Music in Modernism - Andrew Lesser Music

Music in Modernism 

c. 1900-2000 

Into the Twentieth Century 

by Andrew Lesser, M.M. 

Western music in the years 1900-2000 is 

primarily classified as the most recent “complete” period 

in music history. Though it is still relatively early in the 

twenty-first century, we can safely assume that the 

course of music will continue to fundamentally shift as it 

did approximately one hundred years ago. Though many 

composers of the Romantic era began to experiment in 

tonal deconstruction, the first major starting point of a new, original change in music came with 

the total abandonment of tonality with Arnold Schoenberg and his Second Viennese School. As 

with the beginning of the twentieth century, the early twenty-first century has also been marked 

with dramatic changes, mostly resulting from the explosion of technological resources such as the 

microchip, personal computers, and the internet that began in the final decades of the previous 

century. Still, it is difficult to put a proverbial “stamp” on exactly when music began showing signs 

of what is now referred to as modernism, but historians generally agree that the very beginning of 

the century is an acceptable marker, though Schoenberg’s formal break with tonality did not 

begin until 1907. 

Tonality was not the only norm that twentieth century composers abandoned. All 

throughout music history, particularly from the Baroque era through to the Romantic is known as 

the “common practice” period, where the accepted rules of musical theory were put into place and 

refined by subsequent composers. The twentieth century is the first example in history where 

music theory was defined by the individual composers working with their own methods and 

concepts. As such, many of these innovations did not come easily to a willing public; Stravinsky’s 

Le Sacre de Printemps (“The Rite of Spring”) met with a public riot at its Paris premiere in 1913. 

Richard Strauss’ works were referred to as “a blood-curdling nightmare”, and Arnold Schoenberg 

was called “the leader of cacophonists”. Even more consequential in the development of 

modernism was the socio-political background of the time, particularly in the rise of a world war 

in 1914, and a second in 1939. History has repeatedly shown that world events have drastically 

influenced the course of the arts, including the present. World culture was shaken to its core by 

the events of September 11, 2001, and the resulting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For the first time, 

the twentieth century saw the world as one global stage, where factors such as the nationalism of 

the nineteenth century and the collapse of tonality in the early twentieth would combine to create 

a new form of expression never heard before in the history of music.

Music in Modernism – c. 1900-2000 

Composers in the Transition 

The composers of Germany and Austria were the first to take steps into a larger tonal 

vocabulary. Though considered more of a Romantic figure than a modernistic one, Gustav 

Mahler (1860-1911) set new standards as musical director of the Vienna Opera Orchestra, 

particularly in his massive symphonies (see Composer Profiles). Germany at the time was a center 

of cultural activity; nationalistic pride was at its zenith, a stark contradiction to the events leading 

to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. Mahler’s expressive melodies and shifting 

harmonic textures brought the orchestral sound to a new standard, and he is often seen as the 

final link in the chain of famous German-Austrian symphonists, from the days of Haydn and 

Beethoven to the Romantic Brahms and Bruckner. Though Mahler’s works convey a diverse 

tapestry of harmonic color, he does not stray too far from an overall tonal scheme. However, like 

Beethoven, Mahler has been referred to as straddling the gap between the two ages, firmly placing 

his feet in the Romantic era, yet looking boldly into new future possibilities. 

Mahler’s younger contemporary, Richard Strauss (1864-1949), took several steps further, 

solidifying the direction of music for decades to come. Strauss (see Composer Profiles), the son of 

a prominent horn player, perfected his technique early by studying the works of Mendelssohn and 

Schubert at the behest of his father. His first major departure from traditional tonality was his 

tone poem Aus Italien, Op. 16 (“From Italy”) in 1886. Strauss would compose another seven tone 

poems, all of which have entered the permanent 

repertoire as orchestral masterpieces. These works 

brought Strauss enormous popularity and 

established him as the most advanced 

compositional mind of the late nineteenth 

century. In the early twentieth century, Strauss 

turned to operatic works with two operas that 

changed the course of Western music, Salome 

(1905) and Elektra (1908). In their psychologically 

complex plots, Strauss stretches the limits of 

tonality to their extremes. The response to these 

operas was deafening in its intensity; few critics 

could accept these works as “music”. Regardless, 

Richard Strauss, his wife Pauline, 

and son Franz (1910) 

Strauss had effectively set the stage for what was to 

come, and although he had a long and prosperous 

career, he never ventured again to the extremes of 

Salome and Elektra, but returned to a more traditional route of tonality. Operas such as Der 

Rosenkavalier (1910) and other works including the Vier letzte lieder (“Four Last Songs”) for 

soprano and orchestra continued his dominance as the most brilliant composer of his generation, 

but he would leave newer, more daring musical innovations to his contemporaries. 

Other composers that produced works of increasing tonal degradation include Max Reger 

(1873-1916) and Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915). Reger, though he only lived to forty-three years 

of age, produced approximately two hundred separate works. His works display heavy 

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chromaticism and complexity, but still remain largely tonal. Reger possessed a deep knowledge 

and appreciation for the music of J.S. Bach, and credited him with his musical development and 

inspiration. This is shown in many of his organ works, particularly in the Symphonic Fantasy and 

Fugue for Organ, Op. 57, subtitled “Inferno”. Though not German, Alexander Scriabin was trained 

at the Moscow Conservatory, and spent most of his life living in Switzerland. Similar to Reger, 

Scriabin embellishes his tonal structures with chromatic tendencies, which unlike Reger, 

eventually progresses into a total separation from tonality. Regardless of tonality, both composers 

still maintained a healthy relationship with nineteenth-century form and structure, a trait that 

neither would break from. It was therefore up to Schoenberg and his students to make the first 

major step into a new and original form of musical expression, one that can truly be said to have 

begun the twentieth century’s age of modernism. 

Schoenberg and the Second Viennese School 

The single most influential development in twentieth-century music occurred early in the 

century with the abandonment of the triad as the basis for tonal works. Since the Renaissance, the 

organization of tones into scales relying on a tonal center had held strongly for over four hundred 

years. Now, that method was being called into question as the only form of musical expression. 

The group that was responsible for this innovation was known as the Second Viennese School, 

which was comprised of three members: Anton Webern (1883-1945), Alban Berg (1885-1935), and 

its founder, Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951). Schoenberg (see Composer Profiles) can be credited 

for the first usage of music with no tonal center, better known as atonality, in his works 

composed after 1907. Before that, his music demonstrates extreme chromaticism but still remains 

tethered to traditional tonality. Between 1907 and 1909, Schoenberg dispensed with tonality 

altogether in a series of works that began a literal revolution in musical history. Schoenberg 

himself knew this, and truly believed his role was to create a new form of expression by what he 

referred to as “the emancipation of the dissonance”. 

Schoenberg’s experiments into a more economical 

musical form were completely opposite the ideals of the 

late-Romantic era. Melodies are much more compact, 

sometimes containing as little as three notes. In addition, 

there are no florid embellishments or ornamentation; each 

musical line is carefully constructed to contain only what is 

necessary. However, there is still a great deal of underlying 

emotion and personal expression in this clarity of thought, 

which led to the adoption of the term “expressionism” to 

describe the atonal works of Schoenberg and his 

contemporaries. Pieces such as the Five Orchestral Pieces, 

Op. 16 (1909), Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 (1912), and the Four 

Orchestral Songs, Op. 22 (1916) were designed to convey the 

inner emotions of the psyche, typically in a stark, often 

Arnold Schoenberg teaching composition 

at UCLA during the early 1940’s 

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distorted manner. The Expressionist movement in painting was subsequently taking place in the 

art world; many artists’ works represent feelings on the subconscious level, demonstrating 

conflict, anxiety, and distress. Artists who are most associated with the Expressionist movement 

include Edvard Munch (The Scream), Vincent van Gogh (The Starry Night), and Wassily 

Kandinsky (Composition VII). 

After World War I, Schoenberg devised a further development of expressionism after not 

publishing any music for six years. This development consisted of using sequences of each note of 

the chromatic scale in a series called “rows”, where each note would only be used once until the 

next sequence began. The initial row could be altered in different ways to vary the melodic and 

harmonic content of the music, and is now known as serialism, or twelve-tone music. There are 

four ways to present a tone row. First, the row can be performed in its original form, called the 

prime. From there, the row can be played backwards, known as retrograde. The original row can 

also be inverted, or turned “upside down”, and finally, the original row can be played backwards 

and inverted at the same time, which is called retrograde inversion. The tone row can be played 

in any rhythm, instrumental combination, range, and can also start on any pitch, as long as it 

follows two basic rules, which are that all twelve tones of the chromatic scale must be used in a 

single tone row, and that all tones must be used only once, not repeating until the beginning of 

the next row. Some of Schoenberg’s most influential works containing twelve-tone technique 

include the Violin Concerto, Op. 26 (1936), A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46 (1947), and the 

unfinished 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 these 

students in particular stood out as worthy successors to 

Schoenberg’s creation, Anton Webern and Alban Berg. 

Both composers studied under Schoenberg before he 

devised the twelve-tone method, and each student’s works 

during the Expressionistic phase of their development 

reflects their own original understanding of personal 

expression. Webern (see Composer Profiles) would use 

extreme brevity in his works, only applying the basic 

essentials in short, compact pieces that hardly ever stray to 

higher dynamic levels. His combined thirty-one published 

works are shorter than one Mahler symphony, yet contain 

an enormous amount of musical activity. When he adopted 

the twelve-tone method after World War I, Webern 

continued his use of small textures and brief durations in the 

motivation to communicate clarity of thought through 

controlled emotional reserve. 

