20th-century music

Elvis Presley in 1957's Jailhouse Rock

20th century music is defined by the sudden emergence of advanced technology for recording and distributing music as well as dramatic innovations in musical forms and styles. Because music was no longer limited to concerts, opera-houses, clubs, and domestic music-making, it became possible for music artists to quickly gain global recognition and influence. Twentieth-century music brought new freedom and wide experimentation with new musical styles and forms that challenged the accepted rules of music of earlier periods. Faster modes of transportation allowed musicians and fans to travel more widely to perform or listen. Amplification permitted giant concerts to be heard by those with the least expensive tickets, and the inexpensive reproduction and transmission or broadcast of music gave rich and poor alike nearly equal access to high quality music performances.

Classical

Main article: 20th century classical music

Composer Igor Stravinsky as drawn by Picasso

Modernism

Main article: Modernism (music)

In the early 20th century, many composers, including Rachmaninoff, Richard Strauss, Giacomo Puccini, and Edward Elgar, continued to work in forms and in a musical language that derived from the 19th century. However, modernism in music became increasingly prominent and important; among the most important modernists were Alexander Scriabin, Claude Debussy, and post-Wagnerian composers such as Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss, who experimented with form, tonality and orchestration. Busoni, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and Schreker were already recognized before 1914 as modernists, and Ives was retrospectively also included in this category for his challenges to the uses of tonality. Composers such as Ravel, Milhaud, and Gershwin combined classical and jazz idioms.

Nationalism

Main article: Nationalism (music)

Late-Romantic and modernist nationalism was found also in British, American, and Latin-American music of the early 20th century. Composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Aaron Copland, Carlos Chávez, and Heitor Villa-Lobos used folk themes collected by themselves or others in many of their major compositions.

Microtonal music

Main article: Microtonal music

In the early decades of the 20th century composers such as Julián Carrillo, Mildred Couper, Alois Hába, Charles Ives, Erwin Schulhoff, Ivan Wyschnegradsky turned their attention to quarter tones (24 equal pitches per octave), and other finer divisions. In the middle of the century composers such as Harry Partch and Ben Johnston explored just intonation. In the second half of the century, prominent composers employing microtonality included Easley Blackwood, Jr., Wendy Carlos, Adriaan Fokker, Terry Riley, Ezra Sims, Karlheinz Stockhausen, La Monte Young, and Iannis Xenakis.

Neoclassicism

Main article: Neoclassical music

A dominant trend in music composed from 1923 to 1950 was neoclassicism, a reaction against the exaggerated gestures and formlessness of late Romanticism which revived the balanced forms and clearly perceptible thematic processes of earlier styles. There were three distinct "schools" of neoclassicism, associated with Igor Stravinsky, Paul Hindemith, and Arnold Schoenberg. Similar sympathies in the second half of the century are generally subsumed under the heading "postmodernism".

Experimental music

Main article: Experimental music

A compositional tradition arose in the mid-20th century—particularly in North America—called "experimental music". Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage. According to Cage, "an experimental action is one the outcome of which is not foreseen", and he was specifically interested in completed works that performed an unpredictable action.

Minimalism

Main article: Minimal music

Minimalist music, involving a simplification of materials and intensive repetition of motives began in the late 1950s with the composers Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. Later, minimalism was adapted to a more traditional symphonic setting by composers including Reich, Glass, and John Adams. Minimalism was practiced heavily throughout the latter half of the century and has carried over into the 21st century, as well as composers like Arvo Pärt, Henryk Górecki and John Tavener working in the holy minimalism variant. For more examples see List of 20th century classical composers.

Contemporary classical music

Main article: Contemporary classical music

In the broadest sense, contemporary music is any music being written in the present day. In the context of classical music the term is informally applied to music written in the last half century or so, particularly works post-1960, though standard reference works do not consistently follow this definition. Since it is a word that describes a movable time frame, rather than a particular style or unifying idea, there are no universally agreed on criteria for making these distinctions.

Many composers working the early 21st century were prominent figures in the 20th century. Some younger composers such as Oliver Knussen, Thomas Adès, and Michael Daugherty did not rise to prominence until late in the 20th century. For more examples see List of 21st century classical composers.

