America’s Musical Landscape 5th edition PowerPoint by Brenda Leach Towson University Part 6 Tradition and Innovation in Concert Music Chapter 24: The Recent Mainstream © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert Music Chapter 24: The Recent Mainstream2 The Elements of Music New approaches to the elements, including basing music on dissonance only Focus on rhythm and timbre over melody and harmony Modern forms often based on repetition with variation Minimalism in music Invention of new forms

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert Music Chapter 24: The Recent Mainstream3 William Schumann ( ) Major 20 th century composer with strong interest in nationalism Influenced by jazz and American folk traditions Strong leader of arts organizations including Lincoln Center, NYC

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert Music Chapter 24: The Recent Mainstream4 Lou Harrison ( ) Influenced by Gregorian chant and ethnic music including Chinese opera and the music of Spain and Mexico Served as music critic of the New York Herald Tribune Sought new timbres Was fascinated by music of Native Americans

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert Music Chapter 24: The Recent Mainstream5 Minimalism Minimalism in art strips objects to their basic geometric shape. Restricted color, value, shape, line, texture Minimalism in music focuses on structure with minimal changes in melody, harmony, rhythm Tim Riley (b. 1935) – Pioneer of minimalism in music; important works include: In C (1964) – hypnotic effect Sun Rings for String Quartet (2002) composed for NASA; incorporated sounds of planets

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert Music Chapter 24: The Recent Mainstream6 Philip Glass (b. 1937) A leading exponent of minimalism Focus on sonority; lingering on sounds for long periods of time Studied with Ravi Shankar, the great Indian sitar player Focus on repetition Seeks connections in the visual arts, especially sculpture Interest in sound over form Composed score for the film “The Hours”

© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Part 6: Tradition and Innovation in Concert Music Chapter 24: The Recent Mainstream7 Women in Music Women are holding leading positions as composers, conductors, performers Important composers include: Joan Tower Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Meredith Monk Libby Larsen Gwyneth Walker