Alban Berg (left) and 

Anton Webern (right). 

Berg (also see Composer Profiles), however, utilized 

more freedom with Schoenberg’s methods and remains the 

most “Romantic” of the three composers. Like Webern, Berg 

began writing atonal works and updated his practice to the twelve-tone system when Schoenberg 

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perfected his technique. Berg’s most famous work is the opera Wozzeck, Op. 7, written in 1922 and 

first premiered in 1925. The success of Wozzeck made Berg the most widely performed composer 

of the Second Viennese School; his ability to immerse both serial and non-serial composition into 

his works makes his music much more flexible than Webern and to a certain extent Schoenberg 

himself. Similar to Webern, Berg did not compose a very large output either, but nevertheless, his 

works equally stand out as influential musical achievements, and are some of the most individual 

compositions of the twentieth-century. 

The Impressionists 

Like the Expressionist movement that swept much of Western Europe in the early 

twentieth century, art served as a catalyst in France for a group of composers that mirrored what 

painters such as Monet, Manet, Degas, and Renoir were contributing to French culture. These 

composers, writing in what is now termed “Impressionism”, received their name from the 

common theme of musically depicting a general emotion or atmosphere rather than a story or 

episode. This is much more commonly related to a progression or evolution of late-Romanticism, 

and not at all in the vein of Expressionism. Impressionism is primarily characterized by depicting 

a general landscape or emotion in ambiguous natural sounds and tone colors, usually 

accomplished by shifting harmonies and unconventional orchestrations. The “impression” of a 

scene is described without telling a definite story as much as painting an atmospheric picture. 

Previous composers of the Romantic era that helped to sow the seeds of Impressionism include 

César Franck, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Gabriel Fauré. All of these composers served to influence 

who is now considered the greatest French composer of the twentieth century, Claude Debussy 

(1862-1918). Debussy (see Composer Profiles) had his training in the French Conservatory, 

although he was also influenced by Richard Wagner, nineteenth 

century Russian music, and the Javanese gamelan orchestra, 

which he first heard at the 1889 Paris Universal Exposition. 

While Debussy maintained a tonal center in his works, his 

melodic materials never reach what could be called a traditional 

“theme”. Instead, chords and harmonic movement serve to 

connect smaller motivic ideas as a means to heighten the 

orchestral color and instrumental sonorities. His most famous 

piece is the Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, L. 83 (“Prelude to 

the Afternoon of a Faun”), followed by his orchestral works 

Nocturnes, L. 86 and La Mer, L. 109 (“The Sea”). His piano pieces, 

particularly his Estampes and Images also demonstrate 

Claude Debussy in 1888, 

painted by Marcel Baschet 

Debussy’s penchant for unusual tonal combinations. He was the 

first composer to use the whole tone scale consistently in his 

works, and also favored using Medieval modes as opposed to the 

more traditional major/minor scale forms. 

The only other French Impressionist composer whose name is normally mentioned 

alongside Debussy’s is Maurice Ravel (1875-1937). Ravel, thirteen years Debussy’s junior, also 

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trained at the Paris Conservatory, although he was expelled in 1895 for failing to win a competitive 

medal in any competition. He later returned to the Conservatory in 

1898 and stayed until 1903, studying with Gabriel Fauré. Unlike 

Debussy, Ravel did not win the Prix de Rome, but nonetheless 

attained an international reputation as an Impressionistic 

composer, experimenting with exotic harmonies, such as in the 

Habanera from his Rhapsodie Espagnole (1907) and his most 

famous piece, Bolero (1928). Ravel also incorporated several musical 

influences aside from impressionism, including dance forms and 

even American jazz. Much of his music, however, was influenced by 

his teacher Fauré, though his attention to detail and technique 

were fostered by a reverence of J.S. Bach and W.A. Mozart. His 

melodic motifs owe much to Debussy, in addition to his elaborate 

textures and orchestrations. Ravel’s harmonies, however, are much 

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) 

more stable than Debussy’s, preferring traditional root movements 

to ambigious chordal progressions. His most impressionist works are the Rhapsodie and the ballet 

Daphnis et Chloé (1911). Though not as innovative as Debussy, Ravel remains a master artist who 

strived to display simplicity and technical refinement in all his works. 

Two other influential composers also wrote works that rejected the German idea of 

expressionism, but did not join Debussy and Ravel in the Impressionist movement. Erik Satie 

(1866-1925) is an enigmatic figure in twentieth century music. He entered the Paris Conservatory 

in 1879 but was deemed untalented by his teachers. After a brief stint in the military, Satie wrote 

mostly miniatures for piano, and earned a living by playing in cabarets and writing songs for 

dance halls. His most famous piece is the Gymnopédie No. 2 (1888), but is also mostly known for 

his collections of short piano pieces with humorous titles such as Flabby Preludes, Dried Up 

Embryos, and Three Pieces in the Shape of a Pear. Though not nearly as influential as Debussy or 

Ravel, Satie’s music would serve to inspire later 

French composers including Francis Poulenc, 

Arthur Honegger, and Darius Milhaud. Paul 

Dukas, on the other hand, is now famous 

primarily for one work, L’apprenti sorcier (“The 

Sorcerer’s Apprentice”), written in 1897. Dukas 

was a fellow student of Debussy’s and was also 

influenced by his work, in addition to Beethoven, 

Berlioz, and Franck. After winning second place 

in the prestigious Prix de Rome, Dukas left the 

conservatory and began a career as a composer 

and music critic. After a modest reception of his 

Symphony in C in 1896, Dukas achieved fame with 

Mickey Mouse in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, 

featured in Disney’s Fantasia (1940) 

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, written a year later. In 1927, Dukas was appointed as professor of 

composition at the Paris Conservatory, where his many students included Carlos Chávez and 

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Olivier Messiaen. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice was later animated and remains the best known piece 

from Disney’s Fantasia (1940). 

The Soviets at the Turn of the Century 

At the end of the nineteenth century, Russian music possessed a strong foothold on 

mainstream European influences, particularly the music of Tchaikovsky and the Russian Five. Of 

all 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 of 

them would have successors that would further the scope of Russian music and both of them 

would 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. Unlike 

his fellow student and friend Alexander Scriabin, Rachmaninov (see Composer Profiles) would 

not follow his contemporary’s innovations. However, upon Scriabin’s death, Rachmaninov 

performed a series of recitals dedicated solely to his colleague and friend’s works. Rachmaninov’s 

reputation spans both that of a piano virtuoso and a master composer. As a student at the 

Moscow Conservatory, Rachmaninov’s style of traditional Romanticism appeared early. His 

primary mentor was Tchaikovsky, who seeing the young man’s talent, offered to have 

Rachmaninov arrange his ballet The Sleeping Beauty as a piano transcription. Rachmaninov’s Trio 

élégiaque was written in response to Tchaikovsky’s untimely death, revealing an intense darkness 

of 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 ultimately 

overthrew the Russian Provisional Government in Petrograd. The resulting Civil War lasted from 

1917 until 1923, where a number of independent countries were formed, including Estonia, 

Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. The former Russian Empire was renamed the Soviet 

Union, under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. Many independent Russians, including 

Rachmaninov, fled the country during this time and never returned. Rachmaninov himself 

relocated to Switzerland and finally America, becoming an American citizen in 1943, the year of 

his death. 

Another Russian composer that eventually 

immigrated to America, though his journey in the 

history of music was noticeably divergent from 

Rachmaninov’s, was Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971). 

Known as one of the greatest composers of all 

time, Stravinsky (see Composer Profiles) defined 

new tonalities and expressions that were 

completely opposite Rachmaninov’s nineteenth 

century traditionalism. Ironically, Romanticism is 

where Stravinsky’s career began as a student of 

Igor Stravinsky, right, with Sergei Diaghilev. 

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the great Russian nationalist Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov from 1903 to 1908. From there, his career 

soared after developing a partnership with Sergei Diaghilev, pictured above, an impresario and 

entrepreneur who formed one of the greatest ballet companies of the twentieth century, the Ballet 

Russes. Stravinsky composed three ballets for Diaghilev: The Firebird, Petrushka, and his most 

famous work, Le Sacre du printempts (“The Rite of Spring”). The Rite of Spring is particularly 

notable as one of the most innovative works ever 

composed; it was described by the music critic 

and historian Harold Schonberg as “what 

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Wagner’s 

Tristan were to the nineteenth century”. The 

ballet itself was described by Stravinsky as “a 

young girl, ready to be sacrificed, dances herself 

to death”. The primitive and brutal score reflects 

the intense subject matter through heavy 

percussive rhythms, shifting melodic fragments, 

Scene from “The Firebird”, featured in Disney’s 

Fantasia 2000. 

and unique orchestral colors that were so unlike 

anything heard before that it caused a literal riot 

at its Paris premiere in 1913. Later in his life, 

when Stravinsky had moved to California, Walt Disney asked him if he could use The Rite of 

Spring as part of his new movie, Fantasia. Stravinsky was excited about the idea, and while 

Disney’s vision of using the beginnings of life on Earth instead of a tribal sacrifice contrasted from 

the concept of the original ballet, Stravinsky himself participated in the creative process. When 

Fantasia premiered in 1940, Stravinsky was the only living composer that Disney had chosen as 

one of the musical segments. After his death in 1971, Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite was chosen to be 

included in Fantasia 2000, and he remains the only composer aside from Beethoven to have two 

separate works featured in the series. 

Stravinsky lived abroad for much of his life, settling in Switzerland, France, and ultimately 

America, only returning to Russia once in over fifty years. Because of this, he is seen as much 

more of a worldly composer than a Russian nationalist like his post-World War II Soviet 

contemporaries. He despised the Russian “October” Revolution and the Bolsheviks and remained 

a staunch monarchist to the end of his life. His musical tastes, however, were constantly shifting. 

