20th Century – General
Notable Twentieth-Century Composers (1900 – 1975)
If you wish to be generally familiar with classical music, here is a short list of composers you should know from this period.
Name | Birth | Death | Nationality | Representative Pieces |
Barber, Samuel ML410 .B23 | 1910 | 1981 | American | Adagio for Strings (check out original String Quartet) Knoxville Summer 1915 (soprano & orchestra) Medea’s Meditation and Dance of Vengeance (orchestra) Three Essays for Orchestra |
Bartók, Béla ML410 .B26 | 1881 | 1945 | Hungarian | Six string quartets (all) Mikrokosmos (piano solos) Sonata for Two Pianos & Percussion Music for Strings, Percussion, & Celesta Miraculous Mandarin (orchestra) |
Bernstein, Leonard ML410 .B566 | 1918 | 1990 | American | West Side Story (musical) Mass (a theatre piece) Serenade (violin & orchestra) Jeremiah Symphony (orchestra) Chichester Psalms (chorus & orchestra) On the Waterfront (film score) |
Cage, John ML410 .C24 | 1912 | 1992 | American | Sonatas & Interludes for Prepared Piano Aria (with or without Fontana Mix) (voice with tape) 4’33” (piano solo) Imaginary Landscape No. 4 (12 analog radios) |
Copland, Aaron ML410 .C756 | 1900 | 1990 | American | Appalachian Spring (both 13 player and full orchestra) Third Symphony (orchestra) Piano Variations (piano solo) Organ Symphony (organ & orchestra) |
Debussy, Claude ML410 .D28 | 1862 | 1918 | French | Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (orchestra) Preludes Books I & II (piano) Pelleas et Mellisande (opera) |
Gershwin, George ML410 .G288 | 1898 | 1937 | American | Porgy and Bess (opera) Rhapsody in Blue (piano & orchestra) Cuban Overture (orchestra) An American in Paris (orchestra) |
Grainger, Percy ML410 .G75 | 1882 | 1961 | Australian-American | Lincolnshire Posy (band) Country Gardens (piano) Train Music (piano or orchestra) |
Hindemith, Paul ML410 .H685 | 1895 | 1963 | German | Mathis der Maler (opera) Ludus Tonalis (piano solo) Symphonic Metamorphosis (orchestra) |
Holst, Gustav ML410 .H748 | 1874 | 1934 | English | The Planets (orchestra) 2 Suites for Military Band Evening-Watch (chorus and orchestra) |
Ives, Charles ML410 .I94 | 1874 | 1954 | American | Third Symphony (orchestra) Unanswered Question (chamber orchestra) Concord Sonata (piano solo) General Booth Enters Heaven (voice & piano) |
Messiaen, Olivier ML410 .M595 | 1908 | 1992 | French | Turangalila Symphony (orchestra & ondes martenot) Quartet for the End of Time (chamber) Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jesus (piano solo) La Nativité du Seigneur (organ) |
Orff, Carl ML410 .O65 | 1895 | 1982 | German | Carmina Burana (soloists, chorus & orchestra) |
Prokofiev, Sergei ML410 .P865 | 1891 | 1953 | Russian | Peter and the Wolf (orchestra & narrator) Third Piano Concerto (piano & orchestra) Fifth Symphony (orchestra) Scythian Suite (orchestra) Love for Three Oranges (opera) |
Ravel, Maurice ML410 .R23 | 1875 | 1937 | French | Daphnis et Chloé (ballet) Bolero (orchestra) |
Schoenberg, Arnold ML410 .S283 | 1874 | 1951 | Austrian-American | Verklärte Nacht (string sextet) Gurre-Lieder (soloists, chorus & orchestra) Pierrot Luniare (chamber with voice) Survivor from Warsaw (chamber orchestra w/narrator & men’s choir) Kleine Klavierstücke, Op. 33a&b (piano) |
Strauss, Richard ML410 .S93 | 1864 | 1949 | German | Der Rosenkavalier (opera) Salome (opera) Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks (orchestra) Death and Transfiguration (orchestra) Four Last Songs (voice and orchestra) |
Stravinksy, Igor ML410 .S932 | 1882 | 1971 | Russian | Firebird (ballet, orchestra) Petrushka (ballet, orchestra) Rite of Spring (ballet, orchestra) Histoire du Soldat (chamber) Symphony in C (orchestra) Symphony of Psalms (chorus & orchestra) In Memorium Dylan Thomas (chamber) Mass (choral) |
Varèse, Edgard ML410 .V27 | 1883 | 1965 | French-American | Ionisation (percussion ensemble) Ameriques (orchestra) Poeme Electronique (multi-channel tape) Density 21.5 (flute solo) |