1900-1945
 Two world wars!
 Civil rights
 New technologies:
 sound recordings, movies, radios,
telephones, satellites, and computers
created a revolution in communication.
 Shock was the goal of
art in the time.
 Modern dance clashed
with classical ballet
 Artist like Picasso
distorted figures in
paintings
 Art=mood or emotion,
NOT literal things
 Technology inspired all forms of art
 Plastic, fluorescent lights and TV monitors in visual arts
 Audiotapes, synthesizers, and computers for musicians
 Concerns of minorities and woman show up in all arts
 All art forms are impacted by the tragedy of world
wars and destructions
 Sigmund Freud, Interpretation of Dreams (1900)
 Albert Einstein, special theory of relativity (1905)
 First World War (1914-1918)
 Russian Revolution (1917)
 Great Depression (1929)
 Hitler appointed chancellor of Germany (1933)
 Second World War (1939-1945)
 Atomic Bomb destroys Hiroshima (1945)
 The twentieth century was a time of
revolt.
 Composers question what can be considered
music
 The answer= ANYTHING!
Musical Styles: 1900-1945
 Folk songs!
 New recording technology= composers record peasant
music for their compositions
 Bela Bartok and Igor Stravinsky- researched folk songs
 Charles Ives- church music
Musical Styles: 1900-1945
 Non-Western music had a big impact on composers of
this time
 Non-Western refers to music that did not develop in
Europe, USA or surrounding countries
 Interested in Asian, African, Latin and Indian music
 Jazz Music- big inspiration for all composers
Music Styles: 1900-1945
 Scholars and historians discover old
composer’s music.
 This enables new composers to study it
 Remember, Antonio Vivaldi (who wrote
The Four Seasons) was not even
discovered until the 1900’s.
Characteristics of 20th Century Music
 Tone color became very important!
 Instruments picked for their individual sound
 Percussion instruments became very important!
 Anything is now a percussion instrument (typewriters,
car horns, canons.)
 Composers write music just for a percussion ensemble.
 There are no longer rules to who plays in an orchestra
Characteristics of 20th Century Music
 Most music in the 20th century is atonal
 Atonal music is music that does not have
a set key that it is in. This ends up making
the music sound bizarre and “off key.”
Musical Styles: 1900-1945
 Characteristics of all 20th Century music
1.
Push the boundaries of what music should
sound like.
2.
Use folk songs
3.
Use non-Western music
4.
Are able to study music from long ago
because of new technology.
 The living room is now the “new concert hall.”
 Radio networks formed orchestras
 Anything from Medieval music all the way up to Jazz.
 Television- SEE the music as well as hear it.
Impressionism
 Impressionism: a French style of art and music that
gave impression of something through sound
 Impressionism came first in paintings- specifically by
Claude Monet.
 Painters wanted to depict the effects of light and color
on objects.
 Painters obsessed with water!
 French impressionist composer (most important one)
 Studied piano at the Paris Conservatory
 His music really gives the feeling of what he is
composing about!
 Ex: Nuages (Clouds), La cathedrale engloutie (The
Sunken Cathedral), Clair de lune (Moonlight) and
Golliwog’s Cakewalk.
 Neclassicism: A style that uses old classical forms of
music with 20th century harmonies (atonal).
 “Back to Bach” was the slogan of this style.
 Neoclassic composers rejected dramatic romantic
music
 Wanted to get back to the absolute music of the Baroque
and Classical eras.
 Russian Neoclassical Composer, worked with the
director of the Russian Ballet, Diaghilev
 Diaghilev commissioned three ballets from Stravinsky-
Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring
 He continued to tour and conduct his works into his
80s.
 Expressionism: German and Austrian style of music,
artwork, and writing that stressed intense emotion.
 German reaction to “pretty impressionism”
 Art: harsh, bright colors and unpleasant subjects.
 Music: very atonal.
 Desired effect to was to shock!
 Expressionist composer
 Born in Vienna, Austria, moved to America because he
was Jewish
 Self-taught, studied old music scores.
 Developed a type of composing called the Twelve
Tone System.
 With the twelve tone system, you pick twelve different
notes and use only those notes in your music, repeating
them in different rhythms.
 Most important work is his cantata Pierrot Lunaire,
using the 12 tone system.
Charles Ives
 American composer.
 Studied composition at Yale University, but eventually
opened an insurance agency and became very wealthy
 Loved church hymns and American folk songs
 Put his childhood memories into his music
 Village fiddler playing out of tune
 Church organist playing faster than the congregation
 Two marching bands playing different music passing
each other at a parade.
 American Composer, grew up in New York city
 Famous for traditional and popular music
 Jazz
 His first successful composition: Rhapsody in Blue.
 For solo piano and orchestra.
 Other successful works: An American in Paris
(orchestra) and Porgy and Bess (opera).
 Jewish American composer, writer, and university
professor
 never had any formal training.
 His music went through phases:
 1920 were for Jazz flavored music
 Late 20s/early 30s were for atonal music
 Late 30s onward, he became obsessed with American
folklore and folk tunes.
 Most famous pieces are Billy the Kid, Rodeo, and
Appalachian Spring.