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Charles Ives (1874-1954)
Charles Ives was an American Post-Modernistic composer of the Post-1900s era. He had experimental music that included polytonality, polyrhythm, tone clusters, chance elements, and quarter tones. Ives also typically created hymn tunes and traditional songs. His most famous work would probably be "114 Songs". Lastly, he won a Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy in 1965. -
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian-American Serialistic composer and teacher of the Post-1900s era. He taught famous composers, such as, Alban Berg, Cage, and Webern. Schoenberg also created new ways of composing, including atonality and the 12-tone row, also known as, Serialism. His most notable work would probably be Pelleas und Melisande. -
Anton Webern (1883-1945)
Anton Webern was an Austrian Serialistic composer of the Post-1900s era. He was a student of Schoenberg's and a friend of Alban Berg's. Webern was known for his use of the 12-tone row, passacaglia for orchestra, his chamber music, and other various songs. His most notable work would probably be Entflieht auf leichten Kähnen. -
Henry Cowell (1897-1965)
Henry Cowell was an American Post-Modernistic composer of the Post-1900s era. From 1936-1940, he was in prison for pleading guilty to homosexual acts. While in prison, he continued to write around 60 compositions and direct and teach the prison band. He also created tone-clusters and New Music Quarterly. -
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Aaron Copland was an American Post-Modernistic composer of the Post-1900s era. While he was majorly a Post-Modernistic composer, he also had influences of jazz. Copland was also the student of the famous Nadia Boulanger. He won a Pulitzer Prize, a Grammy (1960), and an Academy Award (1950). Overall, Copland's most notable work would probably be his "Fanfare for the Common Man". -
George Antheil (1900-1959)
George Antheil was an American and Post-Modernistic composer of the Post-1900s era. His most notable work would be his "Le Ballet mécanique". For this, it was scored for pianos, car horns, bells, and airplane propellers. Overall, it didn't go over very well at first, but people came around in the 50s. Lastly, he produced many film scores. -
First Headphones Invented
Nathaniel Baldwin invented the first headphones in 1910. The final design consisted of two sound receivers, each containing a mile of copper wiring, attached to the operator's headband. Fun fact: the Navy ordered 100 of them, not knowing that Baldwin was making them by hand at his kitchen table. -
John Cage (1912-1992)
John Cage was a Post-Modernistic and Chance composer of the Post-1900s era. His first works were Serialistic and greatly influenced by his teacher, Schoenberg, but soon enough became his own. Cage created Chance music because he found it fascinating to work with traditional instruments in unusual ways and weird objects as instruments. He's most known for his "Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano" and his "4'33", which was just silence. -
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Serialism Part 2
The "row" can be used forward, backward, or in "mirror image" in either direction. One could identify Serialism by seeing if there's a repeated pattern, whether it's a pitch, the harmonies, or the melody. -
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Serialism Part 1
Serialism, also known as 12-Tone Serialism and the 12-Tone Row, was developed by Arnold Schoenberg in 1920. Serialism promotes post-tonal thinking and consists of twelve chromatic pitches being available on the piano that are arranged into an ordered "row" that is strictly maintained throughout a piece. (Go to Serialism Part 2 to finish this) -
Gyorgy Ligeti (1923-2006)
Gyorgy Ligeti was a Hungarian Post-Modernistic composer and teacher of the Post-1900s era. His main thing was creating music that would shift masses of sound and tone colors. Ligeti won the Praemium Imperiale in 1991 and overall, his most notable work would be his "Atmospheres". -
Pierre Boulez (1925-2016)
Pierre Boulez was a French conductor and Serialistic composer of the Post-1900s era. He won 18 Grammys and the Praemium Imperiale (1989). Boulez was trained by a student of Schoenberg's and liked to use the 12-Tone Scale. In 1953, he founded a series of avant-garde concerts. Boulez also became really popular because of his many performances of works created by other composers in this presentation. This included Schoenberg, Webern, Berg, and many more. -
