Post-1900's Era (1930-2000)

By gonzobear85

  • The LP

  • Jazz

    Jazz was starting to be used much more frequently. Although jazz has been used for far longer than it was in the United States. It started surging in the 20th century. The styles were very ragged and extremely different from what was considered normal now. There was also a type of singing called scatting where people tried to impersonate instruments and used nonsensical vowels to do so. Bernstein and Gershwin were one of the first people to start mixing jazz and classical music.

  • Music Theater was invented

    Musical theater emerged in the United Kingdom where it moved and also became mainstream in the United States.

  • Williams (b. 1932)

    American composer and conductor; considered one of the best film score composers in America

  • Penderecki (b. 1933)

    Polish composer; wrote textural music using sound blocks; his atonal music has public appeal; Poland’s greatest living composer

  • Tape Recorder

  • George Gershwin (1898-1937)

    Influential American composer, pianist, and conductor who worked in Hollywood; he successfully fused jazz and pop music

  • Two Channel Stereo

  • Rachmaninov (1873-1943)

    Not interested in nationalism; master of melody; virtuoso pianist; toured the USA

  • Bartok (1881-1945)

    Hungarian composer and pianist; important ethnomusicologist; known for his rhythmic music; he incorporated his own native folk music into his compositions

  • World War II (1939-1945)

  • Strauss (1864-1949)

    Composer of tone poems and some other of the first modern operas; accomplished conductor; works epitomize maximalism

  • Pfitzner (1869-1949)

    The leading conservative German composer; also a conductor

  • Invention of the computer for electronic music

  • Schoenberg (1874-1951)

    The father of 12-tone music; important as an innovator; teacher of Webern and Berg

  • Prokofiev (1891-1953)

    Russian composer and pianist; important as a Russian voice in Western culture. His music consisted of Neo-Classism, rhythmic drive, lyrical expression, and comedic elements.

  • Ives (1874-1954)

    American; probability the most innovative, original, and creative of all the 20th century composers; worked virtually in isolation; made a living in insurance. Ives would harmonize tunes in the wrong key and have to play stuff in 2 keys at once. His father was the person to shape his style. He used polytonality, polyrhythms, polymeters, and very limited atonality.

  • Transistor Radio

  • Sibelius (1865-1957)

    Sibelius was Finnish. His music was modern late in his life.

  • Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

    Became the leader in English music, collector and editor of folk songs and hymns, musical editor of the English Hymnal; teacher and conductor

  • Poulenc (1899-1963)

    French composer; delicate and sometimes irreverent style; harmonically charming

  • Hindemith (1895-1963)

    German conductor, teacher, author and composer; wrote music for the practicing musician

  • Cassette Tape

  • Invention of the synthesizer

  • Henry Cowell (1897-1965)

    American composer, teacher, and writer; innovator of indeterminacy (chance music); his experimental enthusiasm helped to create modern music

  • Kodaly (1882-1967)

    Hungarian; ethnomusicologist, music educator; created movable ‘do’ solfege system

  • Stravinsky (1882-1971)

    One of the most versatile and interesting composers of the 20th century; rhythmic style; harmonically interesting

  • Armstrong (1900-1971)

    African american jazz musician who revolutionized jazz; singer, band leader, and trumpeter

  • Malipiero (1882-1973)

    Italian composer and musicologist; original and inventive

  • Milhaud (1892-1974)

    Friends with Satie; used polytonality; one of the first to use jazz in concert music; came to the United States in 1940

  • Dallapiccola (1904-1975)

    Italian composer, pianist, and writer; the principal innovator in Italy in the 20th century

  • Shostakovich (1906-1975)

    Versatile; the most important Russian composer working in Russia in his day

  • Vietnam War (1955-1975)

  • Orff (1895-1982)

    German composer and educationist; indebted to folksong; wrote a collection of graded material for children for use in schools

  • Taillefaire (1892-1983)

    French composer; too modest; beautiful music

  • Auric (1899-1983)

    French composer; by age 15 he had written over 200 works; wrote for French film

  • Ira Gershwin (1896-1983)

    Brother of George; used the pen name Arthur Francis early in his career

  • Persichetti (1915-1987)

    American composer, pianist, and conductor

  • The fall of the Berlin wall

  • Copland (1900-1990)

    Most popular American composer of the 20th century; teacher, conductor, author; his music still has a special appeal to the american public

  • Bernstein (1918-1990)

    American conductor, composer, teacher, author, pianist; most influential American musician of the 20th century; brought classical music to the public via various media

  • Cold war (1947-1991)

  • Schumann (1910-1992)

    American composer and teacher; used borrowed subjects

  • Cage (1912-1992)

    American composer and philosopher; most innovative composer of the 20th century; changed the definition of music; used indeterminacy; he was the center of avant-garde music in the mid-20th century

  • Schaffer (1910-1995)

    French composer, theorist, writer, and teacher; the innovator of musique concrete