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Period: to
Impressionism (1820s-1920s)
Impressionism is a French style introduced by Claude Debussy (1862-1918) in the 1890s. Impressionism included musical elements, it abandoned traditional rules for each. Impressionism also focuses on being vague, meaning that phrases were rubato and meters and tempos changed. Melody was an important element of impressionism and such importance was not placed on rhythm. Harmonies were vague but tonal. Parallel chords were used for color, rather than progression. -
John Philip Sousa (1854-1932)
John Philip Sousa promoted the American wind-band tradition. He was known for marches and a failed opera composer. Sousa wrote 9 operettas, but they were not suitable for stage and rather became the themes for marches. -
Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909)
Spanish composer and pianist. Compositions include piano and dramatic works, orchestral works, and songs. -
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Gustav Mahler was an Austrian composer who made important expansions to symphonies and Lieder. He is classified as a maximalist because of the size of his performance groups, as well as the length of pieces. He was considered to be the heir to Mozart and Beethoven and embraced this to an extent. -
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Debussy was a French composer and pianist. Debussy composed piano works, chamber music, tone poems, stage works, and songs. Debussy initiated the style of musical impressionism in his work Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (1894). -
Frederick Delius (1862-1934)
An English composer of German descent. Delius used impressionism in their works. Works included orchestral, choral, and chamber music; as well as stage works and songs. -
Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945)
Italian composer and conductor. He became the official composer of the Fascist regime in the 1930s. -
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
A Finnish composer who wrote tone poems, 7 symphonies, concertos, and chamber music. His later music is more modern. -
Paul Dukas (1865-1935)
French composer, teacher, and critic who only allowed a few of his works to be published. He is mostly known for his orchestral work, L'Apprenti sorcier (1897). -
Erik Satie (1866-1925)
A composer who led in new French aesthetics. Satie's musical innovation was what impressionism was built upon. -
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867-1944)
An American composer and pianist, wrote scholarly articles, and very successful in Europe. She wrote an opera, vocal-orchestral works, chamber music, keyboard works, choral works, and 130 songs. -
Scott Joplin (1868-1917)
Scott Joplin is regarded as the "King of Ragtime," and was the first African-American composer to win international fame. -
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
An English teacher and conductor, and became the leader in English music. He collected and edited folksongs and hymns. He composed symphonies, choral music, chamber music, stage works, orchestral and band music, songs, carols, hymns, and writings. -
Aleksandr Skyrabin (1872-1915)
Composer, virtuoso pianist, influenced by chromaticism and impressionism, complex original harmonic language. -
Sergei Rachmaniov (1873-1943)
Rachmaniov was a virtuoso pianist who toured the USA. He also composed symphonies, piano concertos, symphonic poems, operas, choral music, piano works, and songs. He did not show interest in nationalism. -
Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
English, influenced by folksong and Hindu mysticism, original composer and important teacher. -
Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
Spanish composer, used popular Spanish music and folk music. Earned international fame. -
Béla Bartok (1881-1945)
Hungarian composer and pianist, important ethnomusicologist, known for his rhythmic music. Incorporated his own native folk music into his compositions. -
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
One of the most versatile and interesting composers of the 20th century, rhythmic style, harmonically interesting -
Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967)
Hungarian, ethnomusicologist, music educator, created moveable do solfege. -
Edgard Varèse (1883-1965)
Pioneer in electronic music, composed poeme electronique (1956-1958). -
Ma Rainey (1886- 1939)
American blues singer, regarded as "Mother of the Blues" -
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Brazilian composer and cellist -
Period: to
Maximalism (1890s-1914)
Maximalism is a relatively new term used to describe this style. It was initiated in Germany primarily by composers Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) and Richard Strauss (1864-1949). Musical elements in this style are pushed to the extreme. The music contained many themes and motives, thick textures, chromaticism, and large sizes of performers. -
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Russian composer and pianist, important as a Russian voice in Western culture. -
Bessie Smith (1894-1937)
American blues singer during the jazz age. -
Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)
German conductor, teacher, author, and composer; wrote music for the practicing musician, Gebrauchmusik. -
William Grant Still (1895-1978)
William Grant Still was the first African-American composer to have his symphony performed by a leading orchestra and to conduct a major symphony. He arranged music for jazz bands and dance orchestras in the 1920s. He quoted African American songs into traditional European genres. -
Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936)
Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. Staged anti-fascist plays and making anti-fascist comments. -
George Gershwin (1898-1937)
American composer who wrote for Broadway, film, and the concert hall. He was aware of expressionism, impressionism, but chose to incorporate jazz in his compositions. -
Duke Ellington (1899-1974)
Major band leader in the swing era (1930s) and in the big band era (1940s) -
Carlos Chávez (1899-1978)
Mexican composer, conductor, teacher, writer, government official. His works included stage works, symphonies, choral and vocal music, songs, instrumental works, and writings. -
Prevalence of Schools of Music (1900s)
Universities composers patrons, hired as theory and composition teachers. -
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Aaron Copland was an American composer, teacher, conductor, critic, and sponsor. He studied with Nadia Boulanger. He composed a variety of genres, but not many works. He wrote mostly tonal music, though some was atonal. He quoted his own music. -
Louis Armstrong (1900/01-1971)
African-American jazz musician who revolutionized jazz, singer, band-leader, and trumpeter. -
Period: to
Undisguised avant-garde (1900-1920s)
A style used by Satie and Fauré. This style opposed Wagnerian style and rejected romantic aestheticism. -
Langston Hughes (1902-1967)
An African American poet. Prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance. -
Ives- The Unanswered Question (1906)
Published in 1940. An orchestral work with no specific genre, a three part piece that contained symbolism. -
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906- 1975)
Versatile, the most important Russian composer working in Russia in his day. -
Oliver Messiaen (1908-1992)
Serialist French composer and teacher, known for incorporating bird songs into his music. Works focus on religious subjects, including aspects of non-Western cultures and religions. -
Elliot Carter (1908-2012)
American composer, teacher, innovative treatment of rhythm and form, contributed compositions into the 21st century. -
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Important American composer who kept romanticism alive during the 20th century. -
Period: to
Neo-Classicism (1910-1920s)
Neo-Classicism returned to ideas of the 18th century. The style used textures, topics, and form of the 18th century and combined them with modern harmony, tonality, and timbres. Neo-Classicism began with Bach;s music. For Aaron Copland, Neo-Classicism was embodied in Stravinsky's Octet for Winds. -
Period: to
Expressionism (1910s-1925)
Began as German style based out of Vienna. It focused on turning away from tonality. The 12-tone row was introduced in this stylistic period and each notes were treated equally. -
Period: to
Primitivism (1910-1920s)
A Western visual art movement that borrowed folk-like or native elements. Stravinsky's Rite of Spring used repetitive, driving ostinatos that demonstrate musical aspects of primitivism. -
Cowell- "The Tides of Manaunaun" (1912)
This piece contains tone clusters played on piano. -
Harmoniehre (Harmony Method)
Written by Schoenberg. It discussed the 12 tone method. -
Schoenberg- Pierrot Lunaire (1912)
Composed by Schoenberg. A song cycle based on 21 poems from the Belgian symbolist poet Albert Giraud's pierrot lunaire. -
John Cage (1912-1992)
Innovated many modern compositional techniques, helped change the definition of music to organized sound. -
Stravinsky- The Rite of Spring (1913)
Stravinsky composed this ballet at the age of 31. The music and the story were radical. The orchestra was very percussive, polyrhythmic, and music has irregular accents. Thirteen is a recurring number in this piece, as Stravinsky was obsessed with it. Upon it's premiere, people rioted. -
"The Art of Noises" (1913)
Created by Luigi Russolo. Wrote "The Art of Noises" and created experimental musical instruments. -
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
English composer, kept opera alive in English speaking countries -
Period: to
World War I
World War I was a global war that started in Europe. The Central Powers fought against the Allies. -
Billie Holiday (1915-1959)
Leading female Jazz singer, broke racial barriers by performing with white bands. -
Billy Strayhorn (1915-1967)
Composer of Take the 'A' Train. Collaborated with Ellington on songs for many years. -
Period: to
Dadaism (1915-1920)
Dadaism was a movement of anti-art thinking. Artists and poets reacted against war and the bourgeois in Europe. This opened the doors to modern thinking and questioned traditional artist expectations. -
Emergence of Jazz (1916- 1917)
Jazz arose out of many different styles. It evolved out of west African music, as well as popular and art music traditions of the West. -
Formation of Les Six
Les Six was a group of French composers who bonded together. -
Milton Babbit (1916-2011)
American composer, music theorist, and teacher interested in computer music. Wrote an article called "The Composer as Specialist," (1958) but later the article was published as "Who Cares if You Listen?" -
Lou Harrison (1917-2003)
American composer who worked with notated Javanese Gamelan music. -
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
A conductor, composer, teacher, pianist, and influence on many styles of music during the 20th century. He is famous for West Side Story (1957), which was very complex compared to other musicals. -
National Association of Negro Musicians Founded (1919)