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Post-Modernism
Post-Modernism is an Avant-Garde style of music that was created to be a new experimental way of composing music. One could typically identify this type of music by looking for a couple specific key features. This includes: the use of traditional instruments in unusual ways, weird sounds, unusual singing, and the use of everyday objects to create sounds. Henry Cowell was the first to use this new style of music in 1925. -
Victor Orthophonic Victrola Phonograph Introduced
On November 2, 1925, the Victor Orthophonic Victrola Phonograph was introduced. It had better sound quality and more volume. -
Magnetic Tape Invented
Magnetic tape was invented in Germany in 1928 for recording sound. -
George Crumb (1929-Present)
George Crumb is an American Post-Modernistic composer of the Post-1900s era. He won a Pulitzer Prize (1968) and a Grammy (2000). Crumb is known for his music that includes sounds like hissing, whispering, and shouting. -
Stock Market Crash
The stock market crash was a sharp decline in the U.S. stock market values in 1929 and it contributed to the Great Depression of the 1930s. -
National Anthem
The Star-Spangled Banner was adopted as the national anthem of the United States. -
Krzysztof Penderecki (1933-2020)
Krzysztof Penderecki was a Polish Post-Modernistic composer and teacher of the Post-1900s era. He won the Praemium Imperiale (2004) and 2 Grammys (1987 and 1998). Penderecki liked to use quarter-tone clusters, slides, and whistling harmonics. He had many orchestrated works and operas. -
La Monte Young (1935-Present)
La Monte Young is an American Minimalistic composer of the Post-1900s era. He is considered the first person to use the Minimalistic approach and is also known for his drone music. Young also is a saxophone prodigy. -
AEG Magnetophon Tape Recorder Invented
The AEG Magnetophon Tape Recorder was invented in 1935. It was useful for the music industry because you could record music with it and also record sounds with it, which played into the Post-Modernistic works that had weird sounds in them. -
Steve Reich (1936-Present)
Steve Reich is an American Minimalistic composer of the Post-1900s era. He won a Praemium Imperiale, 2 Grammys, and a Pulitzer Prize. Reich's most notable work would be his "Music for 18 Musicians". Lastly, his music consists mainly of simplicity and repetition. -
Philip Glass (1937-Present)
Philip Glass is an American Minimalistic composer of the Post-1900s era. He won a National Medal of Arts (2015) and the Praemium Imperiale (2012). Fun fact about Glass, he started college at the age of 15. He also is most known for his instrumental works, operas, and his "Words Without Music". -
Bell Labs Two-Channel Stereo Introduced
The Bell Labs Two-Channel Stereo was introduced in 1937 in hopes to make the best of movie soundtracks and enhance the movie theater experience. Fantasia was the first movie played using these. -
World War 2 (1939-1945)
Adolf Hitler produced World War 2 by taking over Germany and making them violently slaughter Jews. -
John Adams
John Adams is an American conductor and Minimalistic composer of the Post-1900s era. He won 3 Grammys and a Pulitzer Prize. Adams was also the first Harvard student to be allowed to submit a musical composition as a senior honors thesis. He is known for his ensembles, chamber music, and orchestral works. -
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Chance Music
Chance music, also known as Aleatoric music, was created by John Cage in the 1950s. This style of music is composed at random or based on a specific selection of material. Basically, chance music is whatever it wants to be and whatever you want it to be, whether that be complete silence or weird sounds being played all at once. -
Regency TR-1 Transistor Radio Invented
The Regency TR-1 Transistor Radio was invented in 1954 to bring portable music, specifically rock n' roll, to everyone. -
Alaska and Hawaii
Alaska and Hawaii were sworn in as states in 1959. -
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Minimalism
Minimalism is an avant-garde approach to music that started in the late 60s. It was based on repetition and gradual manipulation of simple rhythms and/or harmonies and short melodic patterns, producing a trance-like effect. Also, these works are typically very lengthy. -
JTM45 Amplifier Invented
The JTM45 Amplifier was invented in 1962 by Jim Marshall. It was created so guitars could produce booming bass. -
MLKJ
Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech on civil rights. -
JFK Assassination
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.