Electronic music

Karlheinz Stockhausen in the electronic-music studio of WDR, Cologne in 1991

Main article: Electronic music

For centuries, instrumental music had either been created by singing, drawing a bow across or plucking taught gut or metal strings (string instruments), constricting vibrating air (woodwinds and brass) or hitting or stroking something (percussion). In the early twentieth century, devices were invented that were capable of generating sound electronically, without an initial mechanical source of vibration. The theremin, which operated by interrupting a magnetic field around the instrument, did not even have to be touched to produce a tone.^{[citation needed]} Some fifty years after its invention, it found use both as an instrument for scoring in film soundtracks (Forbidden Planet), and in popular music, such as The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations".^{[citation needed]}

As early as the 1930s, composers such as Olivier Messiaen incorporated electronic instruments into live performance. Recording technology was used to produce art music, as well. The musique concrète of the late 1940s and 1950s was produced by editing together natural and industrial sounds.

In the years following World War II, some composers were quick to adopt developing electronic technology. Electronic music was embraced by composers such as Edgard Varèse, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Milton Babbitt, Pierre Boulez, Luigi Nono, Herbert Brün, and Iannis Xenakis as a way to exceed the limits of traditional instruments.^{[citation needed]}

As more electronic technology matured, so did the music. Late in the century, the personal computer began to be used to create art music. In one common technique, a microphone is used to record live music, and a program processes the music in real time and generates another layer of sound. Pieces have also been written algorithmically based on the analysis of large data sets.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1950s the film industry also began to make extensive use of electronic soundtracks. From the late 1960s onward, much popular music was developed on synthesizers by pioneering groups like Heaven 17, The Human League, Art of Noise, and New Order.

Folk music

Main article: Folk music

Folk music, in the original sense of the term as coined in the 18th century by Johann Gottfried Herder, is music produced by communal composition and possessing dignity, though by the late 19th century the concept of ‘folk’ had become a synonym for ‘nation’, usually identified as peasants and rural artisans, as in the Merrie England movement and the Irish and Scottish Gaelic Revivals of the 1880s. Folk music arose, and best survives, in societies not yet affected by mass communication and the commercialization of culture.^{[citation needed]} It was normally shared and performed by the entire community (not by a special class of expert or professional performers, possibly excluding the idea of amateurs), and was transmitted by word of mouth (oral tradition).

During the second half of the 20th century, the term folk music took on a third meaning: it describes a particular kind of popular music which is culturally descended from or otherwise influenced by traditional folk music, such as with The Kingston Trio, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, The Byrds, Neil Young, Peter, Paul and Mary, The Mamas & the Papas, The Brothers Four and other singers. This music, in relation to popular music, is marked by a greater musical simplicity, acknowledgment of tradition, frequent socially conscious lyrics, and is similar to country, bluegrass, and other genres in style.^{[citation needed]}

In addition, folk music was also borrowed by composers in other genres. Some of the work of Aaron Copland clearly draws on American folk music. In addition, Paul Simon has drawn from both the folk music of Peru and South Africa, and was clearly instrumental in increasing the popularity of groups such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo,^{[citation needed]} although The Tokens' The Lion Sleeps Tonight is the first example of such a crossover.^{[citation needed]} The Indian sitar clearly influenced George Harrison and others.^{[citation needed]}

However, many native musical forms have also found themselves overwhelmed by the variety of new music. Western classical music from prior to the 20th century is more popular now than it ever has been even as modern classical forms struggle to find an audience.^{[citation needed]} Rock and Roll has also had an effect on native musical forms, although many countries such as Germany, Japan and Canada all have their own thriving native rock and roll scenes that have often found an audience outside their home market.^{[citation needed]}

Bluegrass music

Main article: Bluegrass music

Performers such as Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt, who were originally members of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys, developed this style of music.^{[citation needed]}

Popular music

Main article: Popular music

Popular music, sometimes abbreviated pop music (although the term "pop" is used in some contexts as a more specific musical genre), is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are broadly popular or intended for mass consumption and wide commercial distribution—in other words, music that forms part of popular culture.

Popular music dates at least as far back as the mid-19th century.^{[citation needed]} In the United States, much of it evolved from folk music and black culture.^{[citation needed]} It includes Broadway tunes, ballads and singers such as Frank Sinatra.

The relationship (particularly, the relative value) of classical music and popular music is a controversial question. Richard Middleton writes:

Neat divisions between "folk" and "popular", and "popular" and "art", are impossible to find... arbitrary criteria [are used] to define the complement of "popular". "Art" music, for example, is generally regarded as by nature complex, difficult, demanding; "popular" music then has to be defined as "simple", "accessible", "facile". But many pieces commonly thought of as "art" (Handel's Hallelujah Chorus, many Schubert songs, many Verdi arias) have qualities of simplicity; conversely, it is by no means obvious that the Sex Pistols' records were "accessible", Frank Zappa's work "simple", or Billie Holiday's "facile".

