Famous composers
during the 20th Century
Ms. Mina
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
(1862-1918)
Born in Germain in France, August 22,
1862
One of the most important and
influential of the 20th century composers.
He entered the Paris Conservatory in
1873.
He gained a reputation as an erratic
pianist and rebel in theory and harmony
He won the top prize at the PRIX de
ROME competition with his composition
L Enfant Prodique (The Prodigal Son)
He was fascinated by Javanese Gamelan
In terms of visual arts, he was influenced
by Monet, Manet, Picasso, Deagas, and
Renoir.
Debussy spent the remaining years of his
life as a critic, composer, and performer.
He died in Paris, of CANCER.
He was the credited with the
establishment of the whole tone scale
Composition: Claire de Lune
Born in Cibourne, France
Entered the Paris
Conservatory at the age of
14
The compositional style of
Ravel is mainly
characterized by its
uniquely innovative but not
atonal style of harmonic
treatment.
Many of his works deal with
water in its flowing or
stormy moods as well as
with human
characterizations.
He was perfectionist and
every bit a musical forms
JOSEPH MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937)
JOSEPH MAURICE RAVEL:
He is strongly adhered to the classical form
especially its ternary structure
A strong advocate of Russian music
He also admired the music of Chopin, Liszt,
Schubert, and Mendelssohn
He was described as formal and exacting in
the development of his motive ideas.
(personality)
His approach was attentive to the classical
norms of musical structure and
compositional craftsmanship.
Famous composition: BOLERO
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG (1874-1951)
Born in Vienna, Austria
> An Austrian Jewish composer
He taught himself music theory but took lessons
counterpoint
It was Richard Wagner a German composer who
influences his work
He explored the use of chromatic harmonies
His music was extremely complex,
creating heavy demands on the listener
He died on July 13, 1951 in Los Angeles
California, USA.
He was credited with the establishment of
the twelve tone scale.
Famous Compositions:
1. Pierrot Lunaire
IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882
-1971)
Born in Russia
Son of an opera- singer
Turned from law to music after meeting
Rimsky Korsakov
His music reflected the influence of his
teacher Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov
His music is also very structured, precise,
controlled, full of artifice and theatrically.
A composer who established new trends in
music
He also combined the traditional and modern
trends in his music
His earliest works in favor of a more absolute or
neo classical style
He also introduced the multi meter and
syncopation.
Multi-meter=using different meter signatures
in a composition.
Syncopation= placing an accent on normally
weak beats in a measure.
He died in New York City April 6, 1971.
Famous Compositions:
1. The Firebird suite(1910)- first successful
masterpiece
2. The Rite of Spring(1913)- another outstanding
work
Famous Compositions:
1. The Firebird suite(1910)- first successful
masterpiece
2. The Rite of Spring(1913)- another
outstanding work
3. The Ballet Petrouchka(1911)- featuring
shifting rhytms and polytonality, a
signature device of the composer
4. The Rakers Progres (1951)- a full length
opera
BELA BARTOK ( 1881-1945)
born in Hungary
Started his piano lessons with his mother
He was inspired with the performance of
Richard Strauss
He was a concert pianist as he travelled
exploring the music of Hungarian peasants
1906 when Bela Bartok published his first
collection of 20 Hungarian Folk Songs
As nationalist, primitivist, and neoclassicist composer, Bartok used Hungarian
Folk Themes and rhythms.
Admired the musical style of Liszt, Strauss, Debussy,
and Stravinsky.
He uses polyrhythm and polytonality.
Polytonality- simultaneous combination of two or more
tonalities in a composition.
Polyrhythm- using two or more different rhythms
played at the same time.
Famous Compositions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Six string quartets- represents the greatest achievement of
creative life spanning a full 30 years for their completion.
Allegro Barbaro- for solo piano is punctuated with swirling
and percussive chords
Mikrokosmos- a set of 6 books containign progressive
technical piano pieces introduced and familiarized the
piano student with contemporary harmony and rhythm.
Concerto for Orchestra- features the exceptional talents of
its various soloist in an intricately constructed piece
SERGIE PROKOFIEFF (1891-1953)
Born in Ukraine
His early compositions were branded as
Avant-Garde
He is a Neo-classicist, Naturalist, and
Avant-Garde composer.
His style consists of:
1. Progressive technique
2. Pulsating rhythms,
3. Melodic directness
4. Resolving dissonance
. He was given to write a Ballet and
Opera with the help of Stravinsky and
Diaghilev
.
He became prolific in Writing
symphonies, chamber music, concert
and solo instrumental music
Famous Compositions:
a. Ballet- Romeo and Juliet
b. Opera- War and Peace
c. Peter and the Wolf- a lighthearted work
intended for children
d. Symphony no.1 (also known as Classical
Symphony) most accessible orchestral
work linked to the combined styles of
classicist.
FRANCIS JEAN MARCEL POLENC (18991963)
Born in wealth and privileged social position
A neo-classist and was a member of the group
of young French composers known as :LES SIX.
Rejected the heavy Romanticism of Wagner
and imprecision of Debussy and Ravel.
Characteristics of his Music:
A. cooley elegant modernity tempered by a
classical sense of proportion
B. Fond of witty approach of Satre as well as
the early neo-classical works of Stravinsky.
C. A successful composer for piano, voice
and school music.
Famous Composition:
1. Harpsichord Concerto-also known as
Concert Champetre (1928)
2. Concerto for two pianos (1932)
3.Concerto for solo piano (1949)
4. Perpetual Motion No. 1
GEORGE GERSHWIN (18981937)
Born in New York to Russian- Jewish
Immigrants
Fascinated with classical music
Influenced by Ravel, Stravinsky, Berg,
Schoenberg and the group of LES SIX
Considered as the FATHER of AMERICAN JAZZ
his mixture of primitivism and sophisticated
gave his music appeal that lasted long after his
death.
Famous Composition: Somewhere
LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918-1990)
Born in Massachusetts, USA
He was known as charismatic conductor,
pianist, composer and lecturer.
>He later turned to conducting and
lecturing in order to safeguard his
principles to what he believed was best in
music.
ACHIEVEMENTS:
Conducting and composing for
Broadway, musicals, dance shows and
concert music.
Famous Compositions:
1. West side story (1957)
2. American version of Romeo and Juliet
3. Candide (1956)
4. Mass (1971)
As lecturer:
* he was remembered for his television
series Young Peoples Concerts (19581973)- he demonstrated the sounds of the
various orchestral instruments and
explained basic principles to young
audiences.
One of his famous song:
TONIGHT
PHILIP GLASS (1937-)
o Successful MINIMALIST composer.
oAlso known as an Avnt-Garde composer
oKnown for his ballet, opera, theater, film
and television jingles.
oBorn in New York, USA
oJewish
oAccomplished violinist and fluist at age 15
oFascinated by the music of the renowned
Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar.
oHe combined his signature repetitive and
overlapping style to produce the following
songs:
1. trilogy-Satyaghara (1980)
2. Akhnaten (1984)- based on the lives of
Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King
And Egyptian Pharoah.
Famous Song: MUSIC IN FIFTHS
JOHN CAGE (1912-1992)
Born in Los Angeles, California USA
One of the most original composers in
the history of Western Music
He experimented Chance Music
Considered more of musical philosopher
than a composer
He challenged the very idea of music by
manipulating musical instruments in
order to create new sounds.
he was the one who influenced the
development of modern music since
1950s
He was active as a writer presenting his
musical views with both wit and
intelligence.
Famous composition: Four minutes and
Thirty seconds Total Silence.
