomposer’s hands. This music, known an indeterminate, or aleatoric, music began with the ideathat music should be composed solely as an experiment in organized sound. Sound, as defined bythese composers, could be encompassed by all manner of noise, not just merely those which couldcreate pitch or melody in the traditional sense. Soon these more progressive composers felt thatthe accepted methods of composition could no longer satisfy their search for new forms ofexpression, and turned to completely unorthodox materials. Charles Ives and Henry Cowell hadstarted using elements of chance music in their writings, but the composer most associated withaleatoric music was the American John Cage (1912-1992). Cage, who studied with Cowell andArnold Schoenberg, began using materials other than traditional instruments in a series entitledConstruction. His First Construction in Metal (1939) calls for brake drums, a thunder sheet, andother percussive instruments that mirror his musical landscapes. In Living Room Music (1940),Cage notates in the score that the percussion parts can be played by “any household orarchitectural elements”. Pitch and instrumentation are not the only aspects of Cage’s music thatwas radically altered. His concept of time and rhythmic duration was replaced by a series ofproportional time measurements devised by strict mathematicalcalculations. In 1951, Cage decided that the only true way ofcreating music unhindered by human will is to take consciouschoice out of the compositional process. His student ChristianWolff had previously introduced Cage to the I Ching, or ChineseBook of Changes, which describes a method using trigrams toidentify order in seemingly unpredictable situations. The bookbecame a revelation for Cage’s music; in Music of Changes,composed the same year, Cage uses the tossing of coins to decidepitch, rhythm, tempo, and every other musical choice available.His pieces have been determined by events such as notatingimperfections in a piece of paper, using star charts to identifypitches, and tipping water-filled conch shells that creates adifferent performance every occurrence.John Cage (1912-1992)Cage’s most famous, and controversial piece, remains 4’33’’(1952). In addition to using chance elements to create sound, Cage believed that silence is equallyinfluential in a musical performance. Originally composed for piano, but later transcribed forevery solo or instrumental combination available (including full orchestra), the piece consists ofthree separate movements that require the performer to remain silent for the entire duration.Premiered in 1952 by the pianist David Tudor at a recital of contemporary music, the audienceexpressed confusion and general dissatisfaction at not experiencing any musical content. Cage,equally unhappy with the audience’s response, replied: “They missed the point. There’s no suchthing as silence. What they thought was silence, because they didn’t know how to listen, was fullof accidental sounds. You could hear the wind stirring outside during the first movement. During

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 25the second, raindrops began pattering the roof, and during the third the people themselves madeall kinds of interesting sounds as they talked or walked out”. 4’33’’ remains the most outspokenexample of chance music; the very performance must be different every time. Other composers ofthe time that experimented with aleatoric music was Boulez, Stockhausen and several of Cage’sstudents including Earle Brown (1926-2002), Morton Feldman (1926-1987), and Christian Wolff (b.1934).Mass EffectThe breakdown of traditional tonality, rhythm, and structure continued in the second halfof the twentieth century. No longer did music have to contain a specific key center, form, ordirectional foundation. Between the experiments of the serial and indeterminate composers, anidea of music composed of individual elements working together to form a greater whole gaveway to a new concept of music composed primarily of larger segments. Among the earliestexponents of these new developments was Karlheinz Stockhausen in his works during and beyondthe 1950’s. Stockhausen referred to the process as “group composition”, where masses of pitcheswas joined together to create a single effect. This is displayed in Stockhausen’s Gruppen(“Groups”) for three orchestras, written between 1955 and 1957. The piece consists of three separateensembles, each led by a separate conductor, playing their own individual material. The threegroups each have separate tempos, time signatures, and musical material that meld together into asolid mass of sound. Pierre Boulez had also begun to compose with texture as the foremostpriority in his music, specifically in Le Marteau sans maître (“The Hammer Without a Master”) in1954 for alto voice and six instruments.Two eastern European composers have become the most well known in music that featuregroup composition, Krzysztof Penderecki (b. 1933) and György Ligeti (1923-2006). Penderecki’searlier works show an influence of serialism, but in the late 1950’s his preferences changed tocreating tone “clusters”, or tonal groups made up of close intervals, usually chromatically. Hismost well known work is the 1960 Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima for fifty-twoinstruments. Hearing any individual pitches during the work is virtually