Music of the Twentieth Century. Specifically, it

¶ … music of the Twentieth Century. Specifically, it will compare music of the Twentieth Century to the music of a previous period, and include information about the significance of composers in society, the role of music in the societal landscape, and the evolution of musical forms through the centuries.

Twentieth Century music embodies so many different forms and types that it is difficult to lump it together under one heading. In the United States, the Twentieth Century brought music listeners everything from Gershwin to rap and blues to headbanging. Just as America is a rich cultural melting pot, her music is just as rich and varied, and this is nowhere more evident than in the Twentieth Century.

At the turn of the Twentieth Century, most of America listened to opera and classical music - much of it from some of Europe's most famous composers of the previous centuries, such as Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and Mendelssohn. Many music experts believe, however, that the roots of American cultural music were already planted in the form of folk music, gospel, spirituals, and an emergence of American composers whose voice began to differ from the popular European composers. As early as the teens, jazz and blues were beginning to become known, and these two forms of popular music would make a profound effect on the people's listening tastes in the Twentieth Century. One critic notes, "Unquestionably, the most significant contribution made to music by the United States in the period under discussion lay in the field of popular music" (Hansen 84). Jazz used unusual syncopation and "blues notes," which involved a modification of the major scale. Jazz and the blues evolved from black spirituals and folk music of the South, and spread from New Orleans to Chicago and the East. Eventually, jazz would influence later styles of music, such and bebop and swing. Jazz helped create a popular music craze that swept the country, and continues today. Americans still listen to more popular music than anything else, from rap to country to rock and roll. Jazz also influenced other forms of music, as the compositions of George Gershwin and Aaron Copland clearly show. Nowhere is that more apparent than in "Rhapsody in Blue," which can switch from bawdy all out jazz, to a classical piano solo, and then the lush and romantic orchestration of strings in just a few bars. The music of the Twentieth Century embodies change, for it has changed many times, just as music of the Nineteenth Century evolved throughout its history.

Music has always played a pivotal part in the landscape of society, from blacks signing spirituals in the cotton fields, to the drawing rooms and concert halls of Europe. Music can arouse strong emotions in the listener, and evoke equally strong intellectual reactions. For example, many people find modern rap music offensive and pornographic, and yet it is one of the most popular forms of music today. In the Nineteenth Century, romanticism was at its height, and romantic composers created lush compositions that appealed to the public, just as popular music appeals to the general public today. One composer, Berlioz, did not use a piano like most romantic composers; he used other instruments, and helped move the music to a new level. One critic said of Berlioz, "He knew the instruments, their capabilities and limitations, and he opened new avenues of tonecolor, discovered the relation between different emotions and instrumental timbres, and created a new orchestral language" (Bauer and Peyser 47). This willingness to grow and change musically is a common thread throughout musical history, and shows how experimentation in one century can lead to change and growth in another. Creating more "modern" classical music in the Nineteenth Century led directly to more experimentation in the Twentieth. Berlioz's work opened up doors for other composers to explore and invent, including masters such as Liszt, Wagner, and Bizet.

Composers have always been revered by society, and the part they play in the social fabric of a time is incredibly significant. The music of Copland and Gershwin embodies an age in American culture, just as the music of Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman embodies another time and place. Good composers can "feel" the time and place, and create music that embodies the spirit of the country and the people. This was never more evident than after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when people suddenly wanted to hear patriotic melodies, and several composers complied by writing touching tributes to America and the victims of the attacks. Composers have always created music that spoke of the people and the times, and as such, they are mirrors of society, and change in society. Jazz came about because the lifestyle of the people was changing, and they needed music that reflected these changes. Rap came about for the same reason, and so did rock and roll. All of these forms of music came about at the right time. Composers recognized the societal changes, and were not afraid to change with them.