20th Century 1900-1999

What’s Happening? 1903 - Wright Brothers make first powered flight 1908 – First Model T (Ford) produced 1910 – Mark Twain dies 1913 – Income tax is legalized 1914 – World War I begins 1917 – US enters World War I

What’s Happening? 1920 – 19th amendment – Woman allowed to vote 1922 – USSR created 1929 – Television first demonstrated 1931 – National Anthem “Star Spangled Banner” – is officially named This is how it sounded when performed in the period form 1812 to 1931

What’s Happening? 1936 – First electronic computer created (Z1 – in Germany) 1939 – Hitler starts WW II by invading Poland 1939 – Albert Einstein asks President Roosevelt to start atomic weapons program 1940 – Bugs Bunny makes debut 1941 - “Day of Infamy” – Japan bombs Pearl Harbor 1944 – D-Day (Normandy) 1945 – Hitler commits suicide as Soviets overtake Berlin

What’s Happening? 1945 – First atomic bomb exploded in New Mexico 1945 – Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 1945 – WW II ends 1946 – Cold War Begins 1954 – Brown vs Board of Education ends segregation in schools

What’s happening? 1957 – Sputnik (first satellite in space) 1963 – Martin Luther King, Jr “I have a dream” speech 1963 – JFK assassinated 1969 – Neil Armstrong walks on the moon 1975 – The first personal computer

What’s Happening? 1977 – First Apple Computer 1981 – First Space Shuttle flight 1986 – Space Shuttle Challenger Explodes 1987 – Disarmament Treaty between US and USSR 1993 – US and USSR join technologies to build International Space Station 1998 – Bill Clinton is impeached

20th Century Music There were three major developments in classical music in the 20th century 1) Atonal Music 2) Impressionism 3) Neoclassical

20th Century Also during the 20th century, we see a development of more popular forms of music like jazz Jazz led to the creation of country and rock music which led to numerous forms of popular music We will discuss this in the next unit

Atonal Music Composers of atonal music sought to create music with no tonal center That is, they wanted to create music that did not have key or “key center” like C Major or e minor Composers also experimented with electronic sounds and recordings to create unique and very different effects Composers also wrote for instruments in non-conventional methods – such as playing the instrument in unusual ways

Atonal Music 12 Tone music became a form of atonal music and was used extensively by many composers in the 20th century to “get rid of” a tonal center or key 12 tone music used EVERY note of the chromatic scale There were strict rules established for 12 tone music EX: You must use every note 1 time You must use the same order of notes (called the tone row) Here is a short video explaining some of the rules for 12 tone music

Atonal Music An Example of Atonal Music – 12 Tone music Schoenberg: "Serenade" Op. 24 (1/7) Another Example of Atonal music using recorded music and electronic sounds Stockhausen: "Gesang der Junglinge"

Impressionism Impressionism is a term derived from one of Monet's works - Impression, Sunrise. In music it is applied to works of early 20th century composers such as Debussy

Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918)

Impressionism Debussy rejected the rules of tonality and created music that is pleasing to the ears as impressionist paintings are appealing to the eyes. This resulted in music that was relaxed, almost dreamlike. Debussy used the whole-tone scale often to create a dreamlike quality in his music Whole tone scale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFdvoTKgObk

Debussy Debussy was a French Composer who most associated with the Impressionism movement in music He was one of the most influential composers of non-tonal music and used whole-tone and chromatic scales to create music in the 20th century

Debussy One of Debussy’s most famous piano pieces is “Clair de lune” Clair de lune is the third and most famous movement of Suite bergamasque "Clair de lune" means "moonlight" in French. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJsyMmC76aM

20th Century Neo-classical Neoclassicism in music was a twentieth-century trend, particularly current in the period between the two World Wars This music sought to return to “classical” ideas of order, balance, clarity, and emotional restraint neoclassical music often drew inspiration from music of the 18th century Neoclassical music was more tonal than the experimental music of the first half of the 20th century (atonal music)

20th Century Neoclassical Two famous composers of the 20th century that composed music in the neo-classical style were Igor Stravinsky Aaron Copland One of the most popular American composers

Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971)

Stravinsky Russian: Игорь Фёдорович Стравинский One of the most influential and important composers of 20th century neoclassical music Began composing in Russia, then moved to France, then to America His works paid tribute to composers such as Bach and Tchaikovsky

Stravinsky The Firebird (1910) Petrushka (1911) Stravinsky became most famous for three of his very successful ballets The Firebird (1910) Petrushka (1911) The Rite of Spring (1913)

Firebird The story follows Prince Ivan. While wandering in the gardens, he sees and chases the Firebird. The Firebird, once caught by Ivan, begs for its life and ultimately agrees to assist Ivan in exchange for eventual freedom.

Firebird Next, Prince Ivan sees thirteen princesses, with one of whom he falls in love. The next day, Ivan chooses to confront Kashchei to ask to marry one of the princesses; the two talk and eventually begin quarreling. When Kashchei sends his magical creatures after Ivan, the Firebird, true to its pledge, intervenes, bewitching the creatures and making them dance an elaborate, energetic dance (the "Infernal Dance"). Listen to Infernal Dance

Firebird The creatures and Kashchei then fall asleep; however, Kashchei awakens and is then sent into another dance by the Firebird. While Kashchei is bewitched, the Firebird tells Ivan the secret to Kashchei's immortality – his soul is contained inside an enormous, magical egg.

Firebird Ivan destroys the egg, killing Kashchei. With Kashchei gone and his spell broken, the magical creatures and the palace all disappear. All of the "real" beings, including the princesses, awaken and with one final hint of the Firebird's music celebrate their victory.

Aaron Copland (1900 – 1990)

Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. Instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, in his later years he was often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"

Copland Copland was born in Brooklyn to a Jewish family from Lithuania At age 11 Copland wrote his first lines of music and begin taking lessons at age 13. In 1917 Copland traveled to Paris to study music composition In 1925 he returned to New York to live and compose music He was profoundly influenced by Bach’s music

Copland Copland composed many pieces, but among his most famous were Rodeo (a ballet from 1942) Appalachian Spring ( a ballet from 1944) Fanfare for the Common Man (1942) He also composed a piece for the famous Jazz Musician Benny Goodman titled “Clarinet Concerto”

Copland Appalachian Spring Ballet choreographed by Martha Graham https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmgaKGSxQVw Copland used familiar tunes such as “Simple Gifts” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91y-NEdTj-g

Copland Fanfare for the Common Man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdqjcMmjeaA Fanfare for the Common Man was composed in response to a speech given by Vice-President Henry Wallace at the entry of the US into World War II In the speech Wallace proclaimed the dawning of the “Century of the Common Man”

Copland Fanfare for the Common Man has been used in Olympic Games, Sporting Events, Festivals, Movies and even performed by rock bands The famous 70’s rock band, Emerson, Lake and Palmer performed a version in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgpnlLz7WR0