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20th Century Music 101:
The Introduction
BY Steve Hicken
Like you, when the 20th Century ended I
knew there was one thing I had to do: make a list. I had seen a number
of lists concerning “classical” music
and they all seemed to have an ax to grind. The lists are generally skewed
toward one style or another, tilted geographically, or slanted towards
certain genres or decades. Because of this skewing, none of the lists
I saw captured the true richness and diversity of the century. In fact,
they weren’t attempting to give that kind of picture.
The last half of the century was beset by intensive “style
wars” wherein critics and composers wed to one style or another
attempted to marginalize the supporters and practitioners of other styles — to
silence them.
One side in the style wars would argue that the compositions produced
by the other side was “not music,” was “ugly,” contemptuous
of the audience and otherwise reprehensible. The other side would accuse
the first of producing compositions that were shallow, nostalgic, contemptuous
of the audience and otherwise reprehensible.
It is a widely held notion that concert music is in
decline. Falling CD sales, failing orchestras, and an aging audience are
often cited as evidence of this decline. CD sales are down in general — and
I’m not convinced CDs are the best way to distribute performances
of concert music anyway — orchestras
are but one performance venue for concert music, and the population itself
is aging. This is not to say that concert music isn’t in decline,
but it is to point out that the situation is more complex than it may
appear at first glance.
What concerns me as a composer, critic and fan of
concert music is that there seems to be less intellectual space for the
music in contemporary life. Concert music does not have the place in
the lives of educated people that it had even 30 years ago. How has this
occurred? Some critics of Modernism say that that music’s difficulty
has driven audiences away, even from concerts without any modernist music
on the program.
| I’ve
come to see that the biggest reason for the decline in the institution
of concert music must be “style wars”-type criticism. |
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I have always been skeptical of this argument because
of the relative paucity of modernism in concerts, especially in the United
States. Composers, modernist or otherwise, have never been a central
part of public musical life here. They
have largely remained behind the scenes, silent. Occasionally, immigrant
composers, notably Igor Stravinsky, become celebrities in the United
States, but those few exceptions only serve to highlight how our own
composers remain unknown to the public at large.
I’ve come to see that the biggest reason for
the decline in the institution of concert music must be style wars-type
criticism. Style warriors
actively seek to deny performances to the pieces they don’t approve
of. The result is, of course, that roughly half of the reviews of every
piece will likely ignore what the piece actually sounds like,
what the composer may have had in mind when writing it, or anything else
that might result in bringing an understanding of the composition to
the public. Instead the piece will be shown to be a waste of time. And
both sides will be victorious, because there will be fewer performances
(and recordings) of the offending pieces. Also, CD sales will decline,
orchestras fold, and the audience will get older.
When I started to make my list, I set out to name
pieces that, taken as a group, would give a reasonably complete picture
of the concert music of the 20th Century. I have taken care that the
important genres are represented, as well as the prominent compositional
and performance trends of the century. There is an arbitrary limit of
three pieces by any one composer, and most of the composers listed could
have different pieces on this list and more on a longer list. I’ve
revised the list several times (at least twice during the writing of
this Introduction). All of the important styles are represented, I think.
There are 101 pieces on this list, for no particular
reason.
In future installments, I intend to discuss some of
the pieces in detail, describing their sound and giving some of the context
out of which they were written. My mission is this: I want to help open
up the space for concert music and to create a presence for it in contemporary
life, using the music of the century just past in all its diversity,
difficulty, wonder and poetry.
