Music Through the Centuries
by Don Robertson

© 2005 by Rising World Entertainment

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Part 6 - The Twentieth Century

The European classical music tradition underwent a tremendous revolt during the first fifteen years of the twentieth century and the effects of this revolt, lead by the two most influential composers of the century, Arnold Schönberg and Igor Stravinsky, influenced the music of the entire century.

Perhaps the first stirrings of this revolt came from Gustav Mahler, beginning in 1896 with the daring first movement of his 3rd Symphony. But the tables really turned during the first decade of the 20th century with the early works of Arnold Schönberg, and the prophetic doom of Anton Webern's 1909 Six Pieces for Orchestra (sample). In 1913, two bold performances caused near riots among attendees, and the ball kept rolling as negative music dug its heels in for the long haul. 

This treatise on the Twentieth Century is in six parts:

-> Part One: Atonality 

-> Part Two: Noise 

-> Part Three: The Ostracism of the Tonal Composers 

-> Part Four: The Hero From Across the Sea 

-> Part Five: The Return to Tonality 

-> Part Six: New Age Music 

  Go to the Next Century