Twentieth Century 1900 - 2000
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Leonard Bernstein

 

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Music from the 20th Century includes music from 1900 - 2000. There are more musical styles and types of music from to 20th Century than ever before.
 

Chance Music - In chance music the composer leaves a lot up to the performer. The director may give each person several different sheets of music and, on cue, the player decided what sections to play and how many times they want to repeat it. In chance music every perforance is different. An important composer of this music was John Cage.
 
Impressionism - this music is an offshoot of Romantic Program Music. Unlike the clear pictures in the Romantic Period Impressionism used blurry and vague impressions of what they are portraying.The most famous composers from this movement are Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel
 
Neo-Classical - "Neo" means new and Neo-Classical music is 20th Century music that is modeled after the music of the Classical Period. Neo-Classical music can sound very modern, but follows the structure of the Classical Period. Important composers include Igor Stravinsky and Paul Hindemith
 
Twelve Tone Music - In twelve tone music the composer uses the twelve notes that make up an octave of music in a row determined by the composer. Once all twelve tones have been used, the composer starts again at the beginning of the tone row
 
Electronic Music - In Electronic Music, composers use computers, synthesizers and other tecnological devices to create music. Multimedia performances where music is controlled by light beams or other devices.
 
Melodies in the 20th Century are very different than those of of previous periods. Melodies by some composers use ancient scales or scales form the Middle Ages and others use melodies that have large leaps and sue only a few notes.