20th century classical music
20th century classical music was extremely diverse, ranging from the late Romantic style of Sergei Rachmaninov to the complete serialism of Pierre Boulez, and from the simple triadic harmonies of minimalist composers such as Philip Glass to the musique concrète pioneered by Pierre Schaeffer.
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2 The Schoenberg "Trinity", atonality and serialism 3 Cage and music in the everyday 4 Minimalistic ideals 5 Electronic music 6 See also 7 External links |
Romantic style
Particularly in the early part of the century, many composers wrote music which was an extension of 19th century Romantic music. Harmony, though sometimes complex, was tonal, and traditional instrumental groupings such as the orchestra and string quartet remained the most usual. Traditional forms such as the symphony and concerto remained in use.
Many prominent composers — among them Béla Bartók, Dmitri Shostakovich and Benjamin Britten — made significant advances in style and technique while still employing a melodic, harmonic, structural and textural language which was related to that of the 19th century and quite accessible to the average listener. Music along these lines was written throughout the 20th century, and continues to be written today, but many other 20th century composers took more experimental routes.
The Schoenberg "Trinity", atonality and serialism
Arnold Schoenberg is one of the most significant figures in 20th century music. His early works are in a late Romantic style, influenced by Richard Wagner and Gustav Mahler, but he later abandoned a tonal framework altogether, instead writing freely atonal music (he is often reckoned to have been the first composer to have done so). In time, he developed the twelve-tone technique of composition, intended to be a replacement for traditional tonal pitch organisation. His pupils Anton Webern and Alban Berg also developed and furthered the use of the twelve-tone system and were notable for their use of the technique in their own right. They together are known, colloquially, as the Schoenberg "trinity" or the Second Viennese School.
Schoenberg's music and that of his followers was very controversial in its day, and remains so to some degree now. Many listeners found (and still find) his music hard to follow, lacking a sense of definite melody. Nontheless, works such as ''Pierrot Lunaire'\' are regarded as classics of the 20th century, and the style he pioneered was very influential. Many composers have since written music which does not rely on traditional tonality.
The twelve-tone technique itself was later adapted by other composers to control aspects of music other than the pitch of the notes (such as dynamics and methods of attack), creating completely serialised music. The "pointillistic" style of Webern — in which individual sounds are carefully placed within the piece such that each has importance — was very influential in the years following World War II among composers such as Pierre Boulez.
Cage and music in the everyday
John Cage is another prominent figure in 20th century music. Cage questioned the very definition of music in his pieces, and stressed that all sounds are essentially music. Cage in the "silent" 4'33" presents us with the idea that the unintentional sounds are just as musically valid as the sounds originating from an instrument. Cage also notably used aleatoric music, and found sounds in order to create an interesting and different type of music.
Cage, though, has been seen by some to be too avant-garde in his approach; for this reason, many find his music unappealing. See also experimental music
Minimalistic ideals
Many composers in the later 20th century began to explore what is now called minimalism. Minimalism in music may be summarized as music created from small melodic, harmonic or rhythmic ideas and using small or gradual variations to add interest to the music. Notable composers who used these minimalistic ideas were Terry Riley, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and La Monte Young. Riley is seen by some as the "father" of minimalistic music with In C, a work comprised of melodic cells that each pefromer in an ensemble plays through at their own rate. Steve Reich in his early works wrote in a minimalistic fashion, but began to depart from strict minimalism and explored many other contemporary musical ideas.
Minimalistic music is often contentious amongst traditional listeners. Critics find minimalistic music to be overly repetitive and empty while proponents argue that the static elements that are often prevelant draw more interest to small changes.
Electronic music
Main article: Electronic art music
Technological advances in the 20th century enabled composers to use electronic means of producing sound. This took several forms: some composers simply incorporated electronic instruments into relatively conventional pieces. Olivier Messiaen, for example, used the ondes martenot in a number of works.
Other composers abandoned conventional instruments and used magnetic tape to create music, recording sounds and then manipulating them in some way. Pierre Schaeffer was the pioneer of such music, termed musique concrete. Some figures, such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, used purely electronic means to create their work. In the United States of America, Milton Babbitt used the RCA Mark II Synthesizer to create music. Sometimes such electronic music was combined with more conventional instruments, Stockhausen's Hymnen and Edgar Varèse's Déserts offering two examples (although Déserts is sometimes performed today without the tape part).
A number of institutions sprung up in the 20th century specialising in electronic music, with IRCAM in Paris perhaps the best known.
See also