Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of
modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945
modern musical forms.
Categorization
Generally "contemporary classical music" amounts to:
* The modern forms of art music
The post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern
(including serial music, electroacoustic music, musique concrète, experimental music, atonal music, minimalist music, etc.)
the post-1975 forms of this music
(including post-modern music, Spectral music, post-minimalism, sound art, etc.)
History
Background
At the beginning of the 20th century, composers of classical music were experimenting with an increasingly dissonant pitch language, which sometimes yielded atonal pieces. Following World War I, as a backlash against what they saw as the increasingly exaggerated gestures and formlessness of late Romanticism, certain composers adopted a neoclassic style, which sought to recapture the balanced forms and clearly perceptible thematic processes of earlier styles; see also New Objectivity and Social Realism). After World War II, modernist composers sought to achieve greater levels of control in their composition process (e.g., through the use of the twelve tone technique and later total serialism). At the same time, conversely, composers also experimented with means of abdicating control, exploring indeterminacy or aleatoric processes in smaller or larger degrees. Technological advances led to the birth of electronic music. Experimentation with tape loops and repetitive textures contributed to the advent of minimalism. Still other composers started exploring the theatrical potential of the musical performance (performance art, mixed media, fluxus).
1945–75
To some extent, European and the US traditions diverged after World War II. Among the most influential composers in Europe were
Pierre Boulez,
Luigi Nono, and
Karlheinz Stockhausen. The first and last were both pupils of
Olivier Messiaen. The dominant aesthetic at this time was integral or 'total'
serialism, which took the ideas of
Anton Webern as a model and became increasingly focussed on complexity.
In America composers like Milton Babbitt, John Cage, Elliott Carter, Henry Cowell, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, George Rochberg, and Roger Sessions, formed their own ideas. Many of these composers represented a new methodology of experimental music, which began to question fundamental notions of music such as notation, performance, duration, and repetition, while others fashioned their own extensions of the twelve-tone serialism of Schoenberg.
Developments since the 1970s
Since the 1970s there has been increasing stylistic variety, with far too many schools to count, name or label. However, in general, there are two broad trends.
* The first is the continuation of modern avant-garde musical traditions and experimental music.
The second are schools that seek to revitalize tonal style found in traditional western music.
Movements
Modernism
Many of the key figures of the high modern movement are alive, or only recently deceased, and there is also still an extremely active core of composers (e.g.,
Elliott Carter), performers, and listeners who continue to advance the ideas and forms of Modernism.
Serialism is one of the most important post-war movements among the high modernist schools. Serialism, more specifically named "integral" or "compound" serialism, was led by composers such as Pierre Boulez, Bruno Maderna, Luigi Nono, and Karlheinz Stockhausen in Europe, and by Milton Babbitt, Donald Martino, and Charles Wuorinen in the United States. Some of their compositions use an ordered set or several such sets, which may be the basis for the whole composition, while others use "unordered" sets for the same purpose. The term is also often used for dodecaphony, or twelve-tone technique, which is alternatively regarded as the model for integral serialism.
Active modernist composers include Harrison Birtwistle, Alexander Goehr, Thomas Adès, Magnus Lindberg and Gunther Schuller.
Electronic music
Computer music
Between 1975 and 1990, a shift in the paradigm of computer technology had taken place, making electronic music systems affordable and widely accessible. The personal computer had become an essential component of the electronic musician’s equipment, entirely superseding analog synthesizers and fulfilling the traditional functions of the computer in music for composition and scoring, synthesis and sound processing, control over external synthesizers and other performance equipment, and the sampling of audio input.
Spectral music
Epitomized by the works of such composers as
Hugues Dufourt,
Gérard Grisey,
Tristan Murail, and
Horaţiu Rădulescu, "spectral music" implies the use of the
spectrum of a sound as a basis of composition.
A number of spectral composers are from Romania; these include Iancu Dumitrescu, Octav Nemescu, Ana-Maria Avram, Costin, Calin Ioachimescu, and Corneliu Cezar. Other spectral composers include Philippe Hurel, Michael Levinas, and Phillippe Leroux, Joshua Fineberg, and Julian Anderson.
Post-modernism
The influence of postmodernism in music is vast, but the definition of what constitutes "postmodern music" is open to interpretation.
Musicians often associated with the term include: Scottish composer James MacMillan (who draws on sources as diverse as plainchant, South American 'liberation theology', Scottish folksongs, and Polish avant-garde techniques of the 1960s), the American Michael Torke (drawing on European music of the early 19th century, minimalism, jazz, and popular music), and Mark-Anthony Turnage from the UK (drawing from jazz, rock, Stravinsky, and Berg).