After his so-called “Russian” period, he began what is now called his “neo-classicist” period 

around 1920 while living in Paris. Neo-classicism became a popular style for composers who 

wished to use twentieth-century vocabulary in the context of older forms, particularly that of the 

Baroque and Classical styles. Many of Stravinsky’s neo-classic works reflect an interest in oratorio, 

concerto grosso, medieval mass, and early symphony and sonata formats. Works such as the 

Histoire du Soldat (“The Soldier’s Tale”), Octet for Wind Instruments, and Oedipus Rex began an 

entirely new genre for contemporary and future composers. 

Stravinsky ended his career by experimenting with twelve-tone music in the style of 

Arnold Schoenberg a year before Schoenberg’s death. This development in Stravinsky’s music, 

which began around 1939, is marked as his “third”, or “serial”, period. Much of Stravinsky’s music 

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of this time has not entered the permanent repertoire, but without a doubt contains the 

unmistakable hallmarks of Stravinsky’s stylistic innovations. 

The European Cosmopolitan Scene 

The rest of Europe was not exempt from developing its own advancements in twentieth 

century music. From Eastern Europe to the British Isles, new forms of expression were made and 

new talents were discovered that explored models of the past, traditional folk music, and charted 

new courses in musical development. In Italy, Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) continued the 

operatic tradition of his predecessor, Giuseppe Verdi. Puccini (see Composer Profiles) is 

considered the last of the great Italian opera composers, as his success rivaled Verdi’s and left no 

future composers to succeed him after his death. Puccini retained the traditions of the past and 

did not participate in the radical musical advancements of the rest of Europe. Nevertheless, that 

did not have any bearing on his enormous popularity, and his operas still draw top billing around 

the world. 

In Czechoslovakia, Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) was the leading composer into the twentieth 

century. While his works have not completely penetrated the modern repertoire, his use of the 

native folk music of his homeland gave him recognition as a national figure. Inspired by his 

countrymen Antonin Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana, Janáček preceded the evolution of folk music 

as a tool for mainstream composition in Eastern Europe. This development was realized in the use 

of Hungarian folk music by Béla Bártok (1881-1945) and Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967). Kodály is 

known as much for his contribution to music education as his compositional work. His works 

completely absorb the stylistic flavor of Hungarian folk song, mostly in assigning priority to the 

melodic lines. Folk song, Kodály theorized, was essential to the cultural development in young 

students, and his use of singing and playing folk songs in school is universally known as the 

“Kodály Method”. 

Bártok (see Composer Profiles) worked 

with Kodály for many years piecing together 

the numerous folk melodies that he called 

“peasant songs”. While Franz Liszt was one of 

Bártok’s earliest influences, he did not believe 

that Liszt captured the true essence of 

Hungarian music. Liszt worked chiefly from 

using gypsy melodies, which in Bártok’s 

opinion was a mere imitation of Hungary’s 

cultural identity. Using a wax cylinder 

phonograph, such as the one pictured on left, 

Bártok and Kodály scoured the Hungarian 

countryside searching for authentic examples 

of folk music. The result was a number of 

masterpieces Bártok composed, reconciling 

traditional folk songs with orchestral technique. 

Béla Bártok (pictured fourth from left) recording 

traditional Hungarian folk music. Picture taken by 

Zoltán Kodály. 

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In addition to his importance as a composer, Bártok would later be called one of the 

world’s pioneering ethnomusicologists. Ethnomusicology, or the study of music in specific local 

and worldwide contexts, focuses on music from around the world as a basis for understanding 

cultural traditions through music and the arts. Like Kodály, Bártok was also a consummate 

educator, but more often through piano technique than with general classroom education. His 

major contribution to the field of piano literature is the Mikrokosmos, a set of six volumes of 

piano etudes graded by difficulty. Today, the Mikrokosmos has the same influence in piano 

education as Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier and the Debussy Preludes. 

In Northern Europe, the countries of Scandinavia produced two of its most beloved 

composers, 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 from 

Finnish literature. Sibelius’ other source of recognition is his seven symphonies, each extending 

the late-nineteenth century tradition, but with a sense of originality and creativity that continues 

to inspire musicians of the present day. Like Bártok, Sibelius drew from folk material in his 

melodies, but diverges from Bártok’s path in his use of traditional tonal structures and an 

abundance 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 achieve 

a personal form of expression through tonal structure. His works are known for their almost 

Classical-style textures and the heavy use of variation through melodic counterpoint, such as in 

his most famous works, including his Flute Concerto, Clarinet Concerto, and his six symphonies. 

The New English Tradition 

While the rest of Europe had consistently developed its own musical culture since the 

Classical and Romantic periods, England had strangely remained silent since the death of Henry 

Purcell more than two hundred years prior. Since then, not one major English composer had 

asserted themselves before the beginning of the twentieth century. A major reason behind this 

was the dominance of George Frederic Handel when he visited England during the first half of the 

eighteenth century. Extraordinarily popular with the English people, Handel’s impact on British 

music continued well after his death in 1759. During the nineteenth century, Handel’s popularity 

was 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 to 

English sensibility. At his death in 1847, England had not produced a major composer in almost 

two hundred years. 

This period of stark inactivity changed dramatically with the new generation of British 

composers, beginning with the emergence of Edward Elgar (1857-1934). Elgar was the very image 

of English militarism; tall, mustached, impeccably dressed, and very proper. Almost completely 

self-trained, Elgar wished to study at the Leipzig Conservatory in Germany, but was unable to 

attend due to the fact that his father could not afford to send him there. His career as a composer 

ignited 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 

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so that every variation creates a characterature of each of Elgar’s personal friends. Elgar dedicated 

the work to “my friends pictured within”, and even mentioned 

that there exists within each movement a “hidden theme” that 

in Elgar’s words, is “not played”. To date this hidden theme has 

not been discovered, though scholars have postulated many 

theories. The Enigma Variations were published in 1899, and 

gave Elgar instant recognition as a thoroughly British 

composer. In truth, Elgar was heavily influenced by the late 

Romantic style of Germany and Austria, but his major 

achievement was his ability to use those influences in a more 

English-sounding vein. His most popular work, the set of Pomp 

and Circumstance Marches, exhibit the proud, dignified air of 

nobility that set Elgar’s works apart from music on mainland 

Europe. In addition, the String Quartet, Op. 83 (1918), Cello 

Concerto, Op. 85 (1919), and his two symphonies are gaining 

ground in the mainstream repertoire. In his later life, Elgar 

grew disenchanted with the direction that modern music was 

taking, 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 his 

works 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 Vaughan 

Williams (1872-1958) began a new tradition that gave him unprecedented success and a return to 

England’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 own 

works. His traveling companion and friend was fellow composer Gustav Holst (1874-1934), who 

studied with Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music. Vaughan Williams did not ascribe 

to the compositional developments of Bártok, and completely avoided the serialism of 

Schoenberg: “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, from 

John 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 identifiable 

pieces. He was an especially prolific composer, writing nine symphonies, five operas, and music 

for 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 be 

knighted and other government honors, and was involved in a number of both amateur and 

professional 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 music 

he could for the sake of all that would listen. 

Next to Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst was the most well-known and influential English 

composer before World War I. Holst (see Composer Profiles), a great friend and contemporary of 

Vaughan Williams, was much more cosmopolitan in his musical influences. While many of his 

works exhibit the same English folk song and carol influence as Vaughan Williams, Holst’s 

11


orchestral pieces reveal an early following of Wagner and other mainstream European models. 

Studying astrology and Eastern philosophy gave Holst a unique source of inspiration, most 

notably in his most popular orchestral suite, The Planets. Holst’s role in music education is also 

significant; he was active in teaching young composers and musicians in both the St. Paul’s Girls 

School and Morley College, in addition to lecturing at University College and his alma mater, the 

Royal College of Music. Together with Elgar and Vaughan Williams, Holst served to create a new 

vision for English music from the unproductive period of inactivity it had experienced for almost 

two hundred years. 

The Early American Sound 

Much of America’s concert music at the beginning of the twentieth century was cultivated 

from European-born artists or European-trained American citizens. The typical method of 

building American composers and performers was to send them to European conservatories, 

particularly Paris or Leipzig, for their entire musical education. American-born composers such as 

Lowell Mason (1792-1872), Amy Beach (1867-1944) and Edward MacDowell (1860-1908) were all 

extremely popular with American audiences, yet followed the strict European models that had 

been taught to them by European musicians. Ironically, it was an immigrant European composer 

that began to harness America’s folk music and open the path for further exploration. Antonín 

Dvořák had left his native Czechoslovakia in 1892 and began teaching in New York at the newly 

established National Conservatory of Music. His Symphony No. 9, commonly titled the “New 

World” Symphony, drew inspiration from Negro folk-song like material, although no actual folk 

spirituals were used in the entire composition. Dvořák suggested to American composers that a 

new 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 with 

songs such as Camptown Races, My Old Kentucky Home, I Dream of Jeannie with the Light Brown 

Hair, and Old Folks at Home. These were parlor songs, however, and America had yet to develop a 

national identity in the concert hall as well as the dance hall. 