impossible as a wave ofsound consumes the general atmosphere. There are no defined avenues of key, rhythm, ormusical form, and specific instrumental effects are used, such as the string instrumentsperforming on the soundboard and the tailpiece. Ligeti’s early works use a variety of folk music,mostly acquired through his studies with Bartók at the Budapest Academy. Like Penderecki,Ligeti’s style changed during the late 1950’s when he began working with tone clusters, asevidenced in the 1961 piece Atmosphères. Ligeti’s tone clusters change constantly, creating acontinuing transformation of musical texture. His use of unconventional sounds is demonstratedin Lux aeterna (1966), and Lontano (1967), described by Ligeti as “a metamorphosis of intervallicconstellations”.Other composers who have advanced music using the techniques of massed sound includethe Greek composer Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) and the American Elliott Carter (1908-2012).Xenakis first studied as an engineer and mathematician, and subsequently used his knowledge ofcalculations into his music. His musical studies continued under Messiaen, and after

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 26experimenting with indeterminacy, began applying both aleatoric and finite material into hismusical structures. Highly complex, Xenakis’ work employs some chance elements into thedetails, but always moves toward a definitegoal. In his book Formalized Music (1963),Xenakis translates mathematical theoriesof probability into musical notation,specifically in the example of his pieceMetastasis (1954). Elliott Carter, like somany other Americans of the time, studiedmusic with Nadia Boulanger during the1930’s. His early works were rooted in ne0-clasicism, but during the 1940’s Carterbroke off from that tradition and startedcomposing with a focus on maintaining aneven rhythmic flow that transformed andGraph for measures 309-17 from Iannis Xenakis’Metastasis (1954).evolved with the changing texture. Theresult, defined by Carter as “metricalmodulation”, is present in works such asthe Second String Quartet (1959) and the Third String Quartet (1971), both of which were awardedthe Pulitzer Prize in 1960 and 1971, respectfully. His view of rhythm consisting of multiple layersled Carter to discard the notion that each individual part was its own self-contained unit. Instead,Carter treats the structure as ongoing, sometimes notating each part in completely differenttempos. In his own words, Carter wished to create a “large, unified musical action”. On December11, 2008, Carter celebrated his 100 th birthday, and continued to teach and compose until his death ofnatural causes in November of 2012..MinimalismFollowing the intense experimentalism of the previous decade, the 1960’s werecharacterized by a return to more basic compositional methods, particularly in the influence ofAsian music and centered in the Javanese and Balinese gamelan traditions. Combined with thenew wave of popular music in rock and jazz and supported by the use of synthesizers and otherelectronics, this new style consisted of understated forms, repetitive rhythms, and pure,consistent textures. Known as minimalism, music written in this style is exactly that; an endlesshypnotic progression leading to no particular goal or end. The most basic musical techniques areused, and whatever melodic or harmonic constructs are present are extremely limited. The firstrecognized composer to develop his music is this style was La Monte Young (b. 1935). Youngapplied the principles of Webern’s music in its brevity and applied it to improvisational work.Most of his compositions use an extremely limited amount of actual musical material; his X forHenry Flynt (1960) consists solely of one musical sound, the striking of an unidentified percussioninstrument that is left up to the performer to decide. Terry Riley (b. 1935), who performed withYoung in his ensembles, began composing minimalistic music with tape loops, creating

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 27repetitions within perfectly maintained rhythmic intervals. Influenced by both jazz and Indianmusic, Riley’s In C (1964) has become a defining work for the minimalist movement, and served toinfluence other composers within and outside the genre.Two of the most influential composers in the minimalistic style are Steve Reich (b. 1936)and Philip Glass (b. 1937). Born in New York City, Reich studied composition with musiciansincluding Vincent Persichetti, Luciano Berio, and Darius Milhaud, and was one of the performerson the first performance of In C. His own compositions originated from twelve-tone influences,but changed dramatically after a five-week study in Ghana, where he learned about Javanesegamelan music. He developed a new technique involving the playing of two identical sequences,each moving at a different speed. Known as “phase-shifting”, Reich gradually separated thesequences out of sync with each other, so that they occurred at slightly different speeds. Anexample of this is the 1967 piece Piano Phase, where two pianists perform relatively the samemusical material, first playing in unison, but gradually shifting out of time with each other.During his career, Reich has experimented with the combination of live performers and recordedtape, such as in pieces like New York Counterpoint (1985) and Different Trains (1988). In March2011, Reich premiered WTC 9/11, composed for the victims of September 11, 2001.Philip Glass completed his composition degrees at the University of Chicago and theJulliard School, studying alongside Reich with Persichetti and Milhaud. In 1964, Glass traveled toParis and studied with Nadia Boulanger, and was later influenced by Indian and Asian musicwhen he traveled to northern India in 1966. Upon returning to New York in 1967, Glass formed aperforming ensemble with some of his fellow former classmates, including Reich. Glass’minimalistic works began in the late 1960’s with Music of Fifths (1969), which consists of onesingle line that doubles in fifths for the entire duration. In the 1970’s Glass focused on stageworks, culminating in his three famous operas, Einstein on the Beach (1975), Satyagraha (1980),and Akhnaten (1983). Over his most distinguished career, Glass has written for virtually everymusical genre, including film and television. He has been nominated for Golden Globes andAcademy Awards for the musical scores to films including Kundun (1998), The Truman Show(1999), The Hours (2002), and Notes on a Scandal (2006). He continues to perform as part of thePhil Glass Ensemble, and has collaborated with artists and musicians including Mick Jagger, PaulSimon, David Byrne, and David Bowie.Though not exclusively minimalistic, John Adams (b. 1947) considers himself a “poststyle”composer, employing several minimalism techniques such as the repetition of patterns.Born in Massachusetts, Adams studied composition at Harvard University with Roger Sessionsand David Del Tredici, among others. Disillusioned by the rigidity of serialism, Adams becameinvigorated after reading John Cage’s book Silence (1973), and subsequently began to experimentwith electronic music and minimalism. His influential works in minimalism include PhrygianGates (1978) for solo piano, Short Ride in a Fast Machine (1986) for full orchestra, and his mostfamous work, the opera Nixon in China (1987). Adams has also written for most musical genres,though not all in the style of minimalism. His piece On the Transmigration of Souls, written as amemorial piece for the victims of September 11, 2001, won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003, and in the sameyear, Lincoln Center presented a festival entitled “John Adams: An American Master”, the mostextensive festival that the venue has ever devoted to a living composer.

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 28Technology in MusicSince the introduction of the phonograph in 1877, invented by Thomas Edison, technologyhas served an increasingly dominant role in music composition and performance. The practicalapplication of using technology to create and perform new works of music was not explored untilthe beginning of the twentieth century, where new inventions gave composers a completely newlandscape of sound possibilities. Among those inventions include the telharmonium, invented in1906 by Thaddeus Cahill, capable of producingelectrically generated sounds, and the theramin,invented in 1920 by Lev Termin. The theraminwas capable of producing a continuous stream ofsound by manipulating alternating frequencies.Electronic instruments had their debut inmodern music after World War II in the 1950’s.The earliest process of electronic sound-makinginvolved creating tapes of recorded naturalsounds and editing those sounds; transformingthem into entirely new entities. This technique,pioneered at the French National Radio in 1948,was called musique concréte, because all thecollected sounds originally came from natural, or“concrete” sources.A performer playing a theramin, generating soundwithout actually touching the instrument.Soon afterward studios were created for the specific development of sound recording andmanipulation, most notably in Cologne, Paris, Milan, and Princeton. Composers who hadpreviously written in serial form, such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Milton Babbitt, and John Cage,were drawn to this new resource, and began to compose using electronic sounds and liverecordings. Stockhausen’s Study I (1953) and Gesang der Jünglinge (“Song of the Youths” – 1956)both represented a dramatic shift in how music could be performed without the need for a liveperformer. By 1960 electronic music had become the newest innovation in contemporary music.Films, television, and radio had begun to employ a heavy use of electronics, and the invention ofthe synthesizer allowed the integration of multiple elements such as an oscillator, amplifier, andother components into a single control keyboard. In 1965, Robert Moog, a New York soundengineer, developed the Moog synthesizer, the first commercially available synthesizer and themost sophisticated electronic instrument of its time. The synthesizer appealed not only tocontemporary composers, but to rock, jazz, and new wave musicians that integrated theinstrument into their genres as well. Milton Babbitt in particular was drawn to what thesynthesizer could accomplish, resulting in groundbreaking works such as his Composition forSynthesizer (1961) and Philomel (1964). Philomel in particular combines live and recorded soundsas a performing soprano sings in combination with a tape of her own recorded voice. By 1970,electronics in music had infiltrated virtually every genre of both contemporary and popularmusic.

