MUSIC OF THE 20th CENTURY

The early half of the 20th century also gave rise to new musical styles, which were not quite as extreme as the
electronic, chance, and the minimalist styles that arose later. These new styles were impressionism, expressionism, neo-
classicism, avant garde music, and modern nationalism
Impressionism made use of the whole-tone scale. It also applied suggested, rather than depicted, reality. It
created a mood rather than a definite picture. It had a translucent and hazy texture; lacking a dominant-tonic
relationship. It made use of overlapping chords, with 4th, 5th, octaves, and 9th intervals, resulting in a non-traditional
harmonic order and resolution.

CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862–1918) One of the most important and influential of the 20th century
composers was Claude Debussy. He was the primary exponent of the impressionist movement and the
focal point for other impressionist composers. He changed the course of musical development by
dissolving traditional rules and conventions into a new language of possibilities in harmony, rhythm,
form, texture, and color.
Debussy was born in St. Germain-en-Laye in France on August 22, 1862. His early musical talents
were channeled into piano lessons. He entered the Paris Conservatory in 1873. He gained a reputation
as an erratic pianist and a rebel in theory and harmony. He added other systems of musical composition
because of his musical training. In 1884, he won the top prize at the Prix de Rome competition with his
composition L’Enfant Prodigue (The Prodigal Son). This enabled him to study for two years in Rome,
where he got exposed to the music of Richard Wagner, specifically his opera Tristan und
Isolde, although he did not share the latter’s grandiose style.
His musical compositions total more or less 227 which include orchestral music, chamber music,
piano music, operas, ballets, songs, and other vocal music.
JOSEPH MAURICE RAVEL was born in Ciboure, France to a Basque mother and a Swiss father. He
entered the Paris Conservatory at the age of 14 where he studied with the eminent French composer
Gabriel Faure. During his stint with the school where he stayed until his early 20’s, he had composed a
number of masterpieces. The compositional style of Ravel is mainly characterized by its uniquely
innovative but not atonal style of harmonic treatment. It is defined with intricate and sometimes modal
melodies and extended chordal components. It demands considerable technical virtuosity from the
performer which is the character, ability, or skill of a virtuoso—a person who excels in musical technique
or execution.
Ravel was a perfectionist and every bit a musical craftsman. He strongly adhered to the classical
form, specifically its ternary structure. A strong advocate of Russian music, he also admired the music of
Chopin, Liszt, Schubert, and Mendelssohn. He died in Paris in 1937.
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG was born in a working-class suburb of Vienna, Austria on September 13,
1874. He taught himself music theory, but took lessons in counterpoint. German composer Richard
Wagner influenced his work as evidenced by his symphonic poem Pelleas et Melisande, Op 5 (1903), a
counterpoint of Debussy’s opera of the same title.
His musical compositions total more or less 213 which include concerti, orchestral music, piano
music, operas, choral music, songs, and other instrumental music. Schoenberg died on July 13, 1951 in
Los Angeles, California, USA where he had settled since 1934.
IGOR STRAVINSKY stands alongside fellow-composer Schoenberg, painter Pablo Picasso, and
literary figure James Joyce as one of the great trendsetters of the 20th century. He was born in
Oranienbaum (now Lomonosov), Russia on June 17, 1882. Stravinsky’s early music reflected the
influence of his teacher, the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. But in his first successful
masterpiece, The Firebird Suite (1910), composed for Diaghilev’s Russian Ballet, his skillful handling of
material and rhythmic inventiveness went beyond anything composed by his Russian predecessors. He
added a new ingredient to his nationalistic musical style. The Rite of Spring (1913) was another
outstanding work.Anew level of dissonance was reached and the sense of tonality was practically
abandoned. Asymmetrical rhythms successfully portrayed the character of a solemn pagan rite. When
he left the country for the United States in 1939, Stravinsky slowly turned his back on Russian
nationalism and cultivated his neo-classical style. Stravinsky’s musical output approximates 127 works,
including concerti, orchestral music, instrumental music, operas, ballets, solo vocal, and choral music. He
died in New York City on April 6, 1971.