Though not considered a “concert” composer, an early figure in America’s musical 

development was John Philip Sousa (1854-1932). Sousa, born in Washington, D.C., distinguished 

himself 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 to 

enlist in the Marine Corps. After directing the Marine Band for twelve years, he formed his own 

band and toured the country performing original songs of American patriotism, mostly drawn 

from his own considerable number of marches, one hundred and thirty six in all. Many of his 

marches have become staples of the American patriotic repertoire, specifically The Stars and 

Stripes Forever, now America’s official National March, and Semper Fidelis, the official march of 

the Marine Corps. To this day, Sousa’s marches are played at ceremonial and public events 

throughout 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 of 

Charles Ives (1874-1954). Though trained in the European tradition when he attended Yale, Ives’ 

12


(see Composer Profiles) first major influence was that of his father, George Ives. George Ives was a 

U.S. Army bandleader and would frequently have his band play in Charles’ hometown of Danbury, 

Connecticut. The small town marches, patriotic songs, and dance pieces of his youth made up 

much of Ives’ personal style. In addition, Ives also served as a church organist before and after his 

collegiate training, making him aware of the standard keyboard repertoire. Ives is also considered 

unique among composers in the fact that composition was not his profession. After graduating 

from Yale, Ives worked for, and later formed his own, life insurance company. This is significant 

because Ives did not have to use composition to sustain himself and his family financially, and 

thus gave him the ability to compose according to 

his own wishes, regardless of how other musicians 

or the general public responded. In fact, he 

remained isolated from the public and other 

composers during the bulk of his compositional 

career. As a result, his music was scarcely performed 

during his lifetime and was considered “unplayable” 

by many professional musicians. Ives’ music 

represents a combination of many different 

techniques and practices, most of which had not yet 

entered the compositional mainstream. Ives freely 

used polytonality (the use of two separate keys 

Official Charles Ives (1874-1954) stamp 

simultaneously), serialism, folk songs and other 

material from which he quoted often, and atonality. His ability to mesh together these different 

techniques in a cohesive unit was unexplored by other composers during his lifetime. He also 

pioneered the use of dividing large ensembles into smaller instrumental groups, all playing 

different musical material. His piece The Unanswered Question (1906) represents this type of 

advanced construction well ahead of its time. Other pieces that represent Ives’ mature 

compositions include Three Places in New England (1914, revised 1929), the Symphony No. 4 (1918), 

and his masterpiece, the Piano Sonata No. 2 “Concord, Mass.”, completed in 1919. Ives frequently 

revised and rewrote his works, sometimes setting them aside in favor of other works and not 

working on them again for years at a time. Ives cared little for the reception he received, positive 

or negative, regarding his music. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1947 for his Symphony No. 3 “The 

Camp Meeting”, but gave away the prize money, exclaiming “prizes are for boys, and I’m all grown 

up”. Ives stopped composing entirely in 1927, saying he could no longer write music, because 

“nothing sounds right”. Ives did continue to revise his earlier material, but he did not write 

anything new for the remainder of his life. Though he was not fully appreciated by the musical 

public at large during his lifetime, the world began to catch up with Ives around the 1960’s, and 

Ives was finally recognized for the innovations he set in motion. He inspired a new generation of 

American composers, particularly Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Bernard Hermann, and 

Elliott Carter. Perhaps the best quote regarding Ives comes from Arnold Schoenberg in 1944, 

when he was living in Los Angeles: “There is a great man living in this country – a composer. He 

has solved the problem how to preserve one’s self-esteem and to learn. He responds to negligence 

by contempt. He is not forced to accept praise or blame. His name is Ives”. 

13


The World at War 

In 1918, World War I drew to a close with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The world 

had been badly shaken by the extreme devastation and destruction left in the war’s wake. It 

involved all the world’s major military powers, and forever changed the political and geographical 

boundaries of Europe. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was torn apart, and from there emerged 

several newly established independent states, including Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, 

Romania, and Yugoslavia. Russia had pulled out of the war after its collapse in 1917, during the 

aftermath of the “October” Revolution. Its new revolutionary government had already begun to 

establish the Soviet Union as a communist state, and Adolf Hitler used Germany’s defeat to gain 

power with the National Socialist Party. He succeeded in winning the chancellorship and later 

turned Germany into a complete dictatorship. The period between the wars was marked with 

grave uncertainty, as rising international tensions threatened to once again plunge the world into 

conflict. 

As was the case for a major overhaul in political and geographical restructuring, world 

culture would also be largely affected by the war’s end. The philosophies of artists and musicians 

had dramatically changed from their earlier viewpoints assuming that science and technology 

were the source of new inspiration and creativity leading into the future. Once they had seen the 

capabilities of the new war machines, laying waste to entire cities and causing mass destruction of 

a level previously unheard of, these attitudes changed instantly. Deeply traumatized by the 

brutality of the war, new artistic reactions against technology shifted to less complicated 

structures focused on promoting economy and more simplistic means of musical communication. 

A renewed effort for providing clarity and efficiency permeated Europe’s artistic atmosphere, and 

an interest in reconciling with the past, created more order in both tonal and atonal 

compositions. Another aspect of the war’s impact on musicians was the desire to write music that 

was more accessible to the general public. As Kodály and Bártok demonstrated in their use of folk 

song material in their writings, many others composed music that could be used with more 

practicality and utility. The rising tide of these new ideas would lead to create a new generation of 

musicians, and would also serve to alter the compositional methods of already established 

composers. 

France Between the Wars 

A particular composer whose style had changed dramatically after the war was Igor 

Stravinsky. In 1920, Stravinsky moved to Paris and became a French citizen. After hearing the 

works of composers such as Erik Satie, Stravinsky started to develop his own music in the style 

known as neo-classicism. As exclaimed earlier, the term “neo-classicism” does not only refer to an 

increased use of techniques stemming from Classical genres, but also incorporated earlier models 

from the Baroque and Renaissance periods. From the conclusion of the war stemmed a desire to 

create works of art dedicated to a simpler ideal. The French poet Jean Cocteau railed against the 

complexity of the “Wagnerian fog” and “Debussian mist”, declaring that all such music rests in “its 

14


convolutions, dodges, and tricks”. His concept, found in the music of Satie, represented a more 

common musical atmosphere: “What we need is a music of the earth, every-day music”. Satie 

embodied those qualities in his brief, melodic works that weave together fragments of musical 

material that are interconnected in a seamless, flowing structure. Satie’s works lack the grand 

designs of the late Romantic era, and is more casual, suitable more for the café than the concert 

hall. A singular work that inspired those around Satie was the ballet Parade (1917), set to a story by 

Cocteau 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 giving 

concerts playing each others’ works and referring to themselves as “Les Six” (“The Six”). 

Composed of Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger, Georges Auric, Germaine 

Tailleferre, and Louis Durey, the name “Les Six” was more of a reaction of French pride analogous 

to the Russian “Mighty Handful”. Of these composers, three stand out as the best representatives 

of the French post-war aesthetic. Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) was the closest to Satie in his 

stylistic 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. Another 

technique associated with Milhaud was polytonality, also used by Charles Ives in America. In his 

piano suite Souvenirs of Brazil (1921), Milhaud alternates between G major in the left hand while 

the right hand is playing material in D major. 

Arthur Honegger (1892-1955) achieved his first success with the dramatic oratorio Le Roi 

David (“King David”) in 1921. His music around the 1920’s is marked by the ideals of Le Six; more 

lyrical 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 five 

symphonies 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 was 

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963), who was mostly self-taught in composition. His musical sound is 

mostly reserved, returning to the more traditional format of tonality and harmonic structure. His 

music 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 Germany 

Though Germany was defeated at the conclusion of World War I, in the decade following 

the war, the country’s artistic and cultural life began its own rebirth. A strong reaction against the 

ideals of Wagnerian late-Romanticism started to take root in the younger generation of 

composers, and a call sounded for music that demonstrated more objectivity and efficiency. The 

greatest 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 aptitude 

when he was accepted into the Hoch Conservatory at the age of thirteen. Some of Hindemith’s 

early compositions reflect a debt to Brahms and Richard Strauss, but during the early 1920’s 

Hindemith broke free of these traditional methods and began to chart his own course. Strauss 

even remarked to Hindemith at one point: “Why do you have to write this way? You have talent”. 

15


Hindemith’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 featured 

a predilection for returning to a more neo-classical vein, particularly in the forms and textures of 

the Baroque era. The philosophy of music as a vehicle for functional means permeated 

Hindemith’s compositions as well. He is credited for embodying the German concept of 

Gebrauchmusik, or music used specifically for utilitarian ends. A function of this philosophy lies 

in Hindemith’s compositions designed for amateurs, to be used solely for teaching purposes. As a 

lifelong teacher, Hindemith published several texts on music, most notably The Craft for Music 

Composition 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 the 

same 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 Hindemith 

as an “atonal noisemaker”. In truth, Hindemith did not follow the innovations of Schoenberg or 

the Second Viennese School. He had a strong belief in tonality, as he exclaimed that “music, as 

long as it exists, will always take its departure from the major triad and return to it”. Like 

Schoenberg, however, Hindemith also left Germany and eventually settled in America, where he 

accepted the position of professor of composition at Yale University. His tonal system, described 

in The Craft of Musical Composition, is not diatonic, but uses all twelve notes equally, ranking 

each 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’s 

prolific output includes music for practically every instrumental combination, including solo, 

chamber, concerto, and orchestral works. His most famous pieces are the symphony based on his 

opera Mathis du Maler (“Mathis the Painter” - 1935) and his orchestral piece Symphonic 

Metamorphosis on Themes by Carl Maria von Weber (1943). Hindemith’s music had a pronounced 

effect among younger composers around World War II, and his influence continues to affect 

composers in the present day. 

