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A. Schonberg
Austrian composer, theorist, and painter. Known for his atonal music from 1907-1909. Created tone rows. -
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C. Ives
American composer who's works were not known until the 1950's. His third symphony won a Pulitzer Prize in 1947. -
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F. Price
Became the first black female composer to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra. Began composing around 1910. Later her career flourished in Chicago. -
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N. Boulanger
Taught nearly all 20th century composers. As a composer herself, she preferred to help other composers find their "voice." -
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L. Durey
Member of Les Six. Born in Paris. Popular for writing war music. -
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S. Prokofiev
Russian composer who composed orchestral pieces, piano works, and film music. Known for "Peter and the Wolf". -
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A. Honegger
Member of Les Six. Wrote compositions in many different musical outputs, often commissioned for pieces. -
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D. Milhaud
Member of Les Six. Studied Debussy and rejected Impressionism. American Jazz influenced some of his work. -
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G. Tailleferre
Only woman member of Les Six. Known not only for musical composition, but also social status and style. -
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W. G. Still
The first Black American composer to have a symphony and opera performed by a major ensemble (1931, 1949). Also the first Black American to conduct a major symphony orchestra (1936). -
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H. Cowell
American innovator drawn to non-Western music. Known as the teacher of John Cage. Coined the term "tone cluster." -
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George Gershwin
American composer who wrote classical, concert hall music infused with jazz and popular music. Gershwin also wrote for Broadway, film, and the concert hall. -
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G. Auric
Member of Les Six. Born in southern France, known for his film music. Studied composition with Satie's teachers. -
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F. Poulenc
Member of Les Six. Self-taught musician who later had musical tutors. -
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Duke Ellington
Major band leader in the swing era and the big band era. Composed hundreds if tunes, film scores, concertos, concert pieces, and theater works. The house bandleader at the Cotton Club in NYC. -
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A. Copland
Composer, critic, teacher, conductor, and sponsor of the arts. Composed in a variety of genres, but does not have a huge amount of works. -
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E. Carter
American composer who was influential as both a teacher and a composer. -
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O. Messiaen
Serialist French composer and teacher. Known for incorporating bird songs into his music. -
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John Cage
Innovated many modern compositional techniques. Helped change the definition of music. -
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Billie Holiday
One of the leading female jazz singers. Known for blues sings. Broke racial barriers by performing with white bands. -
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Billy Strayhorn
Composer of "A Train." Often collaborated with Duke Ellington. -
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M. Babbitt
American composer, music theorist, and teacher interested in computer music. -
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Leonard Bernstein
Known as a composer, conductor, teacher, pianist, lecturer, and TV personality. Popularly known for West Side Story. -
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G. Ligeti
Hungarian composer who was active in electronic music. Became well known when his music was played in "A Space Odyssey." -
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P. Boulez
The most important composer of the French avant-garde. -
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L. Berio
Leading modern Italian composer of the 20th century. Helped establish the electronic studio in Milan which became the center of avant-garde activity. -
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K. Stockhausen
German composer who made innovations in electronic music and all sorts of experimental music. -
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G. Crumb
American composer who is best known for his anti-War sentiments during the Vietnam War. He often made use of non-Western musical idioms, and he crested new spatial notations to accommodate his innovations. -
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H. Gorecki
Criticized by many composers. Used slow harmonic movement, neo-tonality, clusters, and emotional symbolism in his pieces. -
"Porgy and Bess"
Gershwin intended this to be an "American folk opera." Known as the first opera with an all black cast. -
"Peter and the Wolf"
Programmatic orchestral piece by S. Prokofiev, created to help cultivate musical taste in young children. -
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P. Glass
(b. 1937). One of the early pioneers of Minimalism. One of the most famous composers alive. -
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World War II
The second major world war. Shaped the world we know today, and had a significant impact on music. -
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P. Lansky
(b. 1944). American composer, theorist, professor, and critic. A major pioneer in digital sound synthesis. Embraced computer assisted composition. -
Bebop
New jazz style that developed in the late 1940's. Known for fast tempos and dissonant solos. -
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Musique Concrete
French concept and new musical style that relied on sounds made by a natural source that was then manipulated for various needs. -
Atomic Bomb Drop
On this date the first Atomic Bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. -
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J. Adams
(b. 1947). American composer who combined the elements of New Romanticism and Minimalism into a Post-Minimalist style. -
John Cage's "4'33""
John Cage's exploration of the role of silence. First performed by David Tudor. -
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T. Machover
(b. 1952). Known as one of the most creative minds in the world of music technology. Explores the interactions between performers and computers. -
Rock N Roll
New musical genre that evolved in the late 1950's. Many popular artists blended the musical styles of jump blues, and honky-tonk to create this genre. -
The RAC Synthesizer
One of the earliest forms of electronic music. New models were constantly being upgraded and sold throughout the the late 1900's. -
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Vietnam War
Brutal and controversial war lasting for nearly 20 years. -
"West Side Story"
Musical theater production with elements of Romeo and Juliet. Controversial for its representation of many different cultures. -
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Minimalism
Style of music based on repetitive melodic, rhythmic, or harmonic patterns with few or slowly changing variations. -
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Neo-tonality
Style of music that uses tonal centers, but loosely and without rules. -
Distribution of the Computer
Computers were now made and distributed so every person could own one. -
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Post-Minimalism
Continued style of music following minimalism. -
MIDI
Adopted and incorporated into all new synthesizers. Enabled computer interactions with synthesizers and sequences. -
Internet
Said to be the invention of the internet. This platform has involved and changed our world into what we now know it as. -
"Ragtime"
Broadway musical which took its musical style from the early 20th century American style. -
9/11
The date of the major terrorist attack on the United States. The falling of the Twin Towers.