Moreover, composers such as Scott Joplin, George Gershwin and Andrew Lloyd Webber tried to cater to both popular and high brow tastes. Likewise, electronic instruments and styles were incorporated into some classical pieces.^{[citation needed]}

Blues

Blues singer Bessie Smith

Main article: Blues

Blues is a vocal and instrumental musical form which evolved from African American spirituals, shouts, work songs and chants and has its earliest stylistic roots in West Africa.^{[citation needed]} Blues has been a major influence on later American and Western popular music, finding expression in ragtime, jazz, big bands, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and country music, as well as conventional pop songs and even modern classical music.^{[citation needed]}

Country music

Main article: Country music

Country music, once known as Country and Western music, is a popular musical form developed in the southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, spirituals, and the blues.

Vernon Dalhart was the first country singer to have a nation-wide hit (May 1924, with "The Wreck Of Old '97").^{[citation needed]}

Disco

Disco is an up-tempo style of dance music that originated in the early 1970s, mainly from funk, salsa, and soul music, popular originally with gay and black audiences in large U.S. cities, and derives its name from the French word discothèque (meaning nightclub).^{[citation needed]}

Funk

Funk is a distinct style of music originated by African-Americans, e.g., James Brown and his band members (especially Maceo and Melvin Parker), George Clinton, and groups like The Meters, Sly & the Family Stone and Tower Of Power.^{[citation needed]} Funk can best be recognized by its syncopated rhythms; thick bass line (often based on an "on the one" beat); razor-sharp rhythm guitars; chanted or hollered vocals (as that of Cameo or the Bar-Kays); strong, rhythm-oriented horn sections; prominent percussion; an upbeat attitude; African tones; danceability; and strong jazzy influences (e.g., as in the music of Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Eddie Harris, and others).^{[citation needed]}

Hip hop

Main article: Hip hop music

Subgenres/periods of history in hip hop include: Old school hip hop, New school hip hop, the so called "Gangsta rap", Underground hip hop, Alternative hip hop and Crunk/Snap music.

Jazz

Trumpeter, bandleader and singer Louis Armstrong, known internationally as the "Ambassador of Jazz," was a much-imitated innovator of early jazz.

Main article: Jazz

Jazz is a musical art form characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation.^{[citation needed]}

It has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, in African American music traditions, including blues and ragtime, and European military band music.^{[citation needed]} After originating in African-American communities around the beginning of the 20th century, jazz gained international popularity by the 1920s.^{[citation needed]}

Jazz has also evolved into many sometimes contrasting subgenres including smooth jazz and free jazz.

New Age music

Main article: New age music

Electronic and world music, together with progressive rock and religious music are the elements from which new age music has developed.^{[citation needed]} Works within this genre tend to be predominantly peaceful in overall style but with an emphasis on energy and gentle vibrancy. Pieces are composed to aid meditation, to energise yoga, t'ai chi and exercise sessions or to encourage connections to the planet Earth (in the sense of a spiritual concept of Mother Earth or, perhaps Gaia).^{[citation needed]} There are also new-age compositions which sit equally comfortably in the world music category.

Enthusiasts of new-age music generally share a set of core common understandings including a belief in the spirit and in the ability to change the world for the better in peaceful ways.^{[citation needed]}

Popular new-age artists of the 20th century include Suzanne Ciani, Enya, Yanni, Kitaro, George Winston (solo piano), and many more. Labels include Private Music, Windham Hill, Narada, Higher Octave among others. Private Music and Windham Hill later merged into the BMG group and reorganized under RCA/Victor, while Narada joined with Higher Octave and EMI.^{[citation needed]}

Rock and roll

Main articles: Rock and roll and Rock music

Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley were notable performers in the 1950s. The Beatles were part of the "British invasion" of the USA in the 1960s.^{[citation needed]}

See also rock musical and rock opera.

Alternative rock

Main article: Alternative Rock

Originally coined as a catch all term for the various underground styles of rock music in the 1980s, independent of the mainstream pop music industry, alternative rock drew influence primarily from Punk rock, Post-punk and New Wave; though many of its subgenres drew from influences as wide as Psychedelic rock and Jazz. The Velvet Underground were a pivotal group in the creation of the Alternative rock genre. Other genres would go on to be influenced by Alternative rock, such as Art Rock, Noise rock and J-Pop.^{[citation needed]}

Other subgenres of Alternative rock include: Shoegazing, Dream pop, Gothic rock, Grunge and Indie rock.^{[citation needed]}

Progressive rock

Progressive rock band Yes performing in Indianapolis in 1977.

