20st Century Classical

Page 2

Music Theory

Lydian mode: famous examples throughout the music history

Major and minor modes are the most used diatonic scales in classical and popular music due to their versatile structure...
FILM

Symphonic scores by Erich Wolfgang Korngold established new standards in the film industry

Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austrian pianist and composer whose contribution to film music has actually set the...
ORCHESTRA

The symbiosis of music and architecture in mathematical glissandi by Iannis Xenakis

The rapid growth of technology in the 20th century led to the beginning of a new era in the music industry when the... 3 comments
Organ

Organ symphonies by Louis Vierne, an eminent maestro of Notre Dame de Paris

Louis Vierne was an outstanding musician, teacher and composer of organ music who for almost 40 years held the... 2 comments
ORCHESTRA

The Skaters' Waltz: subtle harmonies of romantic dance music by Emile Waldteufel

Les Patineurs Valse or the Skaters' Waltz is arguably the most famous of Émile Waldteufel's works. A late Romantic ...
Percussion

First ever composition for solo percussion by Edgard Varèse ionized Zappa to choose a career in music

Edgard Varèse was one of the most innovative composers of the 20th century who not only developed his own concept of... 1 comment
ORCHESTRA

Abdelazer: Purcell's suite for the failed play gained popularity thanks to Britten's arrangement for children

Abdelazer, or The Moor's Revenge, is a 1676 play by Aphra Behn who is considered to be one of the first known English...
PIANO

Ferruccio Busoni as a great piano transcriber of Bach's keyboard music

Ferruccio Busoni was an Italian pianist, composer and theoretical writer whose creative period fell on the transitional... 1 comment
Nature Sounds

Cantus Arcticus: bird calls arranged for orchestra by Einojuhani Rautavaara were taped in Northern Finland

Cantus Arcticus is a three-part orchestral work created by the eminent Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara with the... 1 comment
Music Theory

Classic examples of the Phrygian mode through the music eras

From Middle Ages to modernity, Western music has been largely based on diatonic scales that organize seven notes into... 4 comments
TECHNOLOGIES

Pianola: the reproducing piano as the first Hi-Fi player and preservation capsule for recitals on piano rolls

Long before the recording era, mankind was already looking for ways to play music automatically. The earliest known... 1 comment
Classical Guitar

Serenata Española by Joaquim Malats: the piano piece that conquered guitar world

Serenata Española, written by Spanish piano virtuoso Joaquim Malats, has been the most popular work among guitarists for...
SYNTHESIZER

The analog synthesizers of Isao Tomita programming fresh sound for all-time classics

Japanese composer Isao Tomita was one of the first to explore analog synthesizers in search for new sounds that would...
Choir

Gershwin's Summertime: the most recorded song draws inspiration from Ukrainian lullaby and African American spiritual

Written by the American composer George Gershwin in 1934, Summertime aria is now the most recorded song in the history... 3 comments
Nature Sounds

Why birds sing their songs: great maestros proving the musicality of nightingale, cuckoo, yellowhammer

It is no coincidence that the sounds emitted by birds are known in many languages as "songs", rather than simple animal... 1 comment
Koto

Michio Miyagi & Renée Chemet: near century-old collaboration of koto and violin linking Japanese traditions with Western classic

In the first half of the 20th century, many Asian composers sought a way to represent their cultures on the global scene...
PIANO

Gymnopédies: the ambient genre predicted by piano gems of late Romanticism

The term ambient music was introduced in the 1970s by the famous English experimenter Brian Eno who used newly invented...
Choir

5 African states adopted the liberation song by Enoch Sontonga as the national anthem

Nkosi Sikelel 'iAfrika has been the most frequently sung tune throughout the African continent for over a hundred years...
ORCHESTRA

Traditions of 3 countries woven into the music of neglected Asian composer Chiang Wen-Yeh

The life path of the prominent Asian composer Chiang Wen-Yeh is closely connected to the three countries—Taiwan, Japan,...
ORCHESTRA

The multicultural heritage of Granville Bantock from Celtic folk music to Eastern philosophy of Omar Khayyám

Granville Bantock was one of the most cheerful English composers whose rich heritage comprised more than 800 works which...
Classical Guitar

The major chapter of guitar history introduced by María Luisa Anido

The exceptional Argentine guitarist, composer and teacher María Luisa Anido played a crucial role in the expansion of...
Erhu

The Erhu fiddle melody recorded by blind Abing spread worldwide revealing composition methods of Chinese folk music

One of the most recognizable Chinese folk tunes, Erquan Yingyue, also called The Moon Reflected on the Er-Quan Spring,...
Game

Nobuo Uematsu refreshed prog rock concepts for his epic Final Fantasy score

Being a self-taught musician, Nobuo Uematsu accidentally entered the world of video game development where, quite...
KORA

African bard Foday Musa Suso represents griot culture by mixing kora music with Western minimalism and jazz

The most important role in the preservation of tradition in the culture of West Africa has been played by...
Choir

Māori singing tradition arranged for Rotorua choir by Alfred Hill

The impressive vocal traditions of the Māori people were first reported by Captain James Cook who explored the coast of...
Violin

Ma Sicong sentenced to exile after seeking Chinese harmony for his violin

One of the most gifted Chinese violinists, Ma Sicong endured a challenging fate when he was forced to flee the Cultural...
FLUTE

Japanese traditions meet Western avant-garde in reflective tunes of Toshio Hosokawa

Japanese contemporary composer of extraordinary aerial themes, Toshio Hosokawa, draws inspiration from the ancient...
ORCHESTRA

Only 3 Mantras survived from Sanskrit opera Avatara by John Foulds

One of the greatest areas of music history still remaining largely uncharted is the influence of Indian philosophy on...
Erhu

The renaissance of Chinese Erhu fiddle led by Liu Tianhua

Made from exotic woods and snakeskin, the erhu fiddle is the most common ethnic instrument used in both orchestral and...
ORCHESTRA

The attractive sounds of Nordic Romanticism of Wilhelm Stenhammar

Swedish pianist Wilhelm Stenhammar was one of the few composers who remained faithful to the ideas of Romanticism in the...

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