Polystylism (eclecticism)
Some authors equate polystylism with
eclecticism, while others make a sharp distinction.
Polystylism is the use of multiple
styles or of music, sometimes within the same composition, and is seen as a
postmodern characteristic. Polystylist composers include
Luciano Berio,
William Bolcom,
Peter Maxwell Davies,
Sofia Gubaidulina,
Hans Werner Henze,
George Rochberg,
Frederic Rzewski,
Alfred Schnittke,
Frank Zappa and
John Zorn.
Historicism
Musical historicism—the use of historical materials, structures, styles, techniques, media, conceptual content, etc., whether by a single composer or those associated with a particular school, movement, or period—is evident to varying degrees in minimalism, post-minimalism, world-music, and other genres in which tonal traditions have been sustained or have undergone a significant revival in recent decades. Some post-minimalist works employ medieval and other genres associated with early music, such as the "Oi me lasso" and other
laude of
Gavin Bryars. Other composers have assimilated elements of medieval, renaissance, baroque, classical, or romantic styles in varying degrees, including
Benjamin Bagby,
Thomas Binkley,
Easley Blackwood,
René Clemencic,
Joseph Dillon Ford,
Vladimir Godar,
Ladislav Kupkovič,
Winfried Michel,
George Rochberg,
Christopher Rouse and
Jordi Savall.
Peter Schickele wrote works that parody many different styles of classical music and often draws upon specific works for its inspiration. They were mostly published as albums under the name of P. D. Q. Bach, a composer he invented and then pretended to have discovered among the children of J.S. Bach. Some of these works are published under his own name, however, such as Eine Kleine Nichtmusik a work which layers quotes from other classical music and many folk melodies over the top of a complete performance of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.
The historicist movement is closely related to the emergence of musicology and the Early Music Revival. A number of historicist composers have been influenced by their intimate familiarity with the instrumental practices of earlier periods (Hendrik Bouman, Grant Colburn, Michael Talbot, Alexandre Danilevsky, Paulo Galvão, Roman Turovsky-Savchuk). The musical historicism movement has also been stimulated by the formation of such international organizations as the Delian Society and Vox Saeculorum.
Neo-romanticism
The vocabulary of extended tonality, which flourished in the late 19th and very early 20th centuries, continues to be used throughout the contemporary period. It never has been considered shocking or controversial in the larger musical world—as has been demonstrated statistically for the United States, at least (Straus 1999, 322–29, et passim). Composers who have worked in the neoromantic vein after 1975 include
John Williams,
John Corigliano,
George Rochberg (in some of his works),
David Del Tredici,
Ladislav Kupkovič,
Gian Carlo Menotti,
Krzysztof Penderecki,
Isang Yun,
Christopher Rouse,
Lorenzo Ferrero, and
Ennio Morricone
Art rock influence
Similarly, many composers have emerged since the 1980s who are heavily influenced by
art rock. Many, such as
Scott Johnson,
Steven Mackey, and
Tim Hodgkinson, started out as rock musicians and only later moved into the realm of scored music. Other notable composers who draw on rock include
Christopher Rouse,
Marc Mellits,
Evan Ziporyn,
Julia Wolfe,
Michael Gordon,
David Lang,
Elliott Sharp,
John Zorn,
Steve Martland,
Anne LeBaron,
Paul Dresher,
Kitty Brazelton,
Rhys Chatham,
Glenn Branca,
Erkki-Sven Tüür,
Robert Paterson,
Annie Gosfield,
Randall Woolf and
Nick Didkovsky. Many of these composers (Gordon, Lang, Mellits, Dresher, Wolfe, Ziporyn, Martland, Branca) are post-minimalist in orientation, but some (Didkovsky, Brazelton and Rouse) are very much not.
"World music" influence
Some composers mix western and non-western instruments, including
gamelan from Indonesia, Chinese traditional instruments,
ragas from Indian Classical music. There is also an exploration of eastern-European and non-Western tonalities, even in relatively traditionally structured works. This trend was present already in the 1920s and 1930s, for example in the music of
Béla Bartók,
Henry Cowell,
Colin McPhee,
Alan Hovhaness, and
Lou Harrison, and slightly later in the work of
Olivier Messiaen,
Chou Wen-chung,
Halim El-Dabh, and
Peggy Glanville-Hicks. The trend can be found also in the context of post-minimalist works, such as
Janice Giteck's and
Evan Ziporyn's Balinese-influenced works. Some composers have used traditional instruments from their own cultures, such as
Tōru Takemitsu,
Minoru Miki,
Chen Yi,
Zhou Long, or
Julian Kytasty. World music influence may also be found in the context of post-classic tonality, such as in the music of
Bright Sheng, or in the context of thoroughly modernist works by composers such as
Claude Vivier.