101 Essential Pieces of 20th Century Concert Music
Adams, John Naïve and Sentimental
Music
Barber, Samuel Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Barber, Samuel Piano Sonata
Bartók, Béla Concerto for Orchestra
Bartók, Béla Music for Strings, Percussion,
and Celesta
Bartók, Béla String Quartet 3
Berg, Alban Violin Concerto
Berg, Alban Wozzeck
Berio, Luciano Sinfonia
Bernstein, Leonard Symphonic Dances from West Side
Story
Boulez, Pierre Répons
Britten, Benjamin Peter Grimes
Britten, Benjamin War Requiem
Busoni, Ferrucio Piano Concerto
Cage, John 4'33"
Cage, John Sonatas and Interludes
Carter, Elliott String Quartet 1
Carter, Elliott Symphonia: Sum Fluxae Pretium Spei
Copland, Aaron Billy the Kid
Copland, Aaron Piano Variations
Copland, Aaron Appalachian Spring
Corigliano, John Violin Sonata
Crawford, Ruth Quartet
Debussy, Claude La Mer
Debussy, Claude Preludes
Debussy, Claude Sonata for flute, viola, and harp
Elgar, Edward Cello Concerto
de Falla, Manuel Nights in the Gardens of Spain
Feldman, Morton Rothko Chapel
Gershwin, George Porgy and Bess
Gershwin, George Rhapsody in Blue
Glass, Philip Einstein on the Beach
Granados, Ernesto Goyescas
Gubaidulina, Sofia Offertorium
Henze, Hans Werner The Bassarids
Hindemith, Paul Mathis der Maler
Hindemith, Paul Symphonic Metamophoses on a Theme by
Weber
Holst, Gustav Planets
Honneger, Arthur Pacific 231
Ives, Charles The Unanswered Question
Janacek, Leos Makropulos Case
Janacek, Leos Quartet 2
Janacek, Leos Sinfonietta
Korngold, Erich von Violin Concerto
Ligeti, György Etudes
Ligeti, György Le Grand Macabre
Lutoslawski, Witold Concerto for Orchestra
Mahler, Gustav Das Lied von Der Erde
Mahler, Gustav Symphony 6
Mahler, Gustav Symphony 9
Martin, Frank Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments
Martinu, Bohuslav Symphony 2
Maw, Nicholas Odyssey
Messiaen, Olivier Quatour pour la fin du temps
Messiaen, Olivier Turangalîla-Symphonie
Milhaud, Darius La Création du Monde
Nielsen, Carl Symphony 4
Pärt, Arvo Tabula Rasa
Penderecki, Krzysztof Threnody
Poulenc, Francois Dialogues du Carmelites
Prokofiev, Sergei Lt. Kije
Prokofiev, Sergei Sonata 7
Prokofiev, Sergei Violin Concerto 2
Puccini, Giacomo Madama Butterfly
Puccini, Giacomo Turandot
Rachmaninoff, Sergei Etudes Tableaux
Rachmaninoff, Sergei Piano Concerto 2
Rachmaninoff, Sergei Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Ravel, Maurice Bolero
Ravel, Maurice Piano Concerto in G
Reich, Steve Come Out
Respighi, Ottorino Pines of Rome
Riley, Terry In C
Rodrigo, Joaquin Concierto de Aranjuez
Satie, Erik Gymnopédies
Satie, Erik Parade
Schnittke, Alfred Concerto Grosso 1
Schönberg, Arnold Pierrot Lunaire
Schönberg, Arnold Five Pieces, Op. 23
Scriabin, Alexander Poeme d'Ecstases
Scriabin, Alexander Sonata 9
Shostakovich, Dmitri Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
Shostakovich, Dmitri String Quartet 8
Shostakovich, Dmitri Symphony 5
Sibelius, Jean Symphony 4
Sibelius, Jean Violin Concerto
Stockhausen, Karlheinz Gesang der Jünglinge
Strauss, Richard Ariadne auf Naxos
Strauss, Richard Four Last Songs
Stravinsky, Igor Le Sacre du Printemps
Stravinsky, Igor Symphonies of Wind Instruments
Stravinsky, Igor Symphony of Psalms
Szymanowski, Karol King Roger
Tavener, John Thunder Entered Her
Tippett, Michael King Priam
Varèse, Edgard Ionisation
Vaughan Williams, Ralph Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas
Tallis
Vaughan Williams, Ralph London Symphony
Walton, William Viola Concerto
Webern, Anton Six Bagatelles, Op. 9
Weill, Kurt Seven Deadly Sins
Xenakis, Iannis Pithoprakta
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