Primitivism
Primitivistic music is tonal through the asserting of one note as more important than the others. New sounds are
synthesized from old ones by juxtaposing two simple events to create a more complex new event. Primitivism has links
to Exoticism through the use of materials from other cultures, Nationalism through the use of materials indigenous to
specific countries, and Ethnicism through the use of materials from European ethnic groups. Two well-known
proponents of this style were Stravinsky and Bela Bartok. It eventually evolved into Neo-classicism.
 Bela Bartok was born in Nagyszentmiklos, Hungary (now Romania) on March 25, 1881, to
musical parents. He started piano lessons with his mother and later entered Budapest Royal Academy of
Music in 1899. He was inspired by the performance of Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra to write
his first nationalistic poem, Kossuth in 1903. He was a concert pianist as he travelled exploring the music
of Hungarian peasants.
His musical compositions total more or less 695 which include concerti, orchestral music, piano
music, instrumental music, dramatic music, choral music, and songs. In 1940, the political developments
in Hungary led Bartok to migrate to the United States, where he died on September 26, 1945 in New
York City, USA.

Expressionism revealed the composer’s mind, instead of presenting an impression of the environment. It used
atonality and the twelve-tone scale, lacking stable and conventional harmonies. It served as a medium for expressing
strong emotions, such as anxiety, rage, and alienation.

Neo-classicism was a partial return to a classical form of writing music with carefully modulated dissonances. It
made use of a freer seven-note diatonic scale. The avant garde style was associated with electronic music and dealt with
the parameters or dimensions of sound in space. It made use of variations of self-contained note groups to change
musical continuity, and improvisation, with an absence of traditional rules on harmony, melody, and rhythm.
Sergei Prokofieff is regarded today as a combination of neo-classicist, nationalist, and avant
garde composer. His style is uniquely recognizable for its progressive technique, pulsating rhythms,
melodic directness, and a resolving dissonance.
Born in Ukraine in 1981, Prokofieff set out for the St. Petersburg Conservatory equipped with his
great talent as a composer and pianist. His early composition were branded as avant garde and were not
approved of by his elders, he continued to follow his stylistic path as he fled to other places for hopefully
better acceptance of his creativity
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a member of the group of young French composers known as
“Les Six.” He rejected the heavy romanticism of Wagner and the so-called imprecision of Debussy and
Ravel. His compositions had a coolly elegant modernity, tempered by a classical sense of proportion.
Poulenc was also fond of the witty approach of Satie, as well as the early neo-classical works of
Stravinsky. Poulenc was a successful composer for piano, voice, and choral music. His output included
the harpsichord concerto, known as Concert Champetre (1928); the Concerto for Two Pianos (1932),
which combined the classical touches of Mozart with a refreshing mixture of wit and exoticism in the
style of Ravel; and a Concerto for Solo Piano (1949) written for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Poulenc’s vocal output, meanwhile, revealed his strength as a lyrical melodist. His opera works included
Les Mamelles de Tiresias (1944), which revealed his light-hearted character; Dialogues des Carmelites
(1956), which highlighted his conservative writing style; La Voix Humane (1958), which reflected his own
turbulent emotional life.

Avant-Garde Music
Closely associated with electronic music, the avant garde movement dealt with the parameters or the
dimensions of sound in space. The avant garde style exhibited alosely associated with electronic music, the avant garde
movement dealt with the new attitude toward musical mobility, whereby the order of note groups could be varied so
that musical continuity could be altered. Improvisation was a necessity in this style, for the musical scores were not
necessarily followed as written. For example, one could expect a piece to be read by a performer from left to right or
vice versa. Or the performer might turn the score over, and go on dabbling indefinitely in whatever order before
returning to the starting point.
From the United States, there were avant garde composers:
George Gershwin was born in New York to Russian Jewish immigrants. His older brother Ira was
his artistic collaborator who wrote the lyrics of his songs. His first song was written in 1916 and his first
Broadway musical La La Lucille in 1919. He composed Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and American in Paris
(1928). His opera Porgy and Bess (1934) remains to this day the only American opera to be included in
the established repertory of this genre. In spite of his commercial success, Gershwin was more
fascinated with classical music. He was influenced by Ravel, Stravinsky, Berg, and Schoenberg, as well as
the group of contemporary French composers known as “Les Six” that would shape the character of his
major works— half jazz and half classical.
Considered the “Father of American Jazz,” his “mixture of the primitive and the sophisticated”
gave his music an appeal that has lasted long after his death. His musical compositions total around 369
which include orchestral music, chamber music, musical theatre, film musicals, operas, and songs. He
died in Hollywood, California, U.S.A. on July 11, 1937.
Leonard Bernstein with his famed stage musicals and his music lectures for young people. Born
in Massachusetts USA. He is a charismatic conductor, pianists, composer, and lecturer. His big break
come when he was asked to substitute for the ailing Bruno Walter in conducting the New York
Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert on November 14, 1943. The overnight success of this event started
 his reputation as a great interpreter of the classics as well as of the more complex works of Gustav
Mahler.