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 29The addition of using computers to generate sound began in the late 1950’s when Max V.Matthews, an American electrical engineer, developed the first computer program able to createmusical sound. The program, developed at New Jersey’s Bell Laboratories, was called Music V, andsoon afterward computer sound programs were installed at Princeton and Stanford in the mid1960’s. Computers could also function as controllers; sending instructions to electronic equipmentand serving as a unifying controller formultiple devices. The development of MIDI(Musical Instrument Digital Interface) in the1980’s allowed a wide variety of musicaldevices, including both computers andelectronic musical instruments tocommunicate with each other in a shareddigital language. Today, technology is usedextensively to produce, perform, and sharemusic around the world. Musical compositionprograms such as Finale and Sibelius cangenerate entire works using any knownA screen shot of the musical sequencer programMixcraft 5.0.combination of musical sounds, and musicsequencers including Mixcraft and GarageBand can give anyone the ability to createentire musical scores. Sharing music around the world has become almost instantaneous withdevices such as the iPod, iPad, and internet-based applications and websites such as YouTube,Facebook, and Grooveshark. Increasing at an exponential rate, it is difficult to say what newinnovations await the 21 st century, but it is obvious that technology will continue to play adominant role in music of the future.Music in the Present and the FutureThe idea that music could be created through an unlimited number of means to expressan endless array of concepts combined with new technologies that allowed greater reaches ofcommunication and possibilities in sound gave rise to the experimental genres that defined themid-twentieth century. By the 1970’s, however, the younger generation of composer had turnedtoward a more conservative route. Their desire was to make music more accessible than theirpredecessors, because while the music of the experimentalists may have been groundbreaking inits originality, their audiences became so specialized that the mainstream had been left out.During that time, the popular vein of music began to gain influence as jazz gave way to rock n’roll and its descendants. Composers from the 1970’s onward wished to appeal to a wider audience,and so they returned to the roots of tonality while utilizing the techniques from the past and thepresent. Born in West Virginia, George Crumb (b. 1929) has used a variety of instrumentalcombinations, including electronic medium, to explore new timbres and sound combinations. Hiswritings also involve contrasting multiple stylistic influences, a technique that has becomeincreasingly popular among late twentieth century and early twenty-first century composers.

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 30Crumb also includes a variety of non-traditional instruments, specifically in his most famouswork, Ancient Voices of Children (1970), which involves a toy piano, prayer stones, and a musicalsaw. The use of unorthodox instrumentation continues to be a favorite technique amongcontemporary composers.The return to tonality has been called the “new romanticism” by musicians of the currentage; one of the earliest exponents of that development is David del Tredici (b. 1937). Tredici,who studied with Roger Sessions among others, was originally trained in the serial medium.Tredici, however, followed a different path with his early works, setting multiple texts by JamesJoyce and contemporary poets, reflecting a tendency toward homosexual themes. As an advocatefor gay rights, Tredici has been twice named OUT Magazine’s Man of the Year. Tredici’s mostfamous compositions are his set of works based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures inWonderland, including the Alice Symphony (1969); Final Alice (1976) and Child Alice (1981), whichwon a Pulitzer Prize in 1980 for its first part, entitled In Memory of a Summer Day.Women composers, though not a novelty to composition, began to gain more universalacceptance and appreciation in the second half of the twentieth century. The first Pulitzer Prizegiven to a woman was awarded in 1983 to Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (b. 1939). Zwilich (see ComposerProfiles) also received the first doctorate in composition given to a woman by the Julliard School,and went on to earn five honorary doctorates since then. Joan Tower (b. 1938), while born in NewYork, lived for ten years in Bolivia, where she adapted South American rhythms into her matureworks. Among her most famous pieces is the Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman (1987), inspiredby Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man. Libby Larson (b. 1950) established the AmericanComposers Forum in 1973 during her time studying at the University of Minnesota. With acatalogue of over five