Whittall, Arnold - Musical Composition in the Twentieth Century

Musical Composition in the Twentieth Century builds on the foundations of Music since the First World War (first published 1977, revised edition 1988). It updates and reshapes the original text and places it in the wider context of twentieth-century serious music before 1918 and after 1975, surveying the immense variety of technical developments in twentieth-century serious music. Sections of detailed analysis, with particular emphasis on such major figures as Stravinsky, Bartok, Messiaen, Tippett, and Ligeti, are framed by more concise sketches of a range of significant composers from Faure, to Wolfgang Rihm. Extensive music examples reinforce this technical focus.

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CONTENTS

Millennial Prelude
Taking Steps: 1900-1918
Symphonic Music After 1918: I
Opera
Bela Bartok
Igor Stravinsky
Symphonic Music: II
Arnold Schoenberg
Alban Berg
Anton Webern
The Spread of Serialism
Three Individualists (Tippett, Messiaen, Carter)
Radicals and Rituals
Musics of Change: Seven Europeans
The Minimalist Experiment
Laments and Consolations
Polarities, Pluralities
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Index