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CLASSICAL MUSICASSOCIATED WITH POLITICAL EVENTS
Music in
the early part of the Twentieth century brought radical new developments
in science and art. It was a
time of revolt. More
changes in the language of music have taken place than anything else. There have been new approaches to
the organization of pitch and rhythm and a vast expansion in the
vocabulary of sounds, especially percussive sounds. From the late 1600s to about 1900,
musical structure was governed by certain general principles. Since 1900, no single system has
governed the organization of pitch in all musical compositions. Each piece will have more of its
own unique system of pitch relationships.
In the first half of the twentieth century, the concert and
operatic repertory was dominated by music from earlier periods rather than
by contemporary works. After
1900, listeners and performers were often baffled by the dissonances,
percussive sounds, and irregular rhythms in some of the new music.
After World War I, organizations were formed for the specific
purpose of giving the public a greater opportunity to hear new music.
Composers have come a long way following the Great War known as
World War I. German musician
suffered in the United States during the war. The war hysteria had degenerated
into sheer hate. Several
American cities-Pittsburgh among them- had banned all German music, and
even the most respected German musicians had cause for Alarm. After the war, German musicians
and the works of the German masters were welcomed back, but the strong
German influence was broken.
The American concept of great symphonic music proliferated within a
few years to include the modern French, Russian, and Scandinavian
composers particularly.
The pluralization in music that followed Wold War I joined with the
nativism that was currently sweeping the country to provide the
flexibility and the justification for giving American compositions a
greater hearing. Whereas
American orchestras had been reluctant earlier to play works by native
musicians, it became somewhat fashionable after the war to include
American pieces on symphonic programs and, what was even more desirable,
to introduce domestic works that had never been publicly performed. The American composer remained
more valued as a curiosity than for his genius, but the initial cracks in
the foreign monopoly of the serious instrumental repertory were becoming
vaguely discernible. Here is a collection of music links for your enjoyment. Collections
NWC
Scriptorium, a collection of music files in NWC format. Not all of
them are classical music |