hundred works, Larson is one of the most prolific composers of the presentage, and has over fifty recorded CD’s of her music.Among those composers who have continued to develop music into the twenty-firstcentury include John Corigliano (b. 1938) and Tan Dun (b. 1957). Both composers (seeComposer Profiles) have earned wide international acclaim by incorporating traditional, folk, andpopular stylistic influences into theirmusic. They have also included a widevariety of instrumentation, and have alsocomposed in every genre of musicavailable, including orchestral, chamber,vocal, opera, and film. It is impossible todisplay a comprehensive list of all theinfluential composers of today’sgeneration, as so many diversecompositional approaches define themusical society of the present. Thecurrent musical scene is a flurry of activitywith an entire range of subcultures thatinteract with each other. The global villageHome page for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra,developed by Google in 2008.of music in the present provides a wealth of material that composers draw upon, combining and

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 31redefining at an exponential rate. These materials now come from a variety of sources, includingany and all previous stylistic tendencies and techniques from all corners of the world. It is difficultto see the far-reaching capabilities of this new musical “openness”, but it is clear to see that it is aworld full of exciting opportunities.For Review:Germany and Austrian composers began what would be called the transition to a moremodern tonal language, particularly in the symphonies of Gustav Mahler and the tonepoems and operas of Richard Strauss.Arnold Schoenberg and the members of the Second Viennese School led therevolution of atonality, where music has no tonal center and is characterized by its brutaland distorted views of the human subconscious. This is mirrored in the Expressionist artmovement of the early twentieth century.Schoenberg also developed the concept of serialism, or using sequences made up oftwelve-tone rows in varied form. His students and contemporaries, Anton Webern andAlban Berg, made further developments to this concept and solidified it as a new form ofmusical expression.In France, Impressionism became heavily popular with the works of Claude Debussyand Maurice Ravel. Other influential composers, though not considered Impressionists,living at the time include Erik Satie and Paul Dukas.Russian music before Modernism was heavily influenced by Tchaikovsky and the RussianFive. While they were students together, Alexander Scriabin and Sergei Rachmaninov’smusic could not be further apart. Trained by Rimsky-Korsakov, Igor Stravinsky becamethe most innovative of the three, specifically in his groundbreaking work, Le Sacre duprintempts (“The Rite of Spring”).Other members of the European musical scene defined new forms of expression, rangingfrom Béla Bártok and Zoltán Kodály’s use of Eastern European folk music, to Italianopera under Giacomo Puccini, and new stylistic approaches from British composers suchas Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst.American music was born out of the European tradition, and it was not until composerssuch as John Philip Sousa and Charles Ives appeared that the United States had theirown individual voice.Music after World War I took on a very different function from the pre-war years.Composers including Paul Hindemith, Dmitri Shostakovich, and the composers of LesSix saw music as encompassing a more utilitarian function, and created music that wasmore objective and economical as opposed to works that were designed to exalt thehuman condition.American composers began to develop their cultural sound, though many of its greatestadvocates were trained in Europe. They used American folk melodies and jazz harmoniesto create a new, uniquely American style of music. These influences can be seen in the

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 32works of George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, and Aaron Copland, among manyothers.After World War II, musical developments completely broke away from all sense of priorconvention. Integrated serialism took over the compositional avant-garde during the1950’s in the works of Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Milton Babbitt.Another advanced development was aleatoric, or “chance” music, that relied heavily onindeterminate elements. The most influential advocate of this music was Boulez,Stockhausen, and the American composer John Cage.Musical texture and massed blocks of sound defined the works of composers through the1950’s. Krzysztof Penderecki and György Ligeti defined a new expression of sound,while Iannis Xenakis and Elliott Carter took the concept of rhythm and applied newforms of mathematical modulations.The 1960’s saw a return to musical simplicity in the style of minimalism, which conveyedthe most basic of music elements in a repeating structure of minimal