The only other German composer of Hindemith’s generation that approached his level of 

influence was Kurt Weill (1900-50). Both Weill and Hindemith left Germany at the rise of the 

Nazi Party, but their compositional careers took very different paths. Weill studied composition 

at the Music Academy in Berlin with Engelbert Humperdinck and later Ferruccio Busoni. Hardly 

any of Weill’s early works before the 1920’s have survived, but most of what remains displays an 

influence of Strauss and Mahler. Later in the decade, Weill turned away from the late Romantic 

tendencies and starting composing music as an instrument of social change. He believed the most 

effective means to accomplish this was through opera, and with his collaborator, the playwright 

Bertolt 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 eighteenth 

century 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 spending 

some time in France, Weill came to the United States, where most of his remaining years was 

spent writing for Broadway and musical theater. He produced a number of shows, including 

Down in the Valley and Street Scene, which later inspired Broadway composers including Leonard 

Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. 

16


Rise of the Soviet Union 

Before the end of the war, Russia abruptly pulled out of the conflict to fight an internal 

battle. In October of 1917, a group of working class citizens known as the Bolsheviks led by 

Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) used their political influence to begin taking over government 

installations in the city of Petrograd. Disgusted with the absolute and oppressive rule of the Tsar 

emperors, Lenin and his followers took over the Winter Palace, seat of the Provisional 

Government in Petrograd. The so-called “October” Revolution sparked a civil war that was to last 

until 1922, when Russia was transformed into a socialist state. To confirm the rise of the people’s 

rights under the new government, Lenin changed Russia’s name to the Union of Soviet Socialist 

Republics (U.S.S.R.). After Lenin’s death in 1924, Joseph Stalin emerged as the political leader of 

the Soviet Union and proceeded to further isolate the U.S.S.R. from the West as it developed into 

a Communist state. Many Russians during the Revolution and the ensuing Civil War fled the 

country, uncertain as to the future of their country’s government. Both Igor Stravinsky and Sergei 

Rachmaninov left for Switzerland within a few years of each other, and eventually settled in 

America. 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, Sergei 

Prokofiev (1891-1953) returned to his native country after Stalin consolidated his grip on Russia’s 

political power. Prokofiev (see Composer Profiles) studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and 

immediately made a name for himself as a young man of considerable talent. After touring abroad 

in 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 works 

employ 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 had 

undergone 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 was 

deemed “alien to the Soviet people”. Music as a tool for social propaganda became the sole reason 

for composition in the eyes of the government, and Prokofiev often felt himself at odds with the 

government’s acceptable policies. Being accused of “formalism”, or any modern music that did not 

serve to promote Soviet ideals, was death to a composer’s career. Artists were even thrown in jail 

if their work had any signs of foreign influence or did not reflect the struggles of the working 

class. Though Prokofiev was celebrated by the government, winning six Stalin Prizes, a Lenin 

Prize, and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, he constantly treaded on thin ice between 

writing “acceptable” music and pursuing his own artistic preferences. 

Born in Armenia, Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) did not formally study music until 

after Armenia was declared a Soviet Republic in 1920. However, Khachaturian possessed such 

great natural musical ability that he was admitted to the Gnessin Institute, where he studied cello 

and 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 Gayane 

and Spartacus, both of which use Russian and Armenian folk music, particularly in the famous 

17


“Sabre Dance”. Khachaturian’s career took a major downturn in 1948 after the premiere of his 

Third Symphony. While Khachaturian wrote the work as a 

tribute to communism, Andrei Zhdanov, secretary of the 

Communist Party’s Central Committee, denounced 

Khachaturian, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich, as “formalist” and 

“anti-popular”. By then the three composers had become the 

“titans” of Soviet music, but their worldwide popularity had 

no effect on Zhdanov’s judgment. All three composers were 

required to publicly apologize for their indiscretions, which 

affected Khachaturian profoundly: “Those were tragic days for 

me; I was clouted on the head so unjustly. My repenting 

speech at the First Congress was insincere. I was crushed, 

destroyed. I seriously considered changing professions”. 

Regardless, Khachaturian and the others regained political 

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) 

favor, himself receiving four Stalin Prizes, a Lenin Prize, a 

U.S.S.R. State Prize, and the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. Though he lived most of his life in 

Russia, Khachaturian was a great inspiration to Armenian composers, and served to bring its 

culture into the mainstream. 

The third of the Soviet “titans”, Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) also began his musical 

training after the Revolution, and unlike Prokofiev, remained in Russia for his entire life (see 

Composer Profiles). His music, therefore, is completely tied to the political trends of the new 

government regime. Shostakovich himself spent his life under the constant threat of censorship 

and incarceration. His life became a paradox: while enjoying the worldwide fame of a master 

composer and the idolization of his fellow countrymen as a true Soviet artist, he also lived 

perpetually fearing the regime he imagined would put him in jail for being too “formalist” and 

modern. 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 was 

acclaimed as a paragon of Soviet art, in 1936 an article in Pravda, the official Communist Party 

newspaper, announced the opera as “negative” and a “deliberately dissonant, confused stream of 

sound”. It is not known why Lady Macbeth was particularly chosen as an example of the Party’s 

ire, but it served to effectively censure all Soviet art that contained any hint of material not 

conforming to the government’s mandates. The later 1948 decree was not merely directed at any 

particular Shostakovich work, but at each of the three composers in turn, possibly simply to force 

obedience as the government feared the composers’ popularity was too high. In any case, all 

three, particularly Shostakovich, acquiesced, and at the end of his life revealed a loss of 

confidence in himself and his work: “There were no particularly happy moments in my life, no 

great joys. It was gray and dull and it makes me sad to think about it”. Shostakovich did not live to 

see his music surge in popularity in the West after the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the 

Communist Party, and he is remembered now as a man broken by his own government and 

forced to write according to their expectations, compromising both his personal and artistic 

integrity. 

18


Other Composers of Europe 

Paul Hindemith at the time between the wars had established himself as the leading 

German composer of his day, though like many others he had fled to America during the rise of 

the Third Reich. Composers who elected to stay in Germany were forced, much like in the Soviet 

Union, to write as the government dictated. Most idealistic composers decided to leave the 

country rather than incur the wrath of the dictatorship. A German composer who was successful 

in 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 each 

aspect, dance, music, and action, being equal on stage. This is most clearly found in his trilogy of 

stage 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 music 

education. In 1924 he developed a school specifically to train young children in cooperative 

ensemble performance and musical foundation. He created easily playable instruments and wrote 

a series of songs designed to exercise the young student’s emerging musical abilities. Known as 

the Orff-Schulwerk, his methodology is practiced by elementary music educators around the 

world. 

Folk influences had dominated the music of Spain through to the beginning of the 

twentieth century. Spanish nationalism up to this point had been championed by composers such 

as Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909) and Enrique Granados (1867-1916). The most successful Spanish 

composer of the first half of the twentieth century was Manuel de Falla (1876-1946). Falla spent 

seven 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 expert 

orchestrations, Falla’s main body of work includes the set of three pieces for piano and orchestra 

entitled Nights in the Gardens of Spain (1915) and the two ballets Love, the Magician (1915) and The 

Three-Cornered Hat (1919). With these works, Falla is considered responsible for bringing Spanish 

orchestral 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 in 

1933. His music was subsequently banned, forcing him to relocate to America in 1938. He became 

an American citizen in 1945. Following World War II, Krenek composed in a variety of 

experimental medium, including serial, aleatoric (“chance” music), and even electronic music. 

Pieces that best represent his later style include From Three Make Seven (1961) and Fibonacci 

mobile (1964). 

Italy at the start of the twentieth century remained in the grip of late-Romantic style 

opera, particularly with the immense popularity of Puccini. Several composers sought to break 

opera’s hold and renew the Italian symphonic tradition. One composer who was successful in 

contributing fresh orchestral material to Italy’s twentieth century development was Ottorino 

Respighi (1879-1936). Known primarily for his trilogy of nationalistic tone poems, including the 

Fountains of Rome (1916), Pines of Rome (1924), and Roman Festivals (1928), Respighi also had a 

19


great interest in 16 th , 17 th , and 18 th century Italian music, and published new editions of works by 

Claudio Monteverdi and Antonio Vivaldi. 

The next generation of English composers after Holst and Vaughan Williams were best 

represented by William Walton (1902-1982), Michael Tippett (1905-1998), and Benjamin Britten 

(1913-1976). Britten (pictured on right), was encouraged by his 

compositional teacher, Frank Bridge, to experiment on advanced 

harmonic forms, and Britten was quick to assimilate these 

tendencies. Though his music is essentially diatonic and very tonal, 

Britten’s style is characterized by clearly defined formal structures 

and a haunting quality of expression. His tribute to his teacher, the 

Variations 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 ensuing 

orchestral suite Four Sea Interludes based on themes from the opera 

catapulted Britten to international fame. This was followed by more 

successes such as Billy Budd (1951) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream 

(1960). Of his non-operatic works, Britten is most known for his 

Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (1945), and the 1961 War Requiem. 

The American Scene 

Following World War I, American composers were beginning to take their first steps 

toward developing a musical language of national identity. Though previously rooted heavily in 

the European tradition, American music began to take on a quality incorporating the folk and 

spiritual 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 in 

Brooklyn, New York. Gershwin (see Composer Profiles) was equally comfortable writing for both 

the concert hall and the theater, most notably with his 

most 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 the 

blues scale. The opening clarinet glissando has become 

synonymous with the musical styles of the American 

1920’s. Gershwin’s stage and film works have also earned 

a permanent place in the repertoire, and his opera Porgy 

and Bess (1935) was the first opera to feature a cast 

composed entirely of African-American singers. The 

song “Summertime” has been performed by countless 

Seattle Opera Company production of 

Porgy and Bess, with Gordon Hawkins as 

Porgy and Lisa Daltirus as Bess. 

musicians, and in 2001 the opera was named the official 

opera of the state of South Carolina, where the opera is 

based. 