Philip Glass with his minimalist compositions, he explored the territories of ballet, opera, theater, film,
and even television jingles. His distinctive style involves cell-like phrases emanating from bright
electronic sounds from the keyboard that progressed very slowly from one pattern to the next in a very
repetitious fashion. Aided by soothing vocal effects and horn sounds, his music is often criticized as
uneventful and shallow, yet startlingly effective for its hypnotic charm. Born in New York, USA of Jewish
parentage, Glass became an accomplished violinist and flutist at the age of 15. In Paris, he became
inspired by the music of the renowned Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar. He assisted Shankar in the
soundtrack recording for Conrad Rooks’ film Chappaqua. He formed the Philip Glass Ensemble and
produced works such as Music in Similar Motion (1969) and Music in Changing Parts (1970), which
combined rocktype grooves with perpetual patterns played at extreme volumes.
Modern nationalism is a looser form of 20th century music development focused on nationalist composers and
musical innovators who sought to combine modern techniques with folk materials.
In Eastern Europe, prominent figures included the Hungarian Bela Bartok and the Russian Sergei
Prokofieff, who were neo-classicists to a certain extent. Bartok infused Classical techniques into his own
brand of cross rhythms and shifting meters to demonstrate many barbaric and primitive themes that
were Hungarian—particularly gypsy—in origin. Prokofieff used striking dissonances and Russian themes,
and his music was generally witty, bold, and at times colored with humor. Together with Bartok,
Prokofieff made extensive use of polytonality, a kind of atonality that uses two or more tonal centers
simultaneously. An example of this style is Prokofieff’s Visions Fugitive.

20TH CENTURY MUSICAL STYLES: ELECTRONIC and CHANCE MUSIC

The new musical styles created by 20th century classical composers were truly unique tempo, and timbre in
daring ways never attempted before. Some even made use of electronic devices such as synthesizers, tape recorders,
amplifiers, and the like to introduce and enhance sounds beyond those available with traditional instruments. Among
the resulting new styles were electronic music and chance music. These expanded the concept of music far beyond the
conventions of earlier periods, and challenged both the new composers and the listening public. As the 20th century
progressed, so did the innovations in musical styles as seen in the works of these composers.
From France, Edgard Varese’s use of new instruments and electronic resources led to his being
known as the “Father of Electronic Music” and a description of him as “The Stratospheric Colossus of
Sound.”
Edgard (also spelled Edgar) Varèse was born on December 22, 1883. He was considered an
“innovative French-born composer.” However, he spent the greater part of his life and career in the
United States, where he pioneered and created new sounds that bordered between music and noise.
The musical compositions of Varese are characterized by an emphasis on timbre and rhythm. He
invented the term “organized sound,” which means that certain timbres and rhythms can be grouped
together in order to capture a whole new definition of sound. Although his complete surviving works are
scarce, he has been recognized to have influenced several major composers of the late 20th century
From Germany, there was Karlheinz Stockhausen, who further experimented with electronic
music and musique concrete. Stockhausen’s electronic sounds revealed the rich musical potential of
modern technology.
Karlheinz Stockhausen is a central figure in the realm of electronic music. Born in Cologne,
Germany, he had the opportunity to meet Messiaen, Schoenberg, and Webern, the principal innovators
at the time. Together with Pierre Boulez, Stockhausen drew inspiration from these composers as he
developed his style of total serialism. Stockhausen’s music was initially met with resistance due to its
heavily atonal content with practically no clear melodic or rhythmic sense. Still, he continued to
experiment with musique concrete. Some of his works include Gruppen (1957), a piece for three
orchestras that moved music through time and space; Kontakte (1960), a work that pushed the tape
machine to its limits; and the epic Hymnen (1965), an ambitious two-hour work of 40 juxtaposed songs
and anthems from around the world.
From the United States, there was John Cage with his truly unconventional composition
techniques. Cage’s works feature the widest array of sounds from the most inventive sources.
John Cage was known as one of the 20th century composers with the widest array of sounds in
his works. He was born in Los Angeles, California, USA on September 5, 1912 and became one of the
most original composers in the history of western music. He challenged the very idea of music by
manipulating musical instruments in order to achieve new sounds. He experimented with what came to
be known as “chance music.” In one instance, Cage created a “prepared” piano, where screws and
pieces of wood or paper were inserted between the piano strings to produce different percussive
possibilities. The prepared piano style found its way into Cage’s Sonatas
and Interludes (1946–1948), a cycle of pieces containing a wide range of sounds, rhythmic themes, and a
hypnotic quality. His involvement with Zen Buddhism inspired him to compose Music of Changes (1951),
written for conventional piano, that employed chance compositional processes.