Main article: Progressive rock

Progressive rock was a movement to incorporate the more complex structures and instrumentation of jazz and classical music into the limitations of Rock and Roll. Mainly a European movement, it started in the UK in the 1960s with bands like King Crimson, Yes and Genesis and reached its peak popularity during the early 1970s, when albums like Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" and Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" dominated the charts. Progressive metal (a fusion of heavy metal and progressive rock) later became popular with bands such as Dream Theater.^{[citation needed]}

Punk rock

Main article: Punk rock

The Clash, performing in 1980

Punk rock was originally a style of hard rock played at fast speeds with simple lyrics and simple chord arrangements, which originated in the mid 1970s, with acts like Iggy Pop and the Stooges, the Ramones, Patti Smith and the Sex Pistols.^{[citation needed]} The main instruments used were electric guitar, electric bass, and drums.^{[citation needed]}

Salsa

Salsa music is a diverse and predominantly Caribbean rhythm that is popular in many Latin countries. The word is the same as the salsa meaning sauce. However, the term has been used by Cuban immigrants in New York analogously to swing.

Soul

Soul music is fundamentally rhythm and blues, which grew out of the African-American gospel and blues traditions during the late 1950s and early 1960s in the United States. Soul music was pioneered by Ray Charles, the godfather of soul, when he controversially combined the mediums of Gospel music and rhythm and blues. Traditional soul music usually features individual singers backed by a traditional band consisting of rhythm section and horns, as exemplified by Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding.^{[citation needed]}

World music

Main article: World music

To begin with, all the various musics listed in the 1980s under the broad category of world music were folk forms from all around the world, grouped together in order to make a greater impact in the commercial music market.^{[citation needed]} Since then, however, world music has both influenced and been influenced by many different genres like hip hop, pop, and jazz.^{[citation needed]} The term is usually used for all music made in a traditional way and outside of the Anglo-Saxon world, thus encompassing music from Africa, Latin America, and parts of Europe, and music by non-native English speakers in Anglo-Saxon countries, like Native Americans or Indigenous Australians.

World-music radio programs these days will often be playing African or reggae artists, crossover Bhangra, Cretan Music and Latin American jazz groups, etc.^{[citation needed]}

References

• Botstein, Leon. 2001. "Modernism". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.
• Cage, John. 1961. Silence: Lectures and Writings. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press.
• Cook, Nicholas, and Anthony Pople. 2004. The Cambridge History of Twentieth-Century Music. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-66256-7
• Grant, Morag Josephine. 2003. "Experimental Music Semiotics". International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music 34, no. 2 (December): 173–91.
• Jones, Alan, and Jussi Kantonen. 1999. Saturday Night Forever: The Story of Disco. Edinburgh and London: Mainstream. ISBN 1-84018-177-X (Revised and updated edition, Edinburgh and London: Mainstream, 2005. ISBN 1-84596-067-X.)
• Kennedy, Michael, and Joyce Bourne (eds.). 2006. The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd edition, revised. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-861459-4
• Lee, Douglas A. 2002. Masterworks of Twentieth-Century Music: The Modern Repertory of the Symphony Orchestra. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-93846-5 ISBN 0-415-93847-3
• Mauceri, Frank X. 1997. "From Experimental Music to Musical Experiment". Perspectives of New Music 35, no. 1 (Winter): 187–204.
• Middleton, Richard. 1990. Studying Popular Music. Philadelphia: Open University Press. ISBN 0-335-15276-7
• Morgan, Robert P. 1991. Twentieth-Century Music: A History of Musical Style in Modern Europe and America. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-95272-X
• Pegg, Carole. 2001. "Folk Music". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.
• Rubin, Rachel, and Jeffrey Paul Melnick. 2001. American Popular Music: New Approaches to the Twentieth Century. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 1-55849-267-4 ISBN 1-55849-268-2
• Salzman, Eric. 2002. Twentieth-Century Music: An Introduction, 4th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-095941-3
• Whittall, Arnold. 2001. Neo-classicism. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
• Whitall, Arnold. 2003. Exploring Twentieth-Century Music: Tradition and Innovation. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-81642-4 ISBN 0-521-01668-1