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Les Six term is coined (1920)
Henri Collet coined the term Les Six in the French journal Commedia in 1920. -
L'Album des Six (1920)
This album was written by all six composers of Les Six. -
Emergence of Blues (1920s)
Musical genre derived from Black American performance traditions that used bent pitches. Recordings were made in 1920s, but the style reaches back to the 1890s. -
Period: to
Non-tonal Music (1920s-1940s)
A musical style that focused on musical elements other than pitch. This was developed later in the 20th century. -
12-tone technique (Serialism)
The 12-tone row was created by Schoenberg in 1921. In this method, all 12 notes are treated equally and a note may not be used again until the other 11 are. -
Les mariés de la tour Eiffel (1921)
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Stravinsky- Octet for Winds (1923)
Premiered at the Paris Opera House. In 1941, Aaron Copland commented that this piece served to influence other composers with a desire to reach back to 18th century objectivity. -
Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001)
aleatoric (chance) music. French composer of Greek parentage and Romanian birth, advocated for music based on mathematical calculations. -
György Ligeti (1923-2006)
Hungarian composer, active in electronic music and as a teacher. Interested in clusters of sounds, orchestrally and chorally. Music is featured in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) -
Ned Rorem (b.1923)
American composer, poet, and author. -
Period: to
The Harlem Renaissance (1923-1930s)
A cultural movement of African American arts (literature, painting, and music). William Grant Still and Langston Hughes were two dominant figures in the movement. -
Pierre Boulez (1925-2016)
Most important composer and conductor of the French avant-garde -
Luciano Berio (1925-2003)
Leading modern Italian composer, helped establish the electronic studio in Milan which became a center of avant-garde activity. -
George Gershwin: An American in Paris (1928)
Composed by George Gershwin. -
Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007)
German composer who made innovations in electronic music and other experimental music. -
Thea Musgrave (b. 1928)
Scottish-born composer, uses traditional genres in a modern context. -
George Crumb (b. 1929)
American composer, best known for anti-War sentiments during the Vietnam War (1955-1975) -
Period: to
The Swing Era (1930s-1940s)
Danceable style of jazz that featured large ensembles known as "big bands." Highly segregated bands in clubs. -
John Williams (b.1932)
Influenced by Wagner, film music that uses full orchestra. -
Henryk Górecki (1933-2010)
Composed dissonant and serial music. 1970s composed more consonant and simple music (minimalistic) -
Krzysztof Penderecki (b. 1933)
Polish composer, wrote textural music using sound blocks, atonal music with public appeal. -
George Gershwin: Porgy and Bess (1935)
Written by George Gershwin, who said he wrote it to be an American folk opera. First opera with an all black cast. Written during a time of segregation and did not have a main stage production until 1936. -
"Summertime" from Porgy and Bess (1935)
Aria from folk opera. -
Terry Riley (b. 1935)
American composer and performer, one of the founders of minimalism. Interested in electronic and tape music, influenced by Jazz and Indian music. -
Arvo Pärt (b. 1935)
Estonian composer, assimilares older styles with a newly created modern tonality. Created spiritual minimalism with his tintinnabuli technique. -
Billie Holiday: Billie's Blues (1936)
Blues song written by jazz artist Billie Holiday -
Benny Goodman: Sing, Sing, Sing (1936)
Composed by Benny Goodman. -
Steve Reich (b. 1936)
American composer and percussionist. Popular for electronic works and one of the pioneers in minimalism. -
Philip Glass (b. 1937)
American- Jewish composer and performer, innovator of minimalism. Influential 20th century composer. -
David Del Tredici (b. 1937)
American composer, known as the father of neo-romanticism. Influenced by literature, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1980. -
John Corigliano (b. 1938)
American composer, addresses important issues in his music. Famous with the American public after the film score The Red Violin (1997). -
Joan Tower (b. 1938)
American composer, pianist, and conductor. Influenced by Beethoven and Stravinsky. One of the most successful female composers. -
Duke Ellington: Take the 'A' Train (1939)
Popular song by the Ellington band. -
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (b. 1939)
American composer and violinist, noteworthy composer, first female composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. -
Period: to
World War II
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Emergence of Bebop (1940s-1950s)
Style characterized by fast tempos, dissonant solos -
Musique Concrete (1940s)
Used in the 1950s. Developed by Pierre Schaeffer using a tape recorder in the late 1940s. Used recorded natural sounds and manipulated the sound by splicing and mixing the sounds. -
Paul Lansky (b. 1944)
American composer, theorist, professor, and critic. Embraced computer assisted composition and wrote a computer opera. -
John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes (1946)
Works for prepared piano. 16 sonatas in the set, ordered in four groups of four sonatas. -
Barber- Medea (1946)
Ballet suite composed by Samuel Barber. -
John Adams (b. 1947)
American composer and conductor, expanded the new language of minimalism and neo-romanticism. Leading composer of post-minimalist music. -
