20 Century Musical Styles: Electronic and Chance Music

20 Century
th
Musical Styles:
Electronic and
Chance Music
• New inventions and
discoveries of science and
technology lead to
continuing developments in
the field of music.
Technology has produced
• These devices
electronic musicaredevices
used for
creating and recording music
to add to or to replace
Music that uses the tape
recorder is called musique
concrete, or concrete music. The
composer records different
sounds that are heard in the
environment. These sounds are
arranged by the composer in
different ways like by playing
the tape recorder in its fastest
mode or in reverse. In musique
concrete, the composer is able
GARD VARESE (1883–196
Edgard (also spelled Edgar) Varèse was
born on December 22, 1883. He was
considered an “innovative French-born
composer.” However, he spent the
greater part of his life and career in the
United States, where he pioneered and
created new sounds that bordered
between music and noise. The musical
compositions of Varese are
characterized by an emphasis on timbre
and rhythm. He invented the term
“organized sound,” which means that
certain timbres and rhythms can be
grouped together in order to capture a
whole new definition of sound. Although
Varèse’s use of new instruments and electronic
resources made him the “Father of Electronic
Music” and he was described as the
“Stratospheric Colossus of Sound.” His musical
compositions total around 50, with his
advances in
Orchestral tape-based sound proving
Works
revolutionary(1918-21)
*Amériques during his *Hyperprism
time. He died on
November 6,1965.
(1923) *Octandre (1923) *Intégrales,
for woodwind and brass ensemble
(1924-25) *Arcana (1925-27)
*Ionisation, percussion (1929-31)
*Déserts, with optional tapes (1950-
54)
Voice & Orchestra

*Offrandes, soprano (1921)
Instrumental
*Density 21.5, solo flute
(1936)
Electronic
*Good Friday procession in
Verges (1955-56) *Poème
électronique (1957-58)
rlheinz Stockhaus
Karlheinz Stockhausen is a
central fi gure in the realm of
electronic music. Born in
Cologne, Germany, he had the
opportunity to meet the
principal innovators at the time.
Together with Pierre Boulez,
Stockhausen drew inspiration
from these composers as he
developed his style of total
S ERIALISM. Stockhausen’s music
was initially met with resistance
due to its heavily atonal content
Some of his works include :
*Gruppen (1957), a piece for three
orchestras that moved music
through time and space
*Kontakte (1960), a work that
pushed the tape machine to its
limits.
•The epic Hymnen (1965), an
ambitious two-hour work of 40
juxtaposed songs and anthems from
around the world.
*The climax of his compositional
ambition came in 1977 when he
announced the creation of Licht
*His recent Helicopter
String Quartet, in which a
string quartet performs
whilst airborne in four
different helicopters,
develops his long-standing
fascination with music
which moves in space.
*It has led him to dream of
concert halls in which the
sound attacks the listener
STUDIE II
Chance
Music
Chance music refers to a style
wherein the piece always sounds
different at every performance
because of the random techniques of
production, including the use of ring
modulators or natural elements that
become a part of the music. Most of
the sounds emanate from the
9 2
1 9
2 –
9 1
( 1
GE
C A
H N
JO
He was known as one of the 20th
century composers with the
widest array of sounds in his
works. He was born in Los
Angeles, California, USA on
September 5, 1912 and became
one of the most original
composers in the history of
western music. He experimented
with what came to be known as
“chance music.” In one instance,
Cage created a “prepared” piano,
*The prepared piano style
found its way into Cage’s
Sonatas and Interludes (1946–
1948), a cycle of pieces
containing a wide range of
sounds, rhythmic themes, and
a hypnotic quality.
*His involvement with Zen
Buddhism inspired him to
compose Music of Changes
(1951), written for
*He became famous for his
composition Four Minutes
and 33 Seconds (4’33"), a
chance musical work that
instructed the pianist to
merely open the piano lid
and remain silent for the
length of time indicated by
the title.
*He also advocated bringing
Cage influenced the development
of modern music since the 1950s.
He was considered more of a
musical philosopher than a
composer. His conception of what
music can and
CONCERT should
FOR be has
PIANO ANDhad
a profound impact 1958
ORCHESTRA, upon his
contemporaries. He was active as
a writer presenting his musical
views with both wit and
intelligence. Cage was an
important force in other artistic
Cage influenced the development
of modern music since the 1950s.
He was considered more of a
musical philosopher than a
composer. His conception of what
music can and should be has had
a profound impact upon his
contemporaries. He was active as
a writer presenting his musical
views with both wit and
intelligence. Cage was an
important force in other artistic
THE END  :*

20 Century Musical Styles: Electronic and Chance Music

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

20 Century Musical Styles: Electronic and Chance Music

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

20 Century Musical Styles: Electronic and Chance Music

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

20 Century

Voice & Orchestra

You might also like