20th Century Music Summary

20th Century Music Styles

Impressionism

• French movement (late 19th - early 20th century).
• Replaced sentimental melodies with moods and impressions.

Claude Debussy (1862–1918)

• Primary exponent of Impressionism.
• Dissolved traditional rules in music.
• Works: Ariettes Oubliees, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, La Mer, Claire de Lune.
• Total compositions: ~227.

Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)

• Innovative but not atonal harmonic treatment.
• Advocate of Russian music.
• Works: Pavane for a Dead Princess, Jeux d’Eau, Bolero.

Debussy vs. Ravel

• Debussy: spontaneous, liberal in form, casual in visual imagery.
• Ravel: attentive to classical norms, formal and exacting.

Primitivism

• New sounds synthesized from old ones.
• Links to Exoticism, Nationalism, and Ethnicism.
• Belief in simple way of life close to nature.

Bela Bartok (1881–1945)

• Explored Hungarian folk songs.
• Used folk themes and rhythms.
• Works: Six String Quartets, Concerto for Orchestra, Allegro Barbaro, Mikrokosmos.
• Total compositions: ~695.

Neo-Classicism

• Return to Classical period form, combined with tonal harmonies and slight dissonances.

Sergei Prokofieff (1891–1953)

• Neo-classicist, nationalist, and avant-garde composer.
• Progressive technique, pulsating rhythms.
• Works: Romeo and Juliet, Peter and the Wolf.

Francis Poulenc (1899–1963)

• Member of “Les Six”.
• Coolly elegant modernity.
• Works: Concert Champetre, Concerto for Two Pianos, La Voix Humane.
• Total compositions: ~185.

Avant Garde Music

• Dealt with sound parameters in space.
• Musical mobility, altered continuity.
• Improvisation was a necessity.

George Gershwin (1898–1937)

• Incorporated jazz rhythms with classical forms.
• Works: Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, Porgy and Bess.

Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)

• Conductor, pianist, composer.
• Universal language of music rooted in tonality.
• Work: West Side Story.
• Total compositions: ~90.

Philip Glass (1937–)

• Minimalist composer.
• Repetitive patterns.
• Works: Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha, Akhnaten.
• Total compositions: ~170.

Modern Nationalism

• Combined modern techniques with folk materials.

Electronic Music

• Used synthesizers, amplifiers, tape recorders, and loudspeakers.
• Musique concrete: using recorded environmental sounds.

Edgard Varèse (1883–1965)

• Pioneered new sounds between music and noise.
• Invented “organized sound”.
• Total compositions: ~50.

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007)

• Central figure in electronic music.
• Experimented with musique concrete.
• Works: Gruppen, Kontakte, Hymnen, Helicopter String Quartet.
• Total works: ~31.

Chance Music

• Sounds different at every performance due to random techniques.

John Cage (1912–1992)

• Manipulated instruments for new sounds.
• Work: Four Minutes and Thirty-Three Seconds (4’33").
• Total compositions: ~229.