20


Though 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 work 

incorporating his experiences with jazz from his youth into the orchestral mainstream. His 

Symphony No. 1 “Afro-American” (1930) is a masterpiece worthy of any modern symphony, and his 

orchestral suite The American Scene (1957) is a programmatic tone poem reminiscent of Smetana’s 

The Moldau. Still achieved a number of accomplishments as a black man living in the first half of 

the twentieth century, including the first African-American to conduct a major symphony 

orchestra, and to have an opera performed on national television. His nationalistic views of black 

culture being integrated into classical music were a defining step toward establishing a unique 

American style. 

Another American composer that incorporated popular song elements into his music was 

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990). Bernstein (see Composer Profiles) is mostly remembered for his 

position as conductor of the New York Philharmonic from 1957-1969, but is equally known for his 

works including the musical scores to On the Town (1944), On the Waterfront (1954), and West 

Side Story (1957). Combining the rhythmic elements of jazz and song with his knowledge of 

traditional orchestral technique, Bernstein echoed the newly acquired awareness of music serving 

a more nationalistic purpose. Following the beginning of the Great Depression at the end of the 

1920’s, American music took on a new importance as composers actively sought out new outlets of 

expression in the goal of creating a uniquely “American” sound. Among these composers include 

Walter Piston (1894-1976), Virgil Thomson (1896-1989), Howard Hanson (1896-1981), Roger 

Sessions (1896-1985), Roy Harris (1898-1979), William Schumann (1910-1992), and Samuel Barber 

(1910-1981). 

The most influential American composer out of all of 

these figures was undoubtedly Aaron Copland (1900-1990). 

Copland (see Composer Profiles), like many other American 

composers in the first half of the twentieth century, studied 

abroad in Paris under Nadia Boulanger, who encouraged 

Copland’s experimentation in more modern techniques as 

opposed to the nineteenth century Romantic tradition. An 

advocate of the newly established call for American 

nationalism, Copland spearheaded a group of composers that 

would become the American version of France’s Les Six and 

Russia’s Mighty Handful. His most popular works are primarily 

based out of the folk idioms of the American heartland, 

particularly in the western-based motifs of his ballets Billy the 

Aaron 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 recognized 

purely “American” pieces worldwide. He also composed a number of scores for film music, most 

notably for the 1939 film Of Mice and Men and Our Town in 1940. But during the years preceding 

and following World War II, music had again started to venture toward new approaches, and 

21


soon composers began to experiment with tonalities that would usher in a new age of how music 

was defined and performed. 

In the years leading up to World War II, music had once again begun to redefine itself 

with 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 a pure soundscape, free of the limiting rules dictated by more accepted means of musical 

composition. Most of these composers worked without receiving the traditional training of formal 

technique, and worked in relative isolation to mainstream musical developments. Among these 

more avant-garde musicians include Carl Ruggles (1876-1971), Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000), Henry 

Cowell (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 style 

devel0ped 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 mainstream 

European practices and incorporated popular song elements with modern avant-garde concert 

techniques. 

Music Beyond World War II 

The result of World War II led to a variety of developments in Western music. Since many 

primary European composers immigrated to America during the pre-war years, the United States 

quickly became the dominant musical influence in the modern world. The rise of Russia and 

China as rival world powers transformed the global landscape, and the advent of technologies 

such 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 were 

constantly 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, more 

personal means of expression. Popular music began to fuse more readily with traditional 

orchestral techniques, and more composers were inclined to break from the older European 

tradition 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 the 

music of his student, Anton Webern. Webern’s works were highly praised by the younger 

composers of the post-WWII generation because of their highly systematic treatment, far more so 

than in Schoenberg’s music. The pre-determined set of pitches and their relationships was seen as 

a more “objective” method of composition, one that mirrored the post-war aesthetic that music 

had to take a fundamental shift from the past. One of Webern’s greatest champions is the French 

composer Pierre Boulez (born 1925). Boulez took the example set by Webern and applied it to 

more than just pitch relationships. Rhythms, dynamics, orchestrations, and articulations were 

composed according to those same principles as the twelve-tone method, resulting in a new form 

of serial technique called integral serialism. Boulez’s Structures I (1952) for two pianos is based 

on a design that serves as a “key” to each row, which not only affect pitch, but duration, attack 

22


and dynamics as well. This method can be seen as almost taking the freedom away from 

compositional method, but Boulez believed that it actually freed the composer to focus on higher 

priorities, such as musical texture. Texture became a defining characteristic of Boulez’s work and 

his contemporaries, most notably the German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007). 

Stockhausen took the concept of musical objectivity a step further by completely rejecting all 

notions of musical theme and thematic continuity. Musical structure influenced primarily by 

mathematical and scientific techniques became a defining feature of his work, particularly in his 

serial compositions. Stockhausen was also an innovator of “group” composition, a structure based 

on larger musical sections comprised of separate ensemble groups. An example of this method is 

found in Gruppen (“Groups”) for three orchestras, written between 1955 and 1957. The piece 

consists of separate instrumental sections, each playing their own musical material in different 

styles, tempos, and key signatures. The entire tapestry of sound seems to meld together into one 

large sound mass. Like Boulez, Stockhausen places texture as the defining musical feature, and 

traditional elements such as melody, harmony, and rhythmic direction are completely absent in 

the larger whole. 

Both Boulez and Stockhausen studied with Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992), a French 

composer who had an enormous influence upon the younger generation. Messiaen himself 

studied at the Paris Conservatory under Paul Dukas and 

Charles-Marie Widor, among others, and was influenced 

primarily by the music of Debussy and Ravel. During World 

War II, Messiaen was enlisted as a medical auxiliary, but 

was subsequently captured by the Germans in 1940 and 

became a prisoner of war. While interned at the prison 

camp of Stalag VIII-A, Messiaen composed what has 

become his most influential work, the Quatuor pour la fin 

du temps (“Quartet for the End of Time”), written for 

clarinet, violin, cello, and piano. The quartet is an intensely 

systematic work; it employs limited ideas of thematic 

development and harmonic progression, but concentrates 

on rhythmic complexity throughout the four parts. In the 

Quartet and many of his other pieces, Messiaen uses a 

variety of bird-call effects, specifically in his Réveil des 

oiseaux (1953), which is entirely based on bird songs obtained 

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) 

recording bird calls. 

through the composer’s personal research. Messiaen was also partial to incorporating exotic 

musical 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 Milton 

Babbitt (1916-2011). In addition to his serial works, Babbitt was one of the first pioneers of using 

electronic medium in music composition. Among his many students while teaching at Princeton 

University and the Julliard School include Donald Martino (1931-2005), Charles Wuorinen (born 

1938), and the theater composer Stephen Sondheim (born 1930). 

23


Music of Chance 

Another significant development in the 1950’s was the creation of music inspired entirely 

by methods based on chance, taking the concept of musical choice completely out of the 

composer’s hands. This music, known an indeterminate, or aleatoric, music began with the idea 

that music should be composed solely as an experiment in organized sound. Sound, as defined by 

these composers, could be encompassed by all manner of noise, not just merely those which could 

create pitch or melody in the traditional sense. Soon these more progressive composers felt that 

the accepted methods of composition could no longer satisfy their search for new forms of 

expression, and turned to completely unorthodox materials. Charles Ives and Henry Cowell had 

started using elements of chance music in their writings, but the composer most associated with 

aleatoric music was the American John Cage (1912-1992). Cage, who studied with Cowell and 

Arnold Schoenberg, began using materials other than traditional instruments in a series entitled 

Construction. His First Construction in Metal (1939) calls for brake drums, a thunder sheet, and 

other 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 or 

architectural elements”. Pitch and instrumentation are not the only aspects of Cage’s music that 

was radically altered. His concept of time and rhythmic duration was replaced by a series of 

proportional time measurements devised by strict mathematical 

calculations. In 1951, Cage decided that the only true way of 

creating music unhindered by human will is to take conscious 

choice out of the compositional process. His student Christian 

Wolff had previously introduced Cage to the I Ching, or Chinese 

Book of Changes, which describes a method using trigrams to 

identify order in seemingly unpredictable situations. The book 

became a revelation for Cage’s music; in Music of Changes, 

composed the same year, Cage uses the tossing of coins to decide 

pitch, rhythm, tempo, and every other musical choice available. 

His pieces have been determined by events such as notating 

imperfections in a piece of paper, using star charts to identify 

pitches, and tipping water-filled conch shells that creates a 

different 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 equally 

influential in a musical performance. Originally composed for piano, but later transcribed for 

every solo or instrumental combination available (including full orchestra), the piece consists of 

three 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 audience 

expressed 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 such 

thing as silence. What they thought was silence, because they didn’t know how to listen, was full 

of accidental sounds. You could hear the wind stirring outside during the first movement. During 

24


the second, raindrops began pattering the roof, and during the third the people themselves made 

all kinds of interesting sounds as they talked or walked out”. 4’33’’ remains the most outspoken 

example of chance music; the very performance must be different every time. Other composers of 

the time that experimented with aleatoric music was Boulez, Stockhausen and several of Cage’s 

students including Earle Brown (1926-2002), Morton Feldman (1926-1987), and Christian Wolff (b. 

1934). 

