Twentieth-century music is no longer “contemporary” music; it has become yet another complex and multifaceted notch along the continuum of musical history. We can now examine with reasonable objectivity the influence and permanence of a diverse range of composers, from the once-radical (Schoenberg, Varese) to the once-reactionary (Rachmaninov, Copland), while also distinguishing the various “-isms”: primitivism (Prokofiev, Orff), neoclassicism (Stravinsky, Les Six), minimalism, post-minimalism, and neospirituality (Reich, Adams, Gorecki). We will also study those figures that defy classification, such as Shostakovich, Britten, Bartok, and Hindemith.
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