20th Century Timeline (1930-2003)

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    Webern, Von Anton

    Student of Schoenberg; Known for musical brevity and clarity of texture; used pointillism and did not write and operas; Created symphonies, orchestral and choral music songs, and writings
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    Sibelius, Jean

    Created tone poems, 7 symphonies, concertos, and chamber music; his later music is more modern
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    Ives, Charles

    American composer; probably the most innovative, orignial, and creative of all 20th century composers; worked mostly in isolation and made his living in insurance
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    Schonberg, Arnold

    Austrian Composer, theorist, and painter; Started playing the violin when we was 8 years out and began arranging music at the age of 10; Went atonal from 1907 to 1909, created "melodies" in atonality which were called "tone rows"
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    Falle, de Manuel

    Principal Spanish composer of the 20th century; Used Spanish popular and folk music; Earned international fame; Created orchestral works, stage works, vocal works, chamber music and writings
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    Bartok, Bela

    Hungarian composer and pianist; Was an important ethnomusicologis; Known for his rhythmic music; Incorporated his own native folk music into his compositions: Created concertos, pianos works, chamber music, stage works, orchestral works, choral works, songs, many editions and writings
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    Stravinsky, Igor

    Most versatile and interesting composer of the 20th century; rhythmic style; harmonically interesting; Created symphonies, ballets, operas, chamber music, choral music, and piano works
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    Honegger, Arthur

    Part of Les Six; Considered himself Swiss because both his parents were Swiss; Composed most of his works on commission; Had a huge compositional output in al mediums
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    Varese, Edgard

    French-American composer who wrote non-tonal music; Focused on elements instead of pitch; innovative; took an interest in electronic music and the idea of organized sound as music; Created orchestral works, non-traditional genres, stage works, choral music, and writings
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    Piston, Walter

    American composer and teacher; Neo-classic and craft oriented; Wrote chamber music, symphonies, other orchestral music, and writings
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    Berg, Alban

    Student of Schoenberg; Expressive language; often atonal; created operas, orchestral works, songs, concertos, and chamber music writings
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    Russolo, Luigi

    Italian inventor, painter, and composer; Created a riot in Milan in 1913 when he demonstrated his new instruments that were to produce machine noises of daily experiences; Works for his instruments are mostly lost but his published writings survived
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    Florence, Price

    American composer the adapted Juba folk dance and idioms of black spirituals; the first African-American women to win widespread fame as a symphonic composer but was omitted from the New Grove Dictionary in 1980; Created symphonies, concertos, choral music, vocal and piano works, and songs
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    Durey, Louis

    Part of Les Six; Was born in a non-musical family; Instigated the 1st Les Six album; Wrote songs for the French Resistance during WWII; Wrote with the Vietnamese themes in the 1960s as a protest to the war.
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    Milhaud, Darius

    Part of Les Six; Studied Debussy and immediately rejected the idea of Impressionism; Became close friends with Tailleferre and gave her some much needed encouragement to continue composing; Traveled to Brazil with Claudel in 1918 which helped influenced his compositions; American Jazz also influenced his work
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    Still, Grant William

    American composer; First African-American composer to have his symphony performed by a leading Orchestra; The first black American to conduct a major orchestra; The first black American to write for the radio, TV, and films; Incorporated folk idioms, jazz, and spirituals; Created 5 symphonies 9 operas, ballets, vocal and instrumental works, songs
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    Scssions, Roger

    American composer, theorist, and teacher; mostly atonal; intense and dissonant; Created 8 symphonies (rarely performed);3 stage works; concertos, a few chamber and choral works, and writings
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    Auric, Georges

    Part of the Les Six;Studied composition in Paris with Satie's teachers;Neo-classicist;Film Music;Ran SACEM; Music journalist
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    Ellington, Duke

    American jazz composer; band-leader and pianist; Created a unique style of big-band jazz; one of the first African-American composers to cross races with his music
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    Poulenc, Francis

    Part of Les Six; Born to rich parents and is a self-taught musical although he had musical tutors; Traveled to meet Schoenberg, Weburn, and Berg with Milhaud but they both had rejected their styles; Had a partner (Pierre Bernac) that premiered many of his songs.
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    Armstrong, Louis

    African-American jazz musician who revolutionized jazz; Sinfer, band-leader, and trumpeter; Created publications for trumpet
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    Patch, Harry

    American innovator; inventor of new instruments; developed and 43 not scale; Created works for his instruments and various non-traditional genres
  • Color Television

  • Attack on Pearl Harbor

    This attack led the United States to enter WWII by declaring war on Japan the next day on December 8, 1941, and three days later against Germany and Italy
  • WWII

  • Rock and Roll Enters the Mainstream

  • Civil Rights Act of 1957

  • Assassination of John F. Kennedy

  • 9/11

    Attack on the Twin towers