musical elements.Composers who excelled in this genre include Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and JohnAdams.Technology has become a defining force for modern music since the beginning of thetwentieth century. The invention of the synthesizer and advances in digital soundtechnology has given a new wealth of music material to composers around the world.Music in the present day is more aligned with appealing to the general public. Styles andtechniques across time periods and nations are freely employed in a cross-cultureenvironment of musical opportunity.Suggested Listening:Gustav Mahler:Symphonies 1-9 (10, Mvt. I); Das Lied von der Erde (“Song of the Earth”); Songs of a WayfarerRichard Strauss:Tone Poems: Aus Italien, Op. 16 (“From Italy”), Don Juan, Op. 20, Tod und Verklärung, Op. 24(“Death and Transfiguration”), Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28 (“Till Eulenspiegel’s MerryPranks”), Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 (“Thus Spake Zarathustra”), Don Quixote, Op. 35, EinHeldenleben, Op. 40 (“A Hero’s Life”), Symphonia Domestica, Op. 53 (“Domestic Symphony”), EineAlpensinfonie, Op. 64 (“An Alpine Symphony”)Operas: Salome, Op. 54, Elektra, Op. 58, Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59 (“The Rose Knight”)Other: Metamophosen for 23 solo strings, Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 11, Vier letztelieder (“Four Last Songs”)Max Reger: Symphonic Fantasy and Fugue “Inferno”, Op. 57; Variations and Fugue on a Theme ofMozart, Op. 132Arnold Schoenberg: Transfigured Night, Op. 4 (1899); The Book of the Hanging Gardens, Op. 15(1909); Five Orchestral Pieces, Op. 16 (1909); Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 (1912); Four Orchestral Songs,

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 33Op. 22 (1916); Violin Concerto, Op. 26 (1936); Theme and Variations for Band, Op. 43 (1943); ASurvivor from Warsaw, Op. 46 (1947); Moses und Aron (unfinished, 1932)Anton Webern: Five Pieces for String Quartet, Op. 5 (1909); Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 10 (1913);String Trio, Op. 20 (1927); Symphony, Op. 21 (1928); Variations for Orchestra, Op. 30 (1940)Alban Berg: Quartet, Op. 3 (1910); Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6 (1915); Wozzeck, Op. 7 (1922);Lyric Suite (1926); “Lulu” Suite (1935)Claude Debussy: Orchestral: Nocturnes, L. 86; La Mer, L. 109 (“The Sea”); Images, L. 122; Prélude àl'après-midi d'un faune, L. 83 (“Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun”)Piano: Children’s Corner, L. 113; Préludes, Book 1, L. 117; Études, L. 136Opera: Pelléas et Mélisande, L. 88Maurice Ravel: Rhapsodie Espagnole (1907); Mother Goose (1912); Daphnis et Chloé (1912); LeTombeau de Couperin (1919); La Valse (1920); Bolero (1928); Piano Concerto for Left Hand (1930)Erik Satie: Gymnopédie No. 2 (1888); Sports et divertissements (1914)Paul Dukas: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1897)Alexander Scriabin: Prometheus, the Poem of Fire; Piano Sonata No. 5; Piano Sonata No. 7Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 1 (1891); Symphony No. 1, Op. 13 (1896); PianoConcerto No. 2, Op. 18 (1901); Symphony No. 2, Op. 27 (1908); The Isle of the Dead, Op. 29 (1908);Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 (1934); Symphony No. 3, Op. 44 (1936); SymphonicDances, Op. 45 (1940)Igor Stravinsky: Scherzo Fantastique (1908); Fireworks (1908); The Firebird (1910); Petrushka (1911);Le Sacre du Printemps (“The Rite of Spring” – 1913); Histoire du Soldat (“The Soldier’s Tale”- 1918);Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1920); Octet for Wind Instruments (1923); Oedipus Rex (1927);Symphony of Psalms (1930); Symphony in Three Movements (1945); The Rake’s Progress (1951)Giacomo Puccini: Operas: Manon Lescaut (1893); La bohéme (“The Bohemians” - 1896); Tosca(1900); Madama Butterfly (1904); Turendot (incomplete – premiered 1926)Leoš Jan áček: Operas: Jenůfa (1903); Šárka (1888); Fate (1905); Glagolitic Mass (1926)Zoltán Kodály: Psalmus Hungaricus (1923); Háry János (1926); Dances of Marosszék (1930); Dancesof Galanta (1933); Te Deum (1939)Béla Bártok: String Quartet No. 1 (1908); Bluebeard’s Castle (1911); The Wooden Prince (1914); StringQuartet No. 2 (1915); The Miraculous Mandarin (1918); Piano Concerto No. 1 (1926); Music forStrings, Percussion, and Celesta (1936); Contrasts (1938); Mikrokosmos (1939); Concerto forOrchestra (1945)Jean Sibelius: Finlandia, Op. 26 (1899); Symphonies 1-7Carl Nielsen: Symphonies 1-6; Aladdin Suite (1919); Wind Quintet, Op. 43 (1922); Concerto for Fluteand Orchestra (1926); Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, Op. 57 (1928)Edward Elgar: “Enigma” Variations, Op. 36 (1899); The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38 (1900); Pompand Circumstance Marches, Op. 39 (1901-1930); Symphony No. 1, Op. 55 (1908); Symphony No. 2,Op. 63 (1911); String Quartet, Op. 83 (1918); Cello Concerto, Op. 85 (1919)Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony (1909); On Wenlock Edge (1909); Fantasia on a Themeby Thomas Tallis (1910); A London Symphony (1913); A Pastoral Symphony (1921); English Folk SongSuite (1923); Sea Songs (1923); Symphonies No. 4-9 (1931-1957)

