2.  Diatonic Harmony gave way to Atonal Music.  Electronic Music developed with the technology.  Composers experimented with different ideas about how to create music.  Composers were influenced by music from other styles and cultures.

3.  Atonal music has no key and therefore no hierarchy of pitches.  This means that many of the key aspects of western music no longer function (e.g. cadences, chords, etc.)  Atonal music frequently sounds very dissonant.  Serialism is a type of atonal music developed by a composer called Schoenberg.

4.  Schoenberg tried to reintroduce an element  of structure into his atonal music.  In Serialism you write a tone row containing  each of the 12 chromatic pitches just once.  You then manipulate the tone row using  specified techniques: inversion, transposition  and retrograde.  Some composers went on to develop  Serialism by adapting these techniques to  note values, instrumentation, etc.

5.  Electronic music uses sounds generated  electronically rather than by acoustic instruments.  Composers who wrote electronic music often used  the technology to create new sounds unlike anything  that could be played on an acoustic instrument.  Electronic music often sounds crude compared to the  sophisticated electronic sounds we are used to with  modern music.  Some composers used electronics to manipulate  acoustic sounds rather than generate electronic  sounds.

6.  Aleatoric Music – music created using  chance.  Graphic Score – music written down as a  picture without using conventional notation.  The performer has to interpret the picture.  Microtonal – music that uses intervals smaller  than a semitone.  Extended Techniques – music that requires  the instrument to be adapted or played in an  unconventional manner

7.  A reaction against the unpleasant  sounding modern music.  Composers revisited older techniques  and harmonies but still keeps some of  the characteristics of modern music.  Dissonance (in parts) and unusual  rhythms are characteristic of  Neoclassical music.

8.  Minimalist music consists of looped  layers.  Each layer is gradually altered during  the course of the piece.  It is very repetitive and often very long.

9.  Many composers were influenced by  other styles of music. In particular:  – World Music  – Jazz  – Popular Music

10.  Other composers are noted for mixing  their music with other art forms such as:  – Film  – Graphic Art  – Video

11.  Just about any combination of instruments is  written for using any of the musical  techniques described before.  The orchestra stays mostly the same but with  the addition of some unusual percussion  instruments for particular pieces.  Chamber ensembles become more popular  after being almost

12.  Vocal ensembles are still the same as they  have been since the Classical Era, soloists  and choruses with an occasional chamber  ensemble.  Voices and instruments are used together on  a more regular basis.  Vocal music (both sacred and secular) is  written using any of the techniques described  before.

13.  20th century expressionist composer who developed a systematic method of organizing atonal music called the 12 tone system

14.  American composer who incorporated American folk songs, cowboy songs, revival hymns and jazz in his orchestral compositions  Works include Billy the Kid,Rodeo and Appalachian Spring

15.  Russian expressionist composer  Famous for three ballets: The Firebird,  Petrushka, and the Rite of Spring

16.  French pianist/composer who linked the Romantic era to the 20th century  Greatest hits: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

17.  Dissonance and unusual rhythms make  music unpleasant to listen to.  Electronic sounds, unusual instruments,  extended techniques all expand the  sounds available to the composer.  Repetition and gradual change –  minimalist music.