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Henry Cowell
Known for being John Cage’s teacher. He was an American innovator who was drawn to non-Western music
A huge supporter of Charles Ives (very few understood him). He invented chance music not John Cage. He as well invented new techniques for playing the piano -
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George Gershwin
American composer: wrote classical, concert hall music infused with jazz and popular music
Wrote for Broadway, film, and the concert hall
Virtuoso pianist
His most famous works include:
An American in Paris
Rhapsody in Blue
Porgy and Bess (opera) -
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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
Composer, teacher, critic, conductor, and sponsor of concerts Taught at Harvard, gave lectures (TED-style talks) and conducted festivals in many American schools 2 operas, 6 ballets, 8 film scores, 25 piano works, 3 symphonies, concertos, overtures and fanfares, 12 choral works, and about 20 songs. -
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Elliott Carter
An American composer; influential as a teacher and as a composer for 50 years. -
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Olivier Messiaen
Serialist French composer and teacher
Known for incorporating bird songs into his music.
Many of his works focus on religious subjects, including aspects of non-Western cultures and religions: “Art is the ideal expression of religious faith.” -
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John Cage
Innovated many modern compositional techniques
Helped change the definition of music to “organized sound
Some elements are left up to chance in the performance
Cage defined it as: “the ability of a piece to be performed in substantially different ways.” -
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Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was one of the leading female jazz singers
She broke racial barriers by performing with white bands
Known for her renditions of blues songs -
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Leonard Bernstein
One of the most famous musical Conductors, Composers, Teachers, Pianists, Lecturers, TV personality of the 20th century -
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György Ligeti
Hungarian composer – settled in Germany
Active in electronic music and as a teacher
Interested in clusters of sounds, orchestrally and chorally
His choral music is especially complex and beautiful
Became well-known when his music was in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) -
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Pierre Boulez
The most important composer (and conductor) of the French avant-garde -
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Karlheinz Stockhausen
German composer who made innovations in electronic music and all sorts of other types of experimental music -
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WWII
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It 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. -
Paul Lasky
American composer, theorist, professor at Princeton, and critic
A pioneer in digital sound synthesis
Embraced computer assisted composition and even wrote a computer opera -
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 -
Early Computers
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Tape music
Tape music uses:
musique concrete elements
electronically produced sounds
Experiments began in 1951 at Columbia University
“Come Out” – Steve Reich -
4'33"
Cage explored the role of silence which led to his composition 4’33”
First performed by pianist David Tudor. He came out onstage, placed a score on the piano rack, sat quietly for the duration of the piece, then closed the piano lid and walked off the stage.
Cage’s detractors dismissed this work as a “gimmick,” not even acknowledging that it could be music. Some even called it a joke. But Cage was serious. -
West Side Story
A Romeo and Juliet saga. Bernstein’s music is complex and makes this musical special.