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 34Gustav Holst: First Suite in E-flat (1909); Second Suite in F (1911); Saint Paul’s Suite (1913); ThePlanets (1916); Egdon Heath (1927); Hammersmith (1931)John Philip Sousa: Marches: The Stars and Stripes Forever; Semper Fidelis; Riders for the Flag; TheThunderer; Washington Post March; Manhattan Beach March; King Cotton; The Liberty BellCharles Ives: Variations on “America” (1892); Symphony No. 1 in D minor (1901); Symphony No. 2(1902); The Unanswered Question (1906, revised 1934); Central Park in the Dark (1909); SymphonyNo. 3 “The Camp Meeting” (1910); Three Places in New England (1914, revised 1929); GeneralWilliam Booth Enters Into Heaven (1914); Symphony No. 4 (1918); Piano Sonata No. 2 “Concord,Mass.” (1919)Darius Milhaud: The Bull on the Roof (1919); Souvenirs of Brazil (1921); La Création du monde (“TheCreation of the World”- 1923); The Blue Express (1924)Arthur Honegger: Le Roi David (“King David – 1921); Pacific 231 (1923); Piano Concerto (1925);Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher (“Joan of Arc at the Stake” - 1935); Symphony No. 5 (1951)Francis Poulenc: Mouvements perpétuels (“Perpetual Motion” – 1918); Stabat Mater (1950); Gloria(1959); Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1962)Paul Hindemith: Tanzstücke, Op. 19 (“Dance Piece” – 1922); Kammermusik No. 1 (1922); KleineKammermusik for wind quintet (1922); Concerto for Orchestra, Op. 38 (1925); Konzertmusik FürBlasorchestra, Op. 41 (“Concert Music for Wind Orchestra” – 1926); Mathis du Maler (1935); ViolinConcerto (1939); Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1939); Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes byCarl Maria von Weber (1943); Symphony in B-flat for Concert Band (1951); The Harmony of TheWorld (1957)Kurt Weill: Mahagonny-Songspiel (1927); The Threepenny Opera (1928); Four Songs of WaltWhitman (1942); Street Scene (1946)Sergei Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 19; Scythian Suite, Op. 20; Symphony No. 1 “Classical”,Op. 25; Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26; Lieutenant Kije, Op. 60; Romeo and Juliette, Op.64; Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67; Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78Aram Khachaturian: Gayane (1941); Spartacus (1950-54); Masquerade Suite (1944)Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10; Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, Op.29; Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47; Symphony No. 9 in E-flat major, Op. 70; Festive Overture,Op. 96; Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 102; Symphony No. 15 in A major, Op. 141Carl Orff: Carmina Burana (1936); Music for Children (1950-54)Manuel de Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain (1915); Love, the Magician (1915); The Three-Cornered Hat (1919)Ernst Krenek: Jonny speilt auf (1926); Sestina (1957); From Three Make Seven (1961); Fibonaccimobile (1964)Ottorino Respighi: Fountains of Rome (1916); Pines of Rome (1924); Roman Festivals (1928)Benjamin Britten: Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge (1937); Paul Bunyon (1941); Peter Grimes(1945); The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (1945); Billy Budd (1951); War Requiem (1961)George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (1924); Piano Concerto in F (1925); Three Preludes for Piano(1926); Strike Up the Band (1927); An American in Paris (1928); Cuban Overture (1932); Porgy andBess (1935); Shall We Dance (1936)

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 35William Grant Still: Symphony No. 1 “Afro-American” (1930); Troubled Island (1939); The AmericanScene (1957)Leonard Bernstein: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1939); On the Town (1944); Candide (1953); Onthe Waterfront (1954); West Side Story (1957); Mass (1971); Symphony No. 3 “Kaddish” (1977); Slava!(1977); A Quiet Place (1983)Aaron Copland: El Salón México (1936); Billy the Kid (1938); Of Mice and Men (1939); Quiet City(1940); Our Town (1940); An Outdoor Overture (1941); Rodeo (1942); Danzón Cubano (1942);Lincoln Portrait (1942); Appalachian Spring (1944); Third Symphony (1946); Clarinet Concerto(1948); Emblems (1964)Virgil Thomson: Symphony on a Hymn Tune (1928); Four Saints in Three Acts (1928)William Schumann: George Washington Bridge (1950); New England Triptych (1956)Samuel Barber: Overture for The School for Scandal, Op. 5 (1931); Symphony No. 1 (1936); Essay forOrchestra, Op. 12 (1937); Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 (1938); Knoxville, Summer of 1915 (1948); SummerMusic for Wind Quintet (1956)Carl Ruggles: Men and Mountains (1924); Sun-Treader (1931)Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 2 “Mysterious Mountain”, Op. 132 (1955)Henry