Mass Effect 

The breakdown of traditional tonality, rhythm, and structure continued in the second half 

of the twentieth century. No longer did music have to contain a specific key center, form, or 

directional foundation. Between the experiments of the serial and indeterminate composers, an 

idea of music composed of individual elements working together to form a greater whole gave 

way to a new concept of music composed primarily of larger segments. Among the earliest 

exponents of these new developments was Karlheinz Stockhausen in his works during and beyond 

the 1950’s. Stockhausen referred to the process as “group composition”, where masses of pitches 

was 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 

separate ensembles, each led by a separate conductor, playing their own individual material. The 

three groups each have separate tempos, time signatures, and musical material that meld together 

into a solid mass of sound. Pierre Boulez had also begun to compose with texture as the foremost 

priority in his music, specifically in Le Marteau sans maître (“The Hammer Without a Master”) in 

1954 for alto voice and six instruments. 

Two eastern European composers have become the most well known in music that feature 

group composition, Krzysztof Penderecki (b. 1933) and György Ligeti (1923-2006). Penderecki’s 

earlier works show an influence of serialism, but in the late 1950’s his preferences changed to 

creating tone “clusters”, or tonal groups made up of close intervals, usually chromatically. His 

most well known work is the 1960 Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima for fifty-two 

instruments. Hearing any individual pitches during the work is virtually impossible as a wave of 

sound consumes the general atmosphere. There are no defined avenues of key, rhythm, or 

musical form, and specific instrumental effects are used, such as the string instruments 

performing 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, as 

evidenced in the 1961 piece Atmosphères. Ligeti’s tone clusters change constantly, creating a 

continuing transformation of musical texture. His use of unconventional sounds is demonstrated 

in Lux aeterna (1966), and Lontano (1967), described by Ligeti as “a metamorphosis of intervallic 

constellations”. 

Other composers who have advanced music using the techniques of massed sound include 

the Greek composer Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) and the American Elliott Carter (b. 1908). 

Xenakis first studied as an engineer and mathematician, and subsequently used his knowledge of 

calculations into his music. His musical studies continued under Messiaen, and after 

25


experimenting with indeterminacy, began applying both aleatoric and finite material into his 

musical structures. Highly complex, Xenakis’ work employs some chance elements into the 

details, but always moves toward a definite 

goal. In his book Formalized Music (1963), 

Xenakis translates mathematical theories 

of probability into musical notation, 

specifically in the example of his piece 

Metastasis (1954). Elliott Carter, like so 

many other Americans of the time, studied 

music with Nadia Boulanger during the 

1930’s. His early works were rooted in ne0clasicism, 

but during the 1940’s Carter 

broke off from that tradition and started 

composing with a focus on maintaining an 

Graph for measures 309-17 from Iannis Xenakis’ 

Metastasis (1954). 

even rhythmic flow that transformed and 

evolved with the changing texture. The 

result, defined by Carter as “metrical 

modulation”, is present in works such as 

the Second String Quartet (1959) and the Third String Quartet (1971), both of which were awarded 

the Pulitzer Prize in 1960 and 1971, respectfully. His view of rhythm consisting of multiple layers 

led 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 different 

tempos. In his own words, Carter wished to create a “large, unified musical action”. On December 

11, 2008, Carter celebrated his 100 th birthday, and continues to teach and compose to the present 

day. 

Minimalism 

Following the intense experimentalism of the previous decade, the 1960’s were 

characterized by a return to more basic compositional methods, particularly in the influence of 

Asian music and centered in the Javanese and Balinese gamelan traditions. Combined with the 

new wave of popular music in rock and jazz and supported by the use of synthesizers and other 

electronics, 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 endless 

hypnotic progression leading to no particular goal or end. The most basic musical techniques are 

used, and whatever melodic or harmonic constructs are present are extremely limited. The first 

recognized composer to develop his music is this style was La Monte Young (b. 1935). Young 

applied 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 for 

Henry Flynt (1960) consists solely of one musical sound, the striking of an unidentified percussion 

instrument that is left up to the performer to decide. Terry Riley (b. 1935), who performed with 

Young in his ensembles, began composing minimalistic music with tape loops, creating 

26


repetitions within perfectly maintained rhythmic intervals. Influenced by both jazz and Indian 

music, Riley’s In C (1964) has become a defining work for the minimalist movement, and served to 

influence 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 musicians 

including Vincent Persichetti, Luciano Berio, and Darius Milhaud, and was one of the performers 

on 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 Javanese 

gamelan 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 the 

sequences out of sync with each other, so that they occurred at slightly different speeds. An 

example of this is the 1967 piece Piano Phase, where two pianists perform relatively the same 

musical 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 recorded 

tape, such as in pieces like New York Counterpoint (1985) and Different Trains (1988). In March 

2011, 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 the 

Julliard School, studying alongside Reich with Persichetti and Milhaud. In 1964, Glass traveled to 

Paris and studied with Nadia Boulanger, and was later influenced by Indian and Asian music 

when he traveled to northern India in 1966. Upon returning to New York in 1967, Glass formed a 

performing 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 one 

single line that doubles in fifths for the entire duration. In the 1970’s Glass focused on stage 

works, 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 every 

musical genre, including film and television. He has been nominated for Golden Globes and 

Academy 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 the 

Phil Glass Ensemble, and has collaborated with artists and musicians including Mick Jagger, Paul 

Simon, 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 Sessions 

and David Del Tredici, among others. Disillusioned by the rigidity of serialism, Adams became 

invigorated after reading John Cage’s book Silence (1973), and subsequently began to experiment 

with electronic music and minimalism. His influential works in minimalism include Phrygian 

Gates (1978) for solo piano, Short Ride in a Fast Machine (1986) for full orchestra, and his most 

famous 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 a 

memorial piece for the victims of September 11, 2001, won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003, and in the same 

year, Lincoln Center presented a festival entitled “John Adams: An American Master”, the most 

extensive festival that the venue has ever devoted to a living composer. 

27


Technology in Music 

Since the introduction of the phonograph in 1877, invented by Thomas Edison, technology 

has served an increasingly dominant role in music composition and performance. The practical 

application of using technology to create and perform new works of music was not explored until 

the beginning of the twentieth century, where new inventions gave composers a completely new 

landscape of sound possibilities. Among those inventions include the telharmonium, invented in 

1906 by Thaddeus Cahill, capable of producing 

electrically generated sounds, and the theramin, 

invented in 1920 by Lev Termin. The theramin 

was capable of producing a continuous stream of 

sound by manipulating alternating frequencies. 

Electronic instruments had their debut in 

modern music after World War II in the 1950’s. 

The earliest process of electronic sound-making 

involved creating tapes of recorded natural 

sounds and editing those sounds; transforming 

them into entirely new entities. This technique, 

pioneered at the French National Radio in 1948, 

was called musique concréte, because all the 

collected sounds originally came from natural, or 

“concrete” sources. 

A performer playing a theramin, generating sound 

without actually touching the instrument. 

Soon afterward studios were created for the specific development of sound recording and 

manipulation, most notably in Cologne, Paris, Milan, and Princeton. Composers who had 

previously 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 live 

recordings. 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 live 

performer. 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 of 

the synthesizer allowed the integration of multiple elements such as an oscillator, amplifier, and 

other components into a single control keyboard. In 1965, Robert Moog, a New York sound 

engineer, developed the Moog synthesizer, the first commercially available synthesizer and the 

most sophisticated electronic instrument of its time. The synthesizer appealed not only to 

contemporary composers, but to rock, jazz, and new wave musicians that integrated the 

instrument into their genres as well. Milton Babbitt in particular was drawn to what the 

synthesizer could accomplish, resulting in groundbreaking works such as his Composition for 

Synthesizer (1961) and Philomel (1964). Philomel in particular combines live and recorded sounds 

as 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 popular 

music. 

28


The 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 create 

musical sound. The program, developed at New Jersey’s Bell Laboratories, was called Music V, and 

soon afterward computer sound programs were installed at Princeton and Stanford in the mid 

1960’s. Computers could also function as controllers; sending instructions to electronic equipment 

and serving as a unifying controller for 

multiple devices. The development of MIDI 

(Musical Instrument Digital Interface) in the 

1980’s allowed a wide variety of musical 

devices, including both computers and 

electronic musical instruments to 

communicate with each other in a shared 

digital language. Today, technology is used 

extensively to produce, perform, and share 

music around the world. Musical composition 

programs such as Finale and Sibelius can 

generate entire works using any known 

A screen shot of the musical sequencer program 

Mixcraft 5.0. 

combination of musical sounds, and music 

sequencers including Mixcraft and Garage 

Band can give anyone the ability to create 

entire musical scores. Sharing music around the world has become almost instantaneous with 

devices 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 new 

innovations await the 21 st century, but it is obvious that technology will continue to play a 

dominant role in music of the future. 

Music in the Present and the Future 

The idea that music could be created through an unlimited number of means to express 

an endless array of concepts combined with new technologies that allowed greater reaches of 

communication and possibilities in sound gave rise to the experimental genres that defined the 

mid-twentieth century. By the 1970’s, however, the younger generation of composer had turned 

toward a more conservative route. Their desire was to make music more accessible than their 

predecessors, because while the music of the experimentalists may have been groundbreaking in 

its 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 the 

present. Born in West Virginia, George Crumb (b. 1929) has used a variety of instrumental 

combinations, including electronic medium, to explore new timbres and sound combinations. His 

writings also involve contrasting multiple stylistic influences, a technique that has become 

increasingly popular among late twentieth century and early twenty-first century composers. 

29


Crumb also includes a variety of non-traditional instruments, specifically in his most famous 

work, Ancient Voices of Children (1970), which involves a toy piano, prayer stones, and a musical 

saw. The use of unorthodox instrumentation continues to be a favorite technique among 

contemporary composers. 

