I hope that you have enjoyed taking a journey through the 20th century of America and learned about many of the interesting contemporary styles of music. Popular music was not discussed in this presentation because its origins and purpose were very different from those of classical music. The only real connection that needs to be made is improvisation in jazz/blues music and classical chance music. Composers and Songwriters of America in the 20th century had the sole job of reflecting society and the history of the nation through the style of music they wrote. Leaving a lot up to the performer or artist was a common theme in all forms of music in general because it allowed the performer to be in total control and took away the feel of established styles and conformity. People wanted to do their own thing and stop being told what to do so that everything was always the same. These art forms allowed people to take control and reflect their own views through music and lyrics so that they could spread their views to others and communicate as a society.

The 1900s were a time of many historical changes that were reflected in the music. Neoclassicism, neoromanticism and impressionism were all transitional forms of music from previous centuries to the modern era, just as the early early 1900s were still a time of social conformity. In the 1920s, after World War I, the US went into a very isolationist, flourishing decade. Innovations in all art forms were being made, and this is when the first ideas of atonality were really introduced and encouraged to go along with the beginnings of a nonconformist society. These new, radical ideas were all really being pushed, but as soon as the 1930s hit and brought The Great Depression, musical movements kind of went into a lull. Composers began to think about compositions with hypnosis as a calming effect on a damaged society, but really no new ideas were introduced, and if they were, they were not easily accepted because the nation was not very concerned about music. They just wanted a job, a home, and some food. After we got out of the Depression, things started to pick up again through the forties. When we hit the 50s and 60s, the biggest musical innovations occurred with more advanced atonality, polytonality, aleatory, serialism and minimalism. These movements continued to progress through the rest of the 20th century, but because of the turmoil with foreign relations, civil rights, women's rights, and the cold war, the 50s and 60s were a time of a lot of disillusionment and people desperately needed to have something like music to distract them and help them make sense of everything. History and musical movements have gone hand in hand for the past century of America.

On the next few pages you will find a graphic organizers, additional pictures, sound samples, questions for thought and additional research. I hope that you have learned a lot from this presentation, and feel free to contact me at khochgraf@comcast.net if you have any questions or are in need of any clarification!