Cowell: Aeolian Harp (1923); The Banshee (1925); Sinister Resonance (1930)Harry Partch: Li Po Songs (1933); Barstow (1941); The Letter (1943); Delusion of the Fury (1966)Henry Brant: Verticals Ascending; Horizontals Extending; Meteor Farm (1982); Ice Field (2001)Edgard Varèse: Offrandes (1921); Hyperprism (1923); Ionisation (1931); Ecuatorial (1934)Carlos Chávez: Xochipilli (1940); Toccata for Percussion (1942)Heitor Villa-Lobos: Rudepoema (1926); Bachianas brasileiras (1930-45)Alberto Ginastera: Danza argentinas (1937); Variaciones concertantes (1953); Don Rodrigo (1964)Pierre Boulez: Piano Sonata No. 2 (1948); Structures I (1952); Le Marteau sans maître (“TheHammer Without a Master” – 1954)Karlheinz Stockhausen: Kontra-Punkte (1952); Composition No. 2 (1953); Zyklus (1959)Olivier Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps (“Quartet for the End of Time” – 1940);Turangalîla-symphonie (1948); Réveil des oiseaux (1953); Chronochromie (1960)Milton Babbitt: Three Compositions for Piano (1947); Composition for Four Instruments (1948); AllSet (1957); Philomel (1964); String Quartet No. 3 (1970)John Cage: Construction (1939); Living Room Music (1940); Music of Changes (1951); 4’33’’ (1952)Krzysztof Penderecki: Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima (1960); Symph0ny No. 3 (1995)György Ligeti: Atmosphères (1961); Lux aeterna (1966); Lontano (1967);Iannis Xenakis: Metastasis (1954); Stratégie (1962)Elliott Carter: Eight Etudes and a Fantasy (1949); String Quartet No. 2 (1959); Piano Concerto(1965); Concerto for Orchestra (1969); String Quartet No. 3 (1971)Steve Reich: Piano Phase (1967); Clapping Music (1972); New York Counterpoint (1985); DifferentTrains (1988)Philip Glass: Music in Twelve Parts (1974); Einstein on the Beach (1975); Satyagraha (1980);Akhnaten (1983)John Adams: Phrygian Gates (1977); Short Ride in a Fast Machine (1986); Nixon in China (1987);Fearful Symmetries (1988); On the Transmigration of Souls (2002); Doctor Atomic (2005)

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 36George Crumb: Echoes of Time and the River (1967); Black Angels (1970); Ancient Voices ofChildren (1970); A Haunted Landscape (1984)David Del Tredici: An Alice Symphony (1969); Final Alice (1976); Child Alice (1981); Dracula (1999);In Wartime (2003);Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony No. 1 “Three Movements for Orchestra” (1982); Celebration forOrchestra (1984); Concerto Grosso (1985); Symbolon (1988); Symphony No. 4 “The Gardens” (1999);Millennium Fantasy (2000); Symphony No. 5 “Concerto for Orchestra” (2008); Shadows for Pianoand Orchestra (2011)Joan Tower: Wings (1981); Sequoia (1981); Island Rhythms (1985); Fanfare for the UncommonWoman (1992); Paganini Trills (1996); Stroke (2010)Libby Larson: Symphony No. 1 “Water Music” (1985); Symphony No. 2 “Coming Forth Into Day”(1986); Songs from Letters (1989); Frankenstein (1990); Ring of Fire (1995); Try Me, Good King: LastWords of the Wives of Henry VIII (2000); Dreaming Blue (2002); This Unbearable Stillness (2003);An Introduction to the Moon (2005); Western Songs (2005); Sifting Through the Ruins (2005)John Corigliano: Gazebo Dances (1974); Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (1977); Altered States(1981); Symphony No. 1 (1988); The Ghosts of Versailles (1991); Symphony No. 2 (2000); Concerto forViolin and Orchestra “The Red Violin” (2003); Symphony No. 3 “Circus Maximus” (2004)Tan Dun: Marco Polo (1996); Symphony 1997: Heaven Earth Mankind (1997); Water Concerto(1998); Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000); Water Passion after St. Matthew (2000); Hero(2002); Paper Concerto (2003); The First Emperor (2006); Earth Concerto (2009); InternetSymphony No. 1 “Eroica” (2009)Sources:Corigliano, John (2012, August 15). Retrieved from http://www.johncorigliano.com/Craft, Robert & Stravinsky, Igor. Memories and Commentaries. Faber and Faber: New York, 2002.Crumb, George (2012, August 15). Retrieved from http://www.georgecrumb.net/Del Tredici, David. (2012, August 15). Retrieved from http://www.daviddeltredici.com/Dun, Tan (2012, August 15). Retrieved from http://www.tandunonline.com/Kennedy, Michael. Richard Strauss. Schirmer Books: New York, 1976.Larson, Libby (2012, August 15). Retrieved from http://www.libbylarsen.com/Morgan, Robert P. Twentieth-Century Music. W.W. Norton and Company: New York, 1991.Morgan, Robert P., ed. Anthology of Twentieth-Century Music. W.W. Norton and Company: NewYork, 1992.Palisca, Claude, ed. Norton Anthology of Western Music, Volume 1, Third Edition. W.W. Nortonand Company: New York, 1996.Grout, Donald & Palisca, Claude. A History of Western Music, Fifth Edition. W.W. Norton andCompany: New York, 1996.Schonberg, Harold. The Lives of the Great Composers, Third Edition. W.W. Norton andCompany: New York, 1997.Treitler, Leo, ed. Source Readings in Music History. W.W. Norton and Company: New York, 1998.Wilson, Elizabeth. Shostakovich: A Life Remembered. Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1994.