Avant-garde
Very current, modern, and experimental.
Impressionism
A late nineteenth-century artistic movement that sought to capture the visual impression rather than the literal reality of a subject.
Expressionism
An artistic school of the early twentieth century that attempted to represent the psychological and emotional experience of modern humanity.
Neoclassicism
In music of the early twentieth century, the philosophy that musical composition should be approached with objectivity and restraint.
Ethnomusicologist
The scientific study of music, especially traditional or non-Western music, as an aspect of culture.
Atonality
Lacking a recognizable tonal center or tonic.
Serialism
12 tone
12-tone row
A system of composition developed by Schoenberg that consists of arranging the twelve pitches of the chromatic scale in a particular order
Sprechstimme
Literally, “speech voice.” A vocal technique in which a pitch is half sung, half spoken. Developed by Schoenberg.
Ragtime
A composed music of the 1890s, usually for piano.
Blues
A lamenting, melancholy song characterized by a three-line lyrical pattern in AAB form, a twelve-bar harmonic progression.
Dixieland
A jazz style based on the original hot jazz from New Orleans.
Big Band Swing
Innovated by Duke Ellington.
Bebop
A jazz style that emphasizes small ensembles playing very active and complex music.
Impovisation
The practice of making up music and performing it on the spot without first having written it down.
Fusion
A style of jazz developed in the late 1960s that has been influenced by rock music through the inclusion of amplified instruments, short riffs and even beat subdivisions.
Musical Theatre
A form of theatre that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance.
Musique concrete
A musical style originating in France about 1948; its technique consists of recording natural or “concrete” sounds, altering the sounds by various electronic means, and then combining them into organized pieces.
Aleatoric music
Music in which some aspect is decided by performers or someone else other than the composer, guaranteeing that every performance of the work will be different from any other performance.
Minimalism
A late-twentieth-century movement that seeks to return music to its simplest, most basic elements. It is characterized by a very steady beat and gradually changing repeating figures.
Characteristics of 20th Century Music
Melody was more angular and disjunctive. Rhythm became more complex and dominant (changing meter, complex time signatures).
Characteristics of 20th Century Music
Harmony was more dissonant. Dissonance did not have to resolve to consonance.
Characteristics of 20th Century Music
Form was free or loosely defined. Art music (“classical music”) and popular music diverged widely.
Characteristics of 20th Century Music
Electronics changed the sound of music (electric bass, guitar, organ, and keyboard).
Characteristics of 20th Century Music
Recorded music became easily available (records, cassettes, CD’s).
Characteristics of 20th Century Music
Computer technology made music available in toys, games, keyboards, etc. American popular music became dominant throughout the world (jazz, rock, R, rap, musical theatre).
Claude Debussy
Name the composer of this piece:
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (Prelude a L’apres-midi d’un faune).
Igor Stravinsky
Name the composer of this piece:
The Rite of Spring (Le sacre du printemps).
Arnold Schonberg
Name the composer of this piece:
Pierrot Lunaire.
Stephen Foster
Name the composer of this piece:
Oh, Susannah!
John Philip Sousa
Name the composer of this piece:
Stars and Stripes Forever.
Aaron Copland
Name the composer of this piece:
Fanfare for the Common Man.
Scott Joplin
Name the composer of this piece:
Maple Leaf Rag.
Richard Rodgers
Name the composer of this piece:
The Sound of Music.
Leonard Bernstein
Name the composer of this piece:
West Side Story.
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Name the composer of this piece:
The Phantom of the Opera.
John Williams
Name the composer of this piece:
Star Wars.
George Gershwin
Name the composer of this piece:
Rhapsody in Blue.
George Gershwin
Name the composer of this piece:
Porgy and Bess.
John Cage
Name the composer of this piece:
4’33”.
Claude Debussy
French impressionist.
Igor Stravinsky
Caused a riot with primitivism in his Russian ballet; Neoclassical in later works.
Arnold Schoenberg
German expressionism; 12-tone row; serialism.
Bela Bartok
Hungarian ethnomusicologist and music educator.
Stephen Foster
Writer of popular American songs in the mid-1800’s.
John Philip Sousa
Composer and conductor of American marching band music.
William Grant Still
Dean of African-American composers in the 1800’s.
Charles Ives
First significant American composer; influenced by New England heritage.
George Gershwin
Successfully integrated jazz into classical music in the early 20th century.
Aaron Copland
Beloved 20th century American nationalist composer noted for his ballets.
Scott Joplin
Most important ragtime composer.
Louis Armstrong
First great jazz innovator; Dixieland; blues; played cornet.
Duke Ellington
Most significant Big Band swing innovator; played piano.
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Team who changed the course of musical theatre in America in the mid-1900’s (Oklahoma, South Pacific, The Sound of Music).
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Famous British composer of musicals (Cats, Phantom of the Opera).
Leonard Bernstein
Famous 20th century composer, conductor, TV personality.
John Cage
Father of aleatoric (chance) music.
John Williams
Best known composer of American movie music (Star Wars, Superman, Indiana Jones).