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John Philip Sousa (1854-1932)
Sousa was a bandmaster known for his marches. He promoted the American wind-band tradition in America and in Europe. He also conducted "the Presidents own" marine band. -
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Charles Ives (1874-1954)
Ives was one of the most innovative and original composers who spoke about contradiction in attitudes towards music and innovation. His father shaped his style and most of his works were not known until the 1950s. -
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Robert Nathanial Dett (1882-1943)
Born in Canada, Dett was a pianist who graduated from Oberlin and Eastman School of Music. He helped found the National Association of Negro Musicians in 1919. -
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Luigi Russolo (1885-1947)
Russolo was an Italian futuristic painter, composer, and builder of experimental musical instruments who wrote a creed or manifesto titled "The Art of Noises" in 1913. -
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Florence Price (1887-1953)
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price became the first black female composer to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra (Symphony No.1 in E minor). She graduated as valedictorian in High School at age 14, played her first piano recital at 4, and first competition at 11 under her mothers guidance. She later moved to Chicago where her career flourished. -
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Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979)
Boulanger taught practically all 20th century American composers except George Gershwin, whom she refused to let in her class. She was a composer but preferred to help other composers find their "voice" (inspired by her sister Lili). -
Blues
American genre of folk music based on a simple, repetitive, poetic-musical form. -
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Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Prokofiev was a Russian composer known for his orchestral pieces, piano works, and film music. He incorporated classicism, individual harmonic language, rhythmic drive, lyrical expression, and comedic elements into his works. -
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Lili Boulanger (1893-1918)
Lili Boulanger was a French composer and pianist. She produced over 50 works before her death at age 24. -
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William Grant Still (1895-1978)
Still was born in Woodville, Mississippi and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was the first black American composer to have a symphony and opera performed by a major ensemble in 1931 and 1949. He was also the first black American to conduct a major symphony orchestra in 1936. He studied in New England conservatory and the Oberlin conservatory. -
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Henry Cowell (1897-1965)
Cowell was an American innovator who was drawn to non-western music. He invented chance music and invented new techniques for playing the piano. He coined the term tone cluster, which he used often after 1912. -
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George Gershwin (1898-1937)
Gershwin was an American composer who wrote classical, concert hall music infused with jazz and popular music. He also wrote for Broadway and film. -
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Duke Ellington (1899-1974)
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was a major band leader in swing era (1930s) and then in big band era in the 1940s, Composed hundreds of tunes, film scores, concertos, concert pieces, and works for the theatre. -
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Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Copland was a composer, teacher, critic, conductor, and sponsor of concerts. He taught at Harvard, gave lectures, and conducted festivals in many American schools. He composed a variety of genres, but not a huge amount of works. His style is mostly tonal but he did write atonal music (was not the most popular part of his output). -
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Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975)
Shostakovich was a Russian composer, known for his 15 symphonies, numerous chamber works, and concerti. His musical style consisted of sharp contrasts, elements of the grotesque, and ambivalent tonality. -
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Elliot Carter (1908-2012)
Carter was an American composer; influential as a teacher and as a composer for 50 years. -
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John Cage (1912-1992)
Cage was an American composer, music theorist, artist, and philosopher. He was regarded as one of the most influential American composers of the 20th century. He is best known for his piece 4'33'' where musicians are instructed not to play their instrument or do anything during the duration of the piece. -
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Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Britten was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He is best known for his operas and was known to have revived modern British opera. -
Jazz
American musical style rooted from west African music. -
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Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Bernstein was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. He was one of the greatest orchestra conductors of his generation. -
Harlem Renaissance
Emerged a kind of cultural capital of African American arts, including literature, painting, and music. -
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The Great Depression
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Pergy and Bess
First opera with an all black cast. -
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World War II
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Bebop
New "cool" jazz with fast tempos and dissonant solos. -
Appalachian Spring
Composed by Aaron Copland and made for Martha Graham who also danced the lead. -
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Cold War
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A Black Pierrot
Echoed Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire." Composed by William Grant Still and text by Langston Hughes. -
Rock 'N' Roll
Blended musical styles of jump blues and honky-tonk with an edgy attitude. -
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Civil Rights Movement
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Vietnam War
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Invention of the Phillips Compact Cassette Tape
Invented by Lou Ottens.