Modernism 1920 onward

-classical music was now five hundred years old, it was getting more and more challenging to find new inspiration -therefore, when new ideas were tried, they often reached FAR beyond the boundaries of what had been tried before -popular music such as jazz and eventually rock’n’roll had taken much of the audience for classical music -Modernist music focuses on the theories, philosophy, and new sounds to ask the audience “What is Music” This music didn’t focus on traditional elements of music such as melody, harmony, beat and rhythm

“What is music?” became the big question for many new composers. “Where does music come from?” -daily events become inspirations for music. Factories, traffic, wildlife, and hockey games just to name a few

-invention of electronic instruments created new possibilities for sound -the recording studio created new ways to capture sound

Charles Ives 1874 -1954 Often had musicians respond to his ideas with laughter and outrage “The Unanswered Question”

John Cage 1912-1992 “What is Music” was his primary concern He went far beyond what had been done before

Variations 4

John Cage’s “Water Walk”

4’33’ was his most famous piece inspired by a trip to an anechoic chamber.

I like to play this one…4:33

But it wasn’t all weird….   The invention of film and television gave music a new purpose to fulfill -composers watch the film to create soundscapes. The first ones being piano players in silent picture houses at the turn of the century

Piano or organ players would watch the film and improvise music to match what they saw on the screen

John Williams Conductor and Composer of the Boston Pops Orchestra Has written the film scores for dozens of films Such as…

Danny Elfman and he did https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL4KPS51gxs