Music History After 1750

Realism

Who: Primarily Italian verismo composers
What: Focus on everyday life and working-class subjects
When: Late 19th century
Where: Italy, France
Why: Reaction against Romantic idealization (p. 495)

Expressionism

Who: Schoenberg, Berg, Webern
What: Sought to express intense psychological states with distortion
When: 1910s
Where: Austria, Germany
Why: Rejected tonality and traditional forms (p. 554)

Polytonality

Who: Ives, Milhaud
What: Simultaneous use of multiple keys
When: Early 20th century
Where: USA, France
Why: Expand harmonic language (p. 588)

Exoticism

Who: Debussy, Ravel
What: Use of non-Western scales and styles
When: Late 19th–early 20th century
Where: France
Why: Fascination with foreign cultures (p. 524)

Symbolism

Who: Debussy
What: Use of suggestive rather than explicit meaning
When: Late 19th century
Where: France
Why: Artistic reaction to realism (p. 525)

Atonality

Who: Schoenberg
What: Music without a tonal center
When: From 1908
Where: Austria
Why: Emancipation of dissonance (p. 554)

Verismo

Who: Puccini, Mascagni
What: Realistic Italian operatic movement
When: Late 19th century
Where: Italy
Why: Portray raw human emotion and working-class life (p. 495)

Surrealism

Who: Satie, later avant-garde
What: Illogical, dream-like music
When: 1920s
Where: France
Why: Reaction to WWI trauma (p. 528)

Neotonality

Who: Bartók, Stravinsky
What: Establishing tonal centers by nontraditional means
When: 1920s onward
Where: Europe
Why: Alternative to atonality (p. 574)

Impressionism

Who: Debussy
What: Creation of mood through harmonic color and ambiguous form
When: Late 19th–early 20th century
Where: France
Why: Move away from Germanic traditions (p. 525)

Neoclassicism

Who: Stravinsky, Ravel
What: Use of classical forms with modern harmonies
When: 1920s–1950s
Where: Europe
Why: Reaction against Romantic excess (p. 566)

Sprechstimme

Who: Schoenberg, Berg
What: Vocal style between singing and speaking
When: Used in Pierrot Lunaire (1912)
Where: Austria
Why: Heighten dramatic expressiveness (p. 554, 561)

Gebrauchsmusik

Who: Hindemith
What: Practical music for amateurs or educational use
When: 1920s–30s
Where: Germany
Why: Democratize music making (p. 591)

Cubism

Who: Influenced Satie, Stravinsky
What: Musical fragmentation mirroring visual cubism
When: Early 20th century
Where: France
Why: Reject traditional linear forms (p. 528)

Collage

Who: Ives, Stravinsky
What: Layering contrasting musical materials
When: Early 20th century
Where: USA, Europe
Why: Explore musical juxtaposition (p. 579)

Chance Music / Indeterminacy

Who: Cage
What: Some decisions in performance are left to chance
When: 1940s–50s
Where: USA
Why: Remove composer control to allow unpredictability (p. 615)

Musique Concrète

Who: Pierre Schaeffer
What: Use of recorded natural sounds manipulated electronically
When: From 1948
Where: France
Why: Early form of electronic music (p. 622)

Jazz

Who: Early jazz artists like King Oliver, Louis Armstrong
What: Improvisatory African American music blending ragtime, blues, and dance
When: 1910s–20s
Where: New Orleans, USA
Why: Developed as popular music post-WWI (p. 544)

Film Music

Who: Early film composers (Korngold, Steiner)
What: Music written for cinema including diegetic and non-diegetic sound
When: 1920s–40s
Where: USA, Europe
Why: Create mood, enhance storytelling (p. 537)

Ultramodernism

Who: Cowell, Varese
What: Emphasized new sounds, tone clusters, electronic media
When: 1920s–30s
Where: USA
Why: Break away from European tradition (p. 597)

Electronic Music

Who: Varese, Stockhausen, Schaeffer
What: Music created with electronic instruments and recorded sound
When: 1950s onward
Where: Europe, USA
Why: Explore sound without traditional instruments (p. 622)

Claude Debussy (1862–1918)

Who: French composer
What: Developed impressionist music; influenced by symbolism
When: Late 19th–early 20th century
Where: France
Why: Sought independence from German musical influence (p. 525)

Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)

Who: French composer
What: Known for neoclassicism, exoticism, precise orchestration
When: Early 20th century
Where: France
Why: Blended impressionistic color with classical forms (p. 525-526)

