Ms. Handspicker's Music Blog!: The 20th Century

The 20th Century

After using these resources, you should be able to answer these questions:

1. How did TECHNOLOGY affect the development of music?
2. What are some of the different STYLES of 20th Century "classical" music?
3. What major national and world EVENTS propelled new thoughts and ideas about music?

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Main Themes:

Breaking the established musical rules with melody, harmony, and form
Bringing back old rules in a new way (this is the neo in neo-Classicism and neo-Romanticism, etc.)
Demonstrating clear political, religious, and ideological beliefs
Reflecting the events of the time

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Main Styles
Unlike the periods we have learned about before, the 20th Century can not be defined simply by one set of characteristics. Just as technology developed faster and faster, so did art and music. In the 20th Century, we see art forms breaking into different styles. Some are below:

minimalism -- using one or few ideas -- as little information as possible
nationalism -- expressing identity with one's culture
impressionism -- forming vague suggestions of subjects rather than clear pictures
expressionism -- dissonant, powerful emotional messages
surrealism -- distorted reality-- dream-like
aleatory/chance -- music that is half-written, and half expected to be made up or decided by the performer
avant-garde -- pushing boundaries
neo-Classicism-- bringing back forms and ideas from the Classical period and adding new ideas to them

for more, visit this ThinkQuest page

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About the 20th Century in music
Dates, historical events, etc.

Essentials of Music
(ASK about some of these words!)
Music History 102
(This includes some composers, too!)
Capistrano School
ThinkQuest

Musical Traits
ThinkQuest Musical Traits

Composers

Sphinx Kids Composer's Gallery
(Click on STYLE, and then "20th Century")
Capistrano School
ThinkQuest Composers

Instruments

Synthesizer
Daxophone
Marimba

Art

ThinkQuest "Styles of Art"-- 20th Century
A Lifetime of Color

Architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright
Sculpture by Pablo Picasso
Cubism
"Bridge at Giverny" by Claude Monet
Impressionism

Mark Rothko "Orange and Tan"
Abstract Expressionism

Salvador Dali "The Persistence of Time"
Surrealism

Jackson Pollack "Black Over Colors"
Abstract Expressionism

M.C. Escher "Stairs"
Surrealism

Technology Timeline

1902	the first radio signal across the Atlantic Ocean.
1904	First regular comic books.
1906	all electronic signals to be amplified improving all electronic communications i.e. telephones and radios.
1910	Thomas Edison demonstrated the first talking motion picture.
1914	First cross continental telephone call made.
1916	First radios with tuners - different stations.
1923	The television or invented - first television camera.
1925	first experimental television signal.
1926	Warner Brothers Studios invented a way to record sound separately from the film on large disks and synchronized the sound and motion picture tracks upon playback - an improvement on Thomas Edison's work.
1927	First television broadcasts in England. Warner Brothers releases "The Jazz Singer" the first successful talking motion picture.
1930	"Golden Age" of radio. First television broadcasts in the United States.
1934	first tape recorder for broadcasting - first magnetic recording.
1938	Television broadcasts able to be taped and edited - rather than only live.
1939	Scheduled television broadcasts begin.
1944	Computers put into public service - government owned - the age of Information Science begins.
1948	Long playing record invented Transistor invented - enabling the miniaturization of electronic devices.
1949	Network television starts in U.S.
1951	Computers are first sold commercially.
1958	photocopier invented
1966	the first successful fax machine.
1969	ARPANET - the first Internet started.
1971	floppy disc invented. The microprocessor invented - considered a computer on a chip.
1972	HBO invents pay-TV service for cable.
1976	Apple I home computer invented. First nationwide programming - via satellite
1979	First cellular phone communication network started in Japan..
1980	Sony Walkman invented.
1981	IBM PC first sold. First laptop computers sold to public. Computer mouse becomes regular part of computer.
1983	First cellular phone network started in the United States.
1984	Apple Macintosh released. IBM PC AT released.
1985	Cellular telephones in cars become wide-spread. CD-ROMs in computers.
1994	American government releases control of internet and WWW is born - making communication at lightspeed.