New Simplicity
A movement in Denmark (
Den Ny Enkelhed) in the late nineteen-sixties and another in Germany in the late seventies and early eighties, the former attempting to create more objective, impersonal music, and the latter reacting with a variety of strategies to restore the subjective to composing, both sought to create music using simple textures. The German New Simplicity's best-known composer is
Wolfgang Rihm, who strives for the emotional volatility of late 19th-century
Romanticism and early 20th-century
Expressionism. Called
Die neue Einfachheit in German, it has also been termed "New Romanticism", "New Subjectivity", "New Inwardness", "New Sensuality", "New Expressivity", and "New Tonality".
Styles found in other countries sometimes associated with the German New Simplicity movement include the so-called "Holy Minimalism" of the Pole Henryk Górecki and the Estonian Arvo Pärt (in their works after 1970), as well as Englishman John Tavener, who unlike the New Simplicity composers have turned back to Medieval and Renaissance models, however, rather than to 19th-century romanticism for inspiration. Important representative works include Symphony No. 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" (1976) by Górecki, Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten (1977) by Pärt, and The Veil of the Temple (2002) by Tavener, "Silent Songs" (1977) by Valentin Silvestrov.
New Complexity
New Complexity is a current within today's European contemporary avant-garde music scene, named in reaction to the New Simplicity. Amongst the candidates suggested for having coined the term are the composer
Nigel Osborne, the Belgian musicologist
Harry Halbreich, and the British/Australian musicologist Richard Toop, who gave currency to the concept of a movement with his article "Four Facets of the New Complexity".
Though often atonal, highly abstract, and dissonant in sound, the "New Complexity" is most readily characterized by the use of techniques which require complex musical notation. This includes extended techniques, microtonality, odd tunings, highly disjunct melodic contour, innovative timbres, complex polyrhythms, unconventional instrumentations, abrupt changes in loudness and intensity, and so on. The diverse group of composers writing in this style includes Richard Barrett, Brian Ferneyhough, Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, James Dillon, Michael Finnissy, James Erber, and Roger Redgate.
Though not a New Complexity composer himself, the Progressivist (or Neological) composer Neil March studied with Roger Redgate and his concept of "Polyfluidity" owes much to the influence of New Complexity.
Minimalism and post-minimalism
The minimalist generation still has a prominent role in new composition.
Philip Glass has been expanding his symphony cycle, while
John Adams's
On the Transmigration of Souls, a choral work commemorating the victims of the
September 11, 2001 attacks, won a
Pulitzer Prize.
Steve Reich has explored electronic opera (most notably in
Three Tales) and
Terry Riley has been active in composing instrumental music and music theatre.
Many composers are expanding the resources of minimalist music to include rock and world instrumentation and rhythms, serialism, and many other techniques. Another notable characteristic is storytelling and emotional expression taking precedence over technique. Post-minimalism is also a movement in painting and sculpture that began in the late 1960s. (See lumpers/splitters)
Extended techniques
Composers often obtain unusual sounds or instrumental timbres through the use of non-traditional (or unconventional) instrumental techniques. Examples of extended techniques include bowing under the bridge of a string instrument or with two different bows, using key clicks on a wind instrument, blowing and overblowing into a wind instrument without a mouthpiece, or inserting object on top of the strings of a piano. Composers’ use of extended techniques is not specific to contemporary music (for instance, Berlioz’s use of
col legno in his
Symphonie Fantastique is an extended technique) and it transcends compositional schools and styles.
Exponents of extended techniques in the 20th century include Henry Cowell (use of fists and arms on the keyboard, playing inside the piano), John Cage (prepared piano), and George Crumb. The Kronos Quartet, which has been among the most active ensembles in promoting contemporary American works for string quartet, takes delight in music which stretches the manner in which sound can be drawn out of instruments.
European composers who make heavy use of extended techniques include Luigi Nono, Luciano Berio, Helmut Lachenmann, Salvatore Sciarrino, Heinz Holliger, Carlo Forlivesi and Georgia Spiropoulos.