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943)

Who: Russian composer and pianist
What: Romantic idiom with lush harmonies and memorable melodies
When: Early to mid-20th century
Where: Russia, USA
Why: Preserved Romantic traditions in modern times (p. 524)

Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915)

Who: Russian composer and pianist
What: Evolved from Romanticism to mysticism and modernism
When: Early 20th century
Where: Russia
Why: Explored unique harmonic language and synesthetic concepts (p. 524)

Manuel de Falla (1876–1946)

Who: Spanish composer
What: Combined Spanish folk music with classical techniques
When: Early 20th century
Where: Spain
Why: Represented Spanish nationalism (p. 524)

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958)

Who: English composer
What: Incorporated English folk songs and hymnody
When: Early to mid-20th century
Where: England
Why: Developed a distinctly British style (p. 524)

Leoš Janáček (1854–1928)

Who: Czech composer
What: Used speech rhythms and Moravian folk music
When: Early 20th century
Where: Czechoslovakia
Why: Created highly individual national sound (p. 524)

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957)

Who: Finnish composer
What: Composed tone poems and symphonies
When: Early 20th century
Where: Finland
Why: Symbol of Finnish nationalism (p. 524)

Erik Satie (1866–1925)

Who: French composer
What: Known for simplicity, collage techniques, surrealism
When: Early 20th century
Where: France
Why: Pioneer of avant-garde and anti-Romantic music (p. 528)

John Philip Sousa (1854–1932)

Who: American bandmaster and composer
What: Composed patriotic marches
When: Late 19th–early 20th century
Where: USA
Why: Defined American band tradition (p. 533)

Scott Joplin (1868–1917)

Who: African American composer and pianist
What: King of ragtime
When: Early 20th century
Where: USA
Why: Merged classical structures with African American rhythms (p. 544)

Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Leonard Bernstein

Who: American popular and musical theater composers
What: Developed American songbook and Broadway tradition
When: 1920s–1960s
Where: USA
Why: Blended classical forms with American popular idioms (p. 537)

Duke Ellington (1899–1974)

Who: African American jazz composer and bandleader
What: Advanced big band jazz
When: Mid-20th century
Where: USA
Why: Elevated jazz to an art form (p. 550)

Les Six (France)

Who: French composers including Milhaud, Poulenc, Honegger
What: Reacted against Wagnerian and Impressionist excess
When: 1920s
Where: France
Why: Embraced clarity, humor, and simplicity (p. 587)

Paul Hindemith (1895–1963)

Who: German composer
What: Moved from Romanticism to Gebrauchsmusik and neoclassicism
When: 1920s–30s
Where: Germany
Why: Created music for amateurs and professionals alike (p. 591)

Kurt Weill (1900–1950)

Who: German composer
What: Known for The Threepenny Opera
When: 1920s
Where: Germany, USA
Why: Merged jazz and classical styles (p. 589)

Darius Milhaud (1892–1974)

Who: French composer
What: Used polytonality, jazz influences, and polyrhythms
When: 1920s
Where: France
Why: Diverse approach to modern composition (p. 588)

Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953)

Who: Russian composer
What: Combined modernism with lyricism
When: Early to mid-20th century
Where: Russia
Why: Worked under Soviet socialist realism restrictions (p. 594)

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975)

Who: Russian composer
What: Created deeply ironic and coded symphonies under Soviet pressure
When: Mid-20th century
Where: USSR
Why: Balanced modernism with official mandates (p. 595)

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959)

Who: Brazilian composer
What: Fused Brazilian folk music with European classical styles
When: Early to mid-20th century
Where: Brazil
Why: Defined Brazilian classical music identity (p. 597)

Silvestre Revueltas (1899–1940)

Who: Mexican composer
What: Blended indigenous and mestizo traditions with modernist techniques
When: 1930s
Where: Mexico
Why: Created a national Mexican modernism (p. 598)

Edgard Varèse (1883–1965)

Who: French-American composer
What: Focused on sound masses, spatial music, and electronic sounds
When: 1920s–50s
Where: France, USA
Why: Radical break from traditional melody and harmony (p. 599)

Henry Cowell (1897–1965)

Who: American composer
What: Pioneered tone clusters, rhythmic complexity, non-Western influences
When: 1920s–50s
Where: USA
Why: Expanded the sonic possibilities of Western music (p. 601)

Aaron Copland (1900–1990)

Who: American composer
What: Blended modernism with accessible American idioms
When: 1930s–50s
Where: USA
Why: Created distinctly American orchestral music (p. 604)

Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901–1953)

Who: American composer
What: Used serialism and folk music transcription
When: 1930s–40s
Where: USA
Why: One of the first women to experiment with serial technique (p. 601)

William Grant Still (1895–1978)

Who: African American composer
What: Fused traditional classical forms with African American idioms
When: 1930s–40s
Where: USA
Why: Broke racial barriers in American concert music (p. 605)

Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992)

Who: French composer
What: Used bird calls, additive rhythms, harmonic stasis
When: 1930s–80s
Where: France
Why: Created intensely spiritual and unique sound worlds (p. 611)

Pierre Boulez (1925–2016)

Who: French composer
What: Developed pointillistic serialism and complex textures
When: 1950s–70s
Where: France
Why: Extended serial principles to all musical parameters (p. 620)

George Crumb (1929–2022)

Who: American composer
What: Used unusual instrumental techniques and amplification
When: 1960s–80s
Where: USA
Why: Explored expressive extremes and timbral experimentation (p. 623)

Pierre Schaeffer (1910–1995)

Who: French engineer and composer
What: Invented musique concrète
When: From 1948
Where: France
Why: Used recorded sound as compositional material (p. 622)

John Cage (1912–1992)

Who: American composer
What: Pioneered prepared piano, chance music, indeterminacy
When: 1940s–80s
Where: USA
Why: Rejected traditional musical control (p. 615)

Iannis Xenakis (1922–2001)

Who: Greek-French composer
What: Created music using mathematical formulas and mass textures
When: 1950s–90s
Where: France
Why: Sought new approaches to sound and structure (p. 622)

Krzysztof Penderecki (1933–2020)

Who: Polish composer
What: Developed graphic notation and texture music (Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima)
When: 1960s–80s
Where: Poland
Why: Explored the expressive potential of sound masses (p. 627)

Steve Reich, Philip Glass, John Adams, Kaija Saariaho

Who: American and Finnish minimalists
What: Developed minimalist and postminimalist music
When: 1970s–present
Where: USA, Finland
Why: Reaction against serial complexity, favoring repetition and gradual process (p. 633)

Music in the Late 19th Century: Nationalism and Romanticism

Who: Wolf, Mahler, Strauss, The Mighty Five, Grieg, Elgar, Franck, Fauré, Puccini
What: Expanded symphonic forms, developed national musical languages, verismo opera
When: 1860s–1910s
Where: Europe, USA
Why: Search for national identity and continuation of Romantic traditions (p. 484-499)

Classical Modernism (1900–1945)

Who: Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Bartók, Ives
What: Sought new approaches to tonality, form, and timbre
When: Early 20th century
Where: Europe, USA
Why: Reaction to Romanticism and the weight of tradition (p. 517)

Vernacular Music in America

Who: Sousa, Joplin, Tin Pan Alley composers, early jazz artists
What: Band music, ragtime, musical theater, jazz
When: 1890s–1930s
Where: USA
Why: Reach mass audiences and reflect American cultural diversity (p. 533-550)

Radical Modernism (1910s–1945)

Who: Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Stravinsky, Bartók, Ives
What: Atonality, serialism, polytonality, rhythmic innovation, collage
When: 1910s–1945
Where: Europe, USA
Why: Break from tonal tradition and expand musical language (p. 553-579)

Music Between the World Wars

Who: Les Six, Hindemith, Weill, Milhaud, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Copland, Still
What: Neoclassicism, Gebrauchsmusik, Americanism, national folk influences
When: 1918–1939
Where: Europe, USSR, USA
Why: Create modern music accessible to broader audiences and reflect nationalism (p. 586-605)

Ultramodernism and Americanists

Who: Cowell, Varese, Crawford Seeger, Copland, Still
What: Exploration of new sounds, tone clusters, American themes
When: 1920s–50s
Where: USA
Why: Challenge European dominance and create distinct American styles (p. 597-605)

The Changing World of Postwar Music

Who: Messiaen, Cage, Boulez, Crumb, Schaeffer, Xenakis, Penderecki
What: Serialism, chance music, prepared piano, musique concrète, texture music
When: 1945–1970s
Where: Global
Why: Expand possibilities of sound and composition (p. 608-627)

Into the 21st Century

Who: Reich, Glass, Adams, Saariaho, others
What: Minimalism, postminimalism, fusion with non-Western music, electronic techniques
When: 1970s–present
Where: Global
Why: Reaction to complexity of serialism; exploration of process and sound (p. 630-633)