1. 20th Century

2. HISTORICAL THEMES Phenomenal changes in technology The advent of instantaneous global communication The growth and eventual decline of totalitarian cultures

3. Phenomenal changes in technology We live in a century that has moved from the earliest automobiles to supersonic jets and space travel. Science has progressed at a rate unthinkable to earlier generations. We have learned how to eradicate some of the most dangerous of diseases, and to predict and control the forces of nature. We possess the technological ability to control nearly every aspect of our lives. And we also have developed the tools to end all life in an instant.

4. The advent of instantaneous global communication We take for granted the fact that we can send and receive messages instantly, at the click of a button. All aspects of communication, entertainment and learning have been fundamentally reshaped by these advances. In fact, what you are doing at this very minute would have been unthinkable a generation ago.

5. The growth and eventual decline of totalitarian cultures The Russian and Chinese revolutions and the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany ushered in governments the likes of which had never been seen. The totality of their control and their ability to crush not only human life but also the human spirit is one of the most troubling legacies of our day. At the same time, their decline, along with movements for freedom and democracy in places as different as Poland and South Africa, is a testament to the ultimate strength of the human spirit.

6. Ambivalent Attitudes toward the Musical Past * Some composers have made the conscious decision to distance themselves from the styles and values of the past. * Claude Debussy said: "The century of the airplane ought to have its own music." * Other composers have just as consciously tried to return to some aspects of the past, especially the elements of the Classical style.

7. A Widening Gap between "Art" and "Popular" Music * Popular music, especially jazz, country and rock, became the central musical focus of the majority of people in the Western world, and its reach covers the globe. * Composers in the "art" traditions have come to be seen as less relevant in day-to- day life. * Composers whose music has become more and more complex have widened the gap between art and popular music.

8. The Advent of Sound Recording * The distribution of music made possible by recording was instrumental in the growth of popular styles. * Recordings have changed the way we listen to music. Works from all musical periods are available at any time. * The techniques of recording and audio production have become important musical elements in their own right.

9. The Birth of a World Music Culture * Western music, popular as well as art traditions, has become a world language. * At the same time, Western musicians have become more and more interested in the music of other cultures. Western composers with non- Western ancestry have likewise sought out the music of their heritage. * Non-Western ideas have enriched Western styles and have been accepted enthusiastically. * In the age of global communication, a new "world music" style is starting to emerge. This style freely mixes elements from multiple cultures and is not dependent on the heritage of its creator.

10. MUSICAL STYLE All sounds are possible (even no sounds). New instruments and the sounds of popular music have changed the soundscape of the twentieth century. Contrapuntal textures prevail in art traditions. Popular traditions are centered on homophonic textures. Rhythmic language can be enormously complex. Melodies can be long and abstract or reduced to small gestures. Any harmonic combination is possible. Composers have made use of extreme dissonance as well as microtonal intervals. Form can be controlled to an almost infinite degree, or it may be the result of improvisation and chance.

11. Composers Scott Joplin (1868-1917)* Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) Charles Ives (1874-1954) Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) Béla Bartók (1881-1945) Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) (became US citizen) Anton Webern (1883-1945) Alban Berg (1885-1935) Serge Prokofiev (1891-1953) Lillian Hardin (1898-1971)* Duke Ellington (1899-1974)* Bold: American Composers Star:African-American Composers

12. Composers Aaron Copland (1900-1990) Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994) Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) György Ligeti (1923- ) Pierre Boulez (1925- ) George Crumb (1929- ) Steve Reich (1936- ) Chinary Ung (1942- ) Paul Lansky (1944- ) Libby Larsen (1950- ) Bold: American Composers

13. Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Igor Stravinsky is often considered something of a revolutionary, in part based on the riotous reception of his ballet The Rite of Spring. Stravinsky's career, however, suggests more evolution than revolution. Perhaps no other composer in this century -- or any -- has written in such a variety of styles. And it is the unique genius of Stravinsky that his musical personality is detectable in each of these styles.

14. Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Stravinsky came from a musical family, although his training was limited, reflecting his family's desire that he pursue studies in law. As a student at the university in St. Petersburg, he made the acquaintance of Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and studied with the older composer. His music quickly caught the attention of Serge Diaghilev, the director of the Ballets Russes in Paris. Stravinsky was commissioned to write a ballet for the theater, his Firebird. This was quickly followed by Petrushka and The Rite of Spring.

15. Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Stravinsky continued his association with Paris, but with the advent of World War I and the turmoil in Russia that would lead to the October Revolution, Stravinsky took refuge in Switzerland. After the war he returned to Paris, writing more ballets for Diaghilev, as well as a wide variety of other works, many (such as his Piano Concerto) serving as performance vehicles for the composer. In 1939, he emigrated to the United States, where he attempted unsuccessfully to write music for films. He continued composing late into his life, and when he was well into his eighties he embarked on a full schedule of performances as conductor, both in concert and on record. These recordings serve as valuable documentation of Stravinsky's ideas concerning his own music.

16. Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Along with his changing nationalities, Stravinsky's music underwent remarkable change over the course of his life. His early music (for example, the Symphony in E flat) show the influences of his Russian models. His ballets show a wider range of influences, including that of Claude Debussy. By The Rite of Spring, Stravinsky had broken new ground entirely, writing in a complex rhythmic style and a harmonic style that included the use of polytonality. This increasing complexity came to an abrupt end with his move to Switzerland, and he produced a seminal group of pieces in a pared- down instrumental style (often without strings), the most notable being the small dramatic work, Histoire du soldat for four speakers and a small instrumental ensemble.

17. Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) When he returned to Paris, he continued this more austere style, and added to it an interest in older forms and methods, beginning his well-known neoclassical period. The culmination of this can be seen in his opera The Rake's Progress, a modern adaptation of the classical style of Mozart's late comedies. Late in his life, Stravinsky once more changed styles, embracing the methods of twelve-tone and serial composition. What resulted is a remarkable series of works including his ballet Agon and a great deal of religious music.

18. Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) In all these works, certain qualities remain constant. First and foremost is a clarity of sound, an almost transparent texture heightened by his masterful use of orchestration. Along with this is an approach to rhythm that articulates his melodies with a certain dryness, adding to the clarity of sound. Finally, there is a concise and economical approach to form. This has its roots in the simplified style of his music from the 1920s, but was a hallmark of his style throughout his career.

19. Aaron Copland (1900-1990) Aaron Copland seems at first to be an odd person to create a musical style that combined the myths of the American West and the styles of Latin American music into a populist music that spoke to a large segment of American society. Copland was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, grew up in New York, and found his musical voice in the international, avant-garde atmosphere of Paris in the 1920s. In New York he was part of a musical elite, championing the cause of modern music. At the same time, he had ties to the political and social left with its reformist agenda. Yet it could be argued that all of these elements were important ingredients, not just in the fabric of America in the 20s and 30s, but in the creation of a distinctly American aesthetic.

20. Aaron Copland (1900-1990) But at age twenty, Copland left New York to study in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, who was to serve as a teacher and mentor to many of the leading composers of the century. In Paris, and in his travels through Europe, he was exposed to a wide variety of new styles. He returned to a New York that was in the midst of an artistic and social revival, and he immediately became a part of that renewal. From 1928 to 1931 he coordinated a series of concerts with the composer Roger Sessions that presented important new works to the American public. He lectured at the New School for Social Research (from which his book What to Listen for in Music took shape), and built his reputation as a composer.

21. Aaron Copland (1900-1990) His early music mixes very modern musical ideas with hints of jazz influence. Pieces such as his Piano Variations stand out for their harmonic and rhythmic experimentation, and jazz rhythms are an important part of his Music for the Theater. Copland's concern with modern techniques lessened during the Great Depression. Reacting to a changing social consciousness, he (along with a number of other composers) began to shape his style to speak to a larger segment of the population. This comes through most clearly in ballets such as Billy the Kid and Appalachian Spring and in his music for films. In these works, simpler (but no less sophisticated) harmonies, broad melodies, and hints of folk melodies created a sound that came to be associated with our pictures of the mythic American West.

22. Aaron Copland (1900-1990) And works such as Fanfare for the Common Man and A Lincoln Portrait (in which the narrator recites various writings of Lincoln) added a populist and patriotic element. While Copland never abandoned the more adventurous style (including, later in his life, twelve-tone composition), he is best remembered, and justly so, for creating a truly American symphonic style. Over the course of his life he not only served as a trendsetter, but also played an important role in the development of younger composers at places such as the Berkshire Music Center. He was, in fact, the musical father to more than one generation of young composers.