The return to tonality has been called the “new romanticism” by musicians of the current 

age; 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 James 

Joyce and contemporary poets, reflecting a tendency toward homosexual themes. As an advocate 

for gay rights, Tredici has been twice named OUT Magazine’s Man of the Year. Tredici’s most 

famous compositions are his set of works based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in 

Wonderland, including the Alice Symphony (1969); Final Alice (1976) and Child Alice (1981), which 

won 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 universal 

acceptance and appreciation in the second half of the twentieth century. The first Pulitzer Prize 

given to a woman was awarded in 1983 to Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (b. 1939). Zwilich (see Composer 

Profiles) 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 New 

York, lived for ten years in Bolivia, where she adapted South American rhythms into her mature 

works. Among her most famous pieces is the Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman (1987), inspired 

by Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man. Libby Larson (b. 1950) established the American 

Composers Forum in 1973 during her time studying at the University of Minnesota. With a 

catalogue of over five hundred works, Larson is one of the most prolific composers of the present 

age, and has over fifty recorded CD’s of her music. 

Among those composers who have continued to develop music into the twenty-first 

century include John Corigliano (b. 1938) and Tan Dun (b. 1957). Both composers (see 

Composer Profiles) have earned wide international acclaim by incorporating traditional, folk, and 

popular stylistic influences into their 

music. They have also included a wide 

variety of instrumentation, and have also 

composed in every genre of music 

available, including orchestral, chamber, 

vocal, opera, and film. It is impossible to 

display a comprehensive list of all the 

influential composers of today’s 

generation, as so many diverse 

compositional approaches define the 

musical society of the present. The 

current musical scene is a flurry of activity 

with an entire range of subcultures that 

interact with each other. The global village 

Home 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 

30


redefining at an exponential rate. These materials now come from a variety of sources, including 

any and all previous stylistic tendencies and techniques from all corners of the world. It is difficult 

to see the far-reaching capabilities of this new musical “openness”, but it is clear to see that it is a 

world full of exciting opportunities. 

For Review: 

Germany and Austrian composers began what would be called the transition to a more 

modern tonal language, particularly in the symphonies of Gustav Mahler and the tone 

poems and operas of Richard Strauss. 

Arnold Schoenberg and the members of the Second Viennese School led the 

revolution of atonality, where music has no tonal center and is characterized by its brutal 

and distorted views of the human subconscious. This is mirrored in the Expressionist art 

movement of the early twentieth century. 

Schoenberg also developed the concept of serialism, or using sequences made up of 

twelve-tone rows in varied form. His students and contemporaries, Anton Webern and 

Alban Berg, made further developments to this concept and solidified it as a new form of 

musical expression. 

In France, Impressionism became heavily popular with the works of Claude Debussy 

and 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 Russian 

Five. While they were students together, Alexander Scriabin and Sergei Rachmaninov’s 

music could not be further apart. Trained by Rimsky-Korsakov, Igor Stravinsky became 

the most innovative of the three, specifically in his groundbreaking work, Le Sacre du 

printempts (“The Rite of Spring”). 

Other members of the European musical scene defined new forms of expression, ranging 

from Béla Bártok and Zoltán Kodály’s use of Eastern European folk music, to Italian 

opera under Giacomo Puccini, and new stylistic approaches from British composers such 

as Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst. 

American music was born out of the European tradition, and it was not until composers 

such as John Philip Sousa and Charles Ives appeared that the United States had their 

own 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 Les 

Six saw music as encompassing a more utilitarian function, and created music that was 

more objective and economical as opposed to works that were designed to exalt the 

human condition. 

American composers began to develop their cultural sound, though many of its greatest 

advocates were trained in Europe. They used American folk melodies and jazz harmonies 

to create a new, uniquely American style of music. These influences can be seen in the 

31


works of George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, and Aaron Copland, among many 

others. 

After World War II, musical developments completely broke away from all sense of prior 

convention. Integrated serialism took over the compositional avant-garde during the 

1950’s in the works of Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Milton Babbitt. 

Another advanced development was aleatoric, or “chance” music, that relied heavily on 

indeterminate 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 the 

1950’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 new 

forms of mathematical modulations. 

The 1960’s saw a return to musical simplicity in the style of minimalism, which conveyed 

the 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 John 

Adams. 

Technology has become a defining force for modern music since the beginning of the 

twentieth century. The invention of the synthesizer and advances in digital sound 

technology 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 and 

techniques across time periods and nations are freely employed in a cross-culture 

environment 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 Wayfarer 

Richard 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 Merry 

Pranks”), Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 (“Thus Spake Zarathustra”), Don Quixote, Op. 35, Ein 

Heldenleben, Op. 40 (“A Hero’s Life”), Symphonia Domestica, Op. 53 (“Domestic Symphony”), Eine 

Alpensinfonie, 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 letzte 

lieder (“Four Last Songs”) 

Max Reger: Symphonic Fantasy and Fugue “Inferno”, Op. 57; Variations and Fugue on a Theme of 

Mozart, Op. 132 

Arnold 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, 

32


Op. 22 (1916); Violin Concerto, Op. 26 (1936); Theme and Variations for Band, Op. 43 (1943); A 

Survivor 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 à 

l'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. 136 

Opera: Pelléas et Mélisande, L. 88 

Maurice Ravel: Rhapsodie Espagnole (1907); Mother Goose (1912); Daphnis et Chloé (1912); Le 

Tombeau 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. 7 

Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 1 (1891); Symphony No. 1, Op. 13 (1896); Piano 

Concerto 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); Symphonic 

Dances, 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 Janáček: Operas: Jenůfa (1903); Šárka (1888); Fate (1905); Glagolitic Mass (1926) 

Zoltán Kodály: Psalmus Hungaricus (1923); Háry János (1926); Dances of Marosszék (1930); Dances 

of Galanta (1933); Te Deum (1939) 

Béla Bártok: String Quartet No. 1 (1908); Bluebeard’s Castle (1911); The Wooden Prince (1914); String 

Quartet No. 2 (1915); The Miraculous Mandarin (1918); Piano Concerto No. 1 (1926); Music for 

Strings, Percussion, and Celesta (1936); Contrasts (1938); Mikrokosmos (1939); Concerto for 

Orchestra (1945) 

Jean Sibelius: Finlandia, Op. 26 (1899); Symphonies 1-7 

Carl Nielsen: Symphonies 1-6; Aladdin Suite (1919); Wind Quintet, Op. 43 (1922); Concerto for Flute 

and Orchestra (1926); Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, Op. 57 (1928) 

Edward Elgar: “Enigma” Variations, Op. 36 (1899); The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38 (1900); Pomp 

and 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 Theme 

by Thomas Tallis (1910); A London Symphony (1913); A Pastoral Symphony (1921); English Folk Song 

Suite (1923); Sea Songs (1923); Symphonies No. 4-9 (1931-1957) 

33


Gustav Holst: First Suite in E-flat (1909); Second Suite in F (1911); Saint Paul’s Suite (1913); The 

Planets (1916); Egdon Heath (1927); Hammersmith (1931) 

John Philip Sousa: Marches: The Stars and Stripes Forever; Semper Fidelis; Riders for the Flag; The 

Thunderer; Washington Post March; Manhattan Beach March; King Cotton; The Liberty Bell 

Charles 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); Symphony 

No. 3 “The Camp Meeting” (1910); Three Places in New England (1914, revised 1929); General 

William 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 (“The 

Creation 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); Kleine 

Kammermusik for wind quintet (1922); Concerto for Orchestra, Op. 38 (1925); Konzertmusik Für 

Blasorchestra, Op. 41 (“Concert Music for Wind Orchestra” – 1926); Mathis du Maler (1935); Violin 

Concerto (1939); Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1939); Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes by 

Carl Maria von Weber (1943); Symphony in B-flat for Concert Band (1951); The Harmony of The 

World (1957) 

Kurt Weill: Mahagonny-Songspiel (1927); The Threepenny Opera (1928); Four Songs of Walt 

Whitman (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. 78 

Aram 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. 141 

Carl 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); Fibonacci 

mobile (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 and 

Bess (1935); Shall We Dance (1936) 

34


William Grant Still: Symphony No. 1 “Afro-American” (1930); Troubled Island (1939); The American 

Scene (1957) 

Leonard Bernstein: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1939); On the Town (1944); Candide (1953); On 

the 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 for 

Orchestra, Op. 12 (1937); Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 (1938); Knoxville, Summer of 1915 (1948); Summer 

Music 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 (“The 

Hammer 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); All 

Set (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); Different 

Trains (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) 

35


George Crumb: Echoes of Time and the River (1967); Black Angels (1970); Ancient Voices of 

Children (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 for 

Orchestra (1984); Concerto Grosso (1985); Symbolon (1988); Symphony No. 4 “The Gardens” (1999); 

Millennium Fantasy (2000); Symphony No. 5 “Concerto for Orchestra” (2008); Shadows for Piano 

and Orchestra (2011) 

Joan Tower: Wings (1981); Sequoia (1981); Island Rhythms (1985); Fanfare for the Uncommon 

Woman (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: Last 

Words 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 for 

Violin 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); Internet 

Symphony 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: New 

York, 1992. 

Palisca, Claude, ed. Norton Anthology of Western Music, Volume 1, Third Edition. W.W. Norton 

and Company: New York, 1996. 

Grout, Donald & Palisca, Claude. A History of Western Music, Fifth Edition. W.W. Norton and 

Company: New York, 1996. 

Schonberg, Harold. The Lives of the Great Composers, Third Edition. W.W. Norton and 

Company: 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. 

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