Emergence of Rock 'N' Roll (1950s)
Genre from derived from jazz, blues, and country genres. -
Aleatoric music
Also referred to as chance music, where the composer left one or more musical elements up to chance. -
Indeterminate music (1950s)
Also based on elements of chance, replaces traditional musical notation with symbols or visual signs suggesting performance elements rather than notating them directly. -
Electronische Musik (1950s)
"Electronic music." Developed in Germany in the 1950s. Cologne became the leading city with its famous electronic music studio positions in the radio studio of NWDR. -
Textural music (1950s-1960s)
Functioned alongside non-tonal music with sound masses. -
Period: to
Maximized Expressionism (1950s- 1960s)
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John Cage: 4'33" (1952)
Introduced the idea of silence as music. First performed by David Tudor. -
Tod Machover (b. 1952)
Work integrates electronics into music. Explores interactions between performers and computers and admired the work of John Cage and Charles Ives. -
RCA Mark II synthesizer (1955)
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Period: to
Vietnam War (1955-1975)
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"Make Our Garden Grow" from Candide (1956/1989)
Operetta composed in 1956, revised in 1989. Based on Voltaire's book. -
West Side Story (1957)
Composed by Leonard Bernstein. Uses complex music, which was not common in musicals. -
Tan Dun (b. 1957)
Chinese composer and conductor. Strives to create multicultural, multimedia programs. -
Period: to
Minimalism
Style of repetitive music based on the notion that small units of music could be repeated with only slight variation over long periods of time. Slow harmonic movement, slight change in harmony becomes a major event. Simple harmony (I, IV, V). -
Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962)
American composer and teacher. Won the Pulitzer prize in 2010 for her Violin Concerto. -
Technology of the "Future" (1967)
Walter Cronkite made reports on technology post-2000. -
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Features music of Ligeti. -
Philip Glass Ensemble established (1968)
Founded by Philip Glass, and continues to work together to present day. -
George Crumb: Ancient Voices of Children (1970)
Based on poems by Federico Garcia Lorca. A song cycle of 5 songs and 2 interludes. -
Modular synthesizer (1970)
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Eric Whitacre (b. 1970)
American composer, conductor, and lecturer; specially known for his Virtual Choir project and large online musical performances; written in neo-tonal style -
Period: to
Neo-Romanticism (1970s-Present)
Characterized by music that appeals to audiences hoping for music they can understand and embrace. -
Period: to
Neo-tonality (1970s-Present)
Rooted in the idea that the use of chromaticism, one can aurally perceive more complex chords and progressions and dissonance is no longer perceived as so. Consonance and disonance are no longer distinct. -
Period: to
Postmodernism (1970s- Present)
Aesthetic attitude developed in late 1970s focused on uniting many past elements of music into a new eclectic style. -
The Sting (1973)
1973 film featuring Scott Joplin's music -
Glass- Einstein on the Beach (1976)
Modern opera that uses minimalism, among other things. Very little singing, absent plot. Most of the test is recited. -
Pärt: Cantate Domino canticum novum (1977, 1996)
One of Pärt's first works in the style of tintinnabuli, based on Psalm 95/6. -
Period: to
Totalism (1980s- Present)
Term used to describe music that developed among composers in New York City as a response to Minimalism. -
Period: to
New Complexity (1980s- Present)
Closely tied to Totalism. Characterized by abstract, dissonant, microtonal, and extreme contrast in its music. Reaction against minimalism. -
MIDI (1983)
Musical Instrument Digital Interface. Incorporated into synthesizers in 1983 for computer interactions with synthesizers and sequences. -
Machover- VALIS (1986)
An opera by Tod Machover based on a science fiction novel by Philip Dick. -
Adams- Short Tide in a Fast Machine (1986)
An orchestral work by John Adams, transcribed for band. -
Adams- Nixon in China (1987)
Premiered in Houston, Houston Grand Opera commissioned this piece. -
Synthesizer (1990)
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Period: to
Globalism (1990s- Present)
Direct result of technologies, which allowed for the exchange of ideas and for access to music and cultural practices from almost anywhere. -
Paul Lansky: “notjustmoreidlechatter” (1992)
For a woman's voice, electronic voices, and computer generated music. There is no score. -
Internet made available to the public (1993)
The World Wide Web was made available to the public, which made it easier to access recordings, interviews, and music. -
Machover- "Brain Opera" (1996)
An opera project composed by Tod Machover, which was interactive with the audience. -
Corigliano- The Red Violin (1997)
Film score famous with the American public composed by John Corigliano. -
Ragtime (1998)
Broadway musical using style from early 20th century ragtime -
Higdon- Blue Cathedral (2000)
Orchestral tone oem written to commemorate the anniversary of the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. -
YouTube made available to public
YouTube, a popular video sharing platform was made available to the public, making it easier for internet users to view and listen to musicians, as well as musicians and composer to upload their performances/ compositions. -
Adams- Doctor Atomic (2005)