Developments by medium
Orchestra
Inclusion of new instruments (amplified instruments, rock/jazz instruments, synthesizers, computer, non-western instruments, pre-recorded parts, experimental custom-made instruments)
Concertos for non-western instruments (Nancy Van de Vate)
Inclusion of visuals
Opera
Notable composers of operas since 1975 include:
John Adams
Thomas Adès
Robert Ashley
Luciano Berio
Harrison Birtwistle
John Cage
Roberto Carnevale
Elliott Carter
Daniel Catán
Peter Maxwell Davies
Michael Daugherty
John Eaton
Brian Ferneyhough
Lorenzo Ferrero
Philip Glass
Elliot Goldenthal
Ricky Ian Gordon
Hans Werner Henze
York Höller
André Laporte
György Ligeti
Liza Lim
Richard Meale
Olivier Messiaen
Olga Neuwirth
Luigi Nono
Per Nørgård
Michael Nyman
Einojuhani Rautavaara
Kaija Saariaho
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Josef Tal
Judith Weir
Chamber
See also List of contemporary classical ensembles
Choral
Notable choral composers include
Karl Jenkins,
Morten Lauridsen,
Arvo Pärt,
John Rutter,
Veljo Tormis, and
Eric Whitacre.
Concert band
Composers such as
Mark Camphouse,
Michael Colgrass,
Michael Daugherty,
David Del Tredici,
Karel Husa,
David Maslanka,
Olivier Messiaen,
Alfred Reed,
Joseph Schwantner,
Karlheinz Stockhausen,
Frank Ticheli,
Joseph Hallman and
Eric Whitacre have composed notable works for concert band in recent years.
Cinema
Contemporary classical music can be heard in
film scores such as
John Williams' original score for
War of the Worlds,
Tan Dun's original score for
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,
Philip Glass's score for
The Hours and
Kundun, as well as his scores for
Godfrey Reggio's Qatsi Trilogy of films:
Koyaanisqatsi,
Powaqqatsi, and
Naqoyqatsi,
John Corigliano's original score/soundtrack for
François Girard's film
The Red Violin,
Michael Nyman's scores for
Peter Greenaway's films,
Zbigniew Preisner's scores for
Krzysztof Kieślowski's
Three Colors. Other directors have used contemporary music in soundtracks. Franklin J. Schafner for example, used atonal works by
Jerry Goldsmith for
Planet of the Apes and
Patton 1968 and 1970, respectively, and Stanley Kubrick in
(1968) and
Eyes Wide Shut (1999) used music by
György Ligeti, and in
The Shining (1980) music by both Ligeti and
Krzysztof Penderecki.
Jean-Luc Godard, in
La Chinoise (1967),
Nicolas Roeg in
Walkabout (1971), and the
Brothers Quay in
In Absentia (2000) used music by
Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Contemporary music festivals
Agora Festival, Paris, France
Ars musica, Brussels, Belgium
Avaton Music Festival, Limassol, Cyprus
ReMusica, Pristina, Kosovo
Bang on a Can Marathon
Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music (Santa Cruz, CA)
Dallas Festival of Modern Music
Darmstädter Ferienkurse
Donaueschingen Festival
Latin American Contemporary Music Festival
Gaudeamus Foundation Music Week in Amsterdam
highSCORE Contemporary Music Festival Concerts are held in historical Pavia, 35 km south of Milan. Mid-July.
Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival
Peninsula Arts Contemporary Music Festival
Music From Angel Fire , blend of classical & contemporary—World Premiere pieces by contemporary composers
Other Minds
Salzburg Aspekte
Sound - North-East Scotland's Festival of New Music
Soundwaves Festival
"Triennale" Contemporary Music Festival (Venice, Italy)
Warsaw Autumn in Poland
Winnipeg New Music Festival (the largest attended new music festival in the world)
Nevada Encounters of New Music (NEON) http://music.unlv.edu/neon.shtml (Las Vegas, NV)
"NWEAMO" - New West Electronics Arts and Music Organization www.nweamo.org (San Diego, New York, Berlin, Mexico D.F., Venice)
See also
20th-century classical music
21st-century classical music
References
Notes
Bibliography
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External links
Procembalo complete free catalog of Contemporary Harpsichord Music
spnm - promoting new music, UK – UK-based organisation promoting new music and composers.
Q2-New York Public Radio's internet radio station and blog for innovative and contemporary classical music.
Scores by contemporary classical composers
Art of the States
Contemporary Classical, Internet radio
Modern classical electronic fusion
Common Tone podcast
Modern and contemporary classical music
The Living Composers Project
Sibeliusmusic.com - Newly Created Scores Using the Sibelius Program
Sussurro - Contemporary Brazilian Music
Musmap.com - Contemporary Composers and Classical Performers
Gateway to Contemporary Music Resources in France
Contemporary composers interactive timeline, including, if available, photos and biographies (in French).
Arizona Friends of Chamber Music commissioning program and composer pages