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Post-1900s Era (1900-2000) Information
Music during this century had no rules or boundaries. It was the most varied era in terms of genre and style. The era started off almost rebelling to the old traditions prior to the new era. Towards the end, traditional aspects were reintroduced. Classical music was used more in universities while jazz, blues, rock, and pop came to rise. Composers fixed on new rhythms, pitch range, dynamics and lengths. Electronic music using computers also became popular towards the end of the era. -
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)
Schoenberg was the father of 12 tone music and was also important as an innovator. His work consisted of operas, symphonies, songs, canons, writings, piano works, chamber and choral music, "Harmonielehre" (1910-1911), "Pierrot Lunaire" (1912), and "Variationen fur Orchester" (1926). -
George Gershwin (1898-1937)
Gershwin was an influential American composer, conductor, and pianist who worked in Hollywood and successfully fused jazz and pop music into the classical style and concert hall. His work includes instrumental, stage, and piano works, film score, "American in Paris" (1928), "Concerto in F" (1925), "Porgy and Bess" (1935), and "Rhapsody in Blue" (1924). -
William Grant Still (1895-1978)
Still was an American composer who was also the first African-American composer to have his symphony performed by a leading orchestra, to conduct a major orchestra, and to write for radio, TV, and films. He incorporated folk idioms, jazz, and spirituals. His most notable works were "Afro-American Symphony (1930-1931), 5 symphonies, 9 operas, ballets, songs, and vocal and instrumental works. -
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Barber was an American composer and an accomplished singer. He was considered a child prodigy, as well as a gifted melodist. His work consisted of chamber and choral music, orchestral and vocal works, songs, ballets, operas, and "Adagio for Strings" (1936), "Antony and Cleopatra" (1966), "Dover Beach" (1931), and "Knoxville, Summer of 1915" (1947). -
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Copland was the most popular American composer of the 20th century. He was also a teacher, conductor, and an author. Today, his music still has a special appeal to the American public. His work consists of choral, piano, and chamber music, songs, 2 operas, 3 symphonies, 6 ballets, 8 film scores, "Appalachian Spring" (1944), "Billy the Kid" (1938), "Fanfare for the Common Man" (1942) and "Rodeo" (1942). -
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Bernstein was an American conductor, composer, teacher, and pianist. He was the most influential American musician of the 20th century and brought classical music to the public through various media. His work consists of film scores, dramatic works, songs, chamber and choral music, "Jeremiah Symphony" (1942), "On the Town" (1945), "Candide" (1956), "West Side Story" (1957), and "Kaddish Symphony" (1963). -
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Britten was known to be the most prolific and best known English composer of the 20th century. He is also known for having kept opera alive in English speaking countries. He is known for his choral, chamber, incidental, and vocal music, orchestral works, writings, 17 operas, and "Peter Grimes" (1945), "Ceremony of Carols" (1942), and "War Requiem" (1962). -
John Cage (1912-1992)
Cage was an American composer and philosopher. He was known to be the most innovative composer of the 20th century and for changing the definition of music. He had many works of non-traditional genre, piano and vocal works, chamber and tape music, writings, "Sonatas and Interludes" (1946-1948), "4'33"" (1952), and "Music of Changes" (1951). -
Louis Barron (1920-1989) & Bebe Barron (1926-2008)
Both Louis & Bebe Barron were married up until the 1970s. They were both the composers of the first commercially released film to feature an entirely electronic soundtrack. They were both pioneers in electro-acoustic music. Their work consisted of film scores, electronic works, and most notably "Forbidden Planet" (1956). -
Terry Riley (b. 1935)
Riley is an American composer and performer. He is one of the founders of minimalism with his "In C" (1964). He was interested in electronic and tape music and was influenced by jazz and Indian classical music. His other notable works are tape music, string quartets, piano concertos, orchestral, chamber, and dramatic works. -
Philip Glass (b. 1937)
Glass is an American-Jewish composer and performer who is also one of the most influential composers in the 20th century and one of the most innovative of minimalism. His most notable work is dramatic, orchestral, vocal, and piano works, "Einstein on the Beach" (1975-1976), and "Glassworks" (1981) -
John Adams (b. 1947)
Adams is an American composer and conductor who expanded the new language of minimalism and neo-romanticism. He is one of our leading composers of post-minimalist music. His work consists of orchestral, vocal, and piano works, chamber and band music, operas , "Nixon in China" (1987), "Shaker Loops" (1978), "Phrygian Gates" (1977), and "Short Ride in a Fast Machine" (1986).
