Music of the 20th Century

A 20th century composer that turned his preference of composition from tonal to dissonant and atonal, as he explored the use of chromatic harmonies.

• Claude Debussy

• Maurice Ravel

• Igor Stravinsky

• Arnold Schoenberg

He is the most important and most influential composer of the 2oth century. He was the primary exponent of the impressionist movement.

• Igor Stravinsky

• Claude Debussy

• Arnold Schoenberg

• Maurice Ravel

Debussy’s composition that won the top prize Prix de Rome.

• Suite Bergamasque

• Clair de Lune
• Pelléas et Mélisande
• L'enfant prodigue

He is credited with the establishment of the twelve-tone system.

• Arnold Schoenberg
• Bela Bartok

• Claude Debussy

• George Gershwin

His style was characterized by its uniquely innovative but not atonal style of harmonic treatment.

• Maurice Ravel

• Leonard Bernstein

• Igor Stravinsky

• Bela Bartok

A musical style that use whole-tone scale.  It also applied suggested, rather than depicted, reality. It created a mood rather than a definite picture.

• Impressionism
• Expressionism

• Neo-classicism

• Classicism

It represents Bela Bartok’s greatest achievements of his life, spanning a full 30 years for completion.

• Six string quartets
• Three symphonies
• Five piano concertos
• Seven violin sonatas

A looser form of 20th century music development focused on nationalist composers and musical innovators who sought to combine modern techniques with folk materials.

• Impressionism

• Expressionism

• Modern Nationalism

• Neo-classicism

A composer that had a coolly elegant modernity, tempered by a classical sense of proportion and member of the French group “Les Six”.

• George Gershwin

• Bela Bartok

• Sergei Prokofieff

• Francis Poulenc

A composer that used Hungarian folk themes and rhythms and utilized changing meters and strong syncopations.

• Sergei Prokofieff

• Leonard Bernstein

• Philip Glass

• Béla Bartók