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Jazz
Jazz is a kind of music in which improvisation is typically an important part. In most jazz performances players play solos which they make up on the spot. Jazz can express many different emotions, from pain to sheer joy. In jazz, you may hear the sounds of freedom because the music has been a powerful voice for people suffering unfair treatment because of the color of the skin, or because they lived in a country run by a cruel dictator. -
Ragtime
Ragtime reached its peak popularity from 1895-1919. This was genre of musical composition for the piano, generally in duple meter and containing a highly syncopated treble lead over a rhythmically steady bass. A ragtime composition is usually composed three or four contrasting sections or strains, each one being 16 or 32 measures in length. -
Pop
Pop is commercially oriented music principally intended to be received and appreciated by a wide audience, generally in literate, technologically advanced societies dominated by urban culture. Unlike traditional folk music, popular music is written by known individuals, usually professionals. -
Rhythm and Blues
R&B MUSIC tells a complex of many experiences. A distinctly African American music drawing from the deep tributaries of African American expressive culture, it is an blend of jump blues, big band swing, gospel, boogie, and blues that was developed during a thirty-year period that bridges the era of legally sanctioned racial segregation, international conflicts, and the struggle for civil rights. -
Post 1900s Form
When it came to form in the 20th Century, new rhythms and mixed meter was frequently found in music. New notations were made to write down some of the crazy rhythms created by various writers. -
Tonality in the Post 1900S
20th century music got ride of tonality completely and completely changed it to neo-tonality in the 1970's. -
Treatment of Melody in Post 1900s Music
The concept of melody has exploded. A melody may be a single note or a handful of notes instead of the traditional soaring arc. There may also be no melody at all. -
Harmony in Post 1900s
When I think about harmonies in formal pieces in the 20th century, I think about the complex chromaticisms found. -
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Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen wrote music that explored new ground while maintaining a direct connection to the romantic tradition. -
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Billy Strayhorn
Strayhorn famously penned the aching and harmonically sophisticated ballad “Lush Life”. During the very same period, there was this little gem, a melancholy ode to Chopin entitled “Valse”. He was often in competition with Duke Ellington when it came to composing Jazz. -
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Ástor Piazzolla
Ástor Piazzolla innovated the Argentine Tango as most of his pieces were written for dance. Piazzolla’s music is infused with the language of Bach and the early 20th century European modernists. -
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György Ligeti
Ligeti was a very bold experimenter and diligent musician. He caused a strong difficulty when it came to understanding his music. -
Swing
Swing music has a compelling momentum that results from musicians’ attacks and accenting in relation to fixed beats. Swing rhythms defy any narrower definition, and the music has never been notated exactly. -
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Alfred Schnittke
Alfred Schnittke's music always had tremendous meaning behind it! Schnittke was the first composer to make full use of historical styles as a means of musical story-telling. -
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Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt was an Estonian composer and considered a great figure when it came to contemporary works. Pärt famously invented a system of writing counterpoint called tintinnabulation which mimics the ringing of bells. -
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Steve Reich
Steve Reich's early pieces were tremendously innovative and they gave life to a whole new musical world. -
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Thomas Adès
Thomas Adèswho writes music that is both interesting and emotional. The piano in his pieces back up his incredibly demanding instrumental ideas.