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Charles Ives
One of the great American composers of the first half of the 20th century -
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R. (Robert) Nathaniel Dett
Born in Canada, helped found the National Association of Negro Musicians (1919). -
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Florence Price
The first black female composer to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra: Symphony No. 1 in E minor -
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Nadia Boulanger
Taught practically all 20th Century American composers except George Gershwin, whom she refused to let in her class. -
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Sergei Prokofiev
Russian composer: orchestral pieces, piano works and film music -
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William Grant Still
First Black American composer to have a symphony and opera performed by a major ensemble (1931, 1949) -
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Henry Cowell
John Cage’s teacher, he was an American innovator who was drawn to non-Western music. He invented Chance music as well as new techniques for playing the piano. -
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George Gershwin
American composer that wrote classical, concert hall music infused with jazz and popular music. Wrote for Broadway, film, and the concert hall. -
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Duke Ellington
Major band leader in the swing era (1930s) and then in the big band era (1940s). Composed hundreds of tunes, film scores, concertos, concert pieces, and works for the theater. -
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Aaron Copland
An American composer, teacher, critic, conductor, and sponsor of concerts. -
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Langston Hughes
An American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. Best known for being one of the leaders of the Harlem Renaissance. -
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Elliott Carter
An American composer; influential as a teacher and as a composer for 50 years. -
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Billie Holiday
One of the leading female jazz singers, she broke racial barriers by performing with white bands -
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Billy Strayhorn
Composed A Train, collaborated with Ellington on songs for many years -
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Leonard Bernstein
His experience as a conductor of classical music, as a performer of classical music and jazz, and as a teacher all lead to a special kind of theatrical work. -
Harlem Renaissance
An intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. Began approximately 1923. -
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The Great Depression
A severe economic depression that took place mostly during the 1930s. -
The Swing Era
The highly improvisational style of New Orleans jazz led, in the 1930s, to the swing or big band era. -
Symphony No. 1 in E Major performed for the first time
The first symphony composed by a black female composer to be performed. Performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Frederick Stock. -
Porgy and Bess
Gershwin said he wrote it to be an American folk opera. First opera with an all Black cast. -
Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67
Composed by Sergei Prokofiev. A commission to create music that would help cultivate musical taste in young children. -
Billie's Blues
A blues song written by jazz singer Billie Holiday, composing it just before being recorded in a session in 1936. -
Take the "A" Train
A song composed by Ellington, though it was really composed by Billy Strayhorn. -
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World War II
A global war that involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. -
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The Holocaust
also known as the Shoah, the genocide of European Jews during World War II. -
Bebop
The new “cool” jazz (late 1940s) Consisted of fast tempos, dissonant solos. -
Appalachian Spring
Ballet composed by Copland for Martha Graham who also danced the lead. -
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Cold War
A period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union which began following World War II. -
“A Black Pierrot” from Songs of Separation
Art song from a song cycle composed by William Grant Still. Text by Langston Hughes. -
Rock 'n' Roll
During the mid 1950s, Chuck Berry, along with Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino, and Jerry Lee Lewis, blended the musical styles of jump blues and honky-tonk with an edgy attitude to create a new genre known as rock ‘n’ roll. -
Adoration
Composed by Florence Price -
A Streetcar Named Desire
Jazz score composed Alex North. -
Video Tape Recorder
a helical scan recorder, is invented by Norikazu Sawazaki. -
On the Waterfront
Score composed by Leonard Bernstein -
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The Space Race
a 20th-century competition between two Cold War adversaries, the Soviet Union and the United States, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. -
Hard Disk Drive
Invented by IBM. -
Compact disc (CD)
co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings.