Music of Our Time
Two main factors have influenced the development of music
in the 20th century: in the first place the tendency towards
freer tonality, and in the second place we must mention jazz,
which has showed many composers new rhythmical possibilities.
Expressionism attempts to give external form to spiritual
experiences which often slumber in the subconscious.
In doing this, this artistic style does not try to give
form to the sensual impressions which come from outside,
as do the impressionists.
In the twenties the world was conquered by jazz with its rhythms.
The development of swing followed in the thirties, and with the
forties Glenn Miller’s big band sound began its triumphal advance.
From, the fifties right up to the present day “serious” music
has been experiencing a crisis, the end of which is not yet in sight. Since the Beatles in the sixties beat and rock music have won sympathy all over the world, and since the seventies pop music seems to dominate the modern musical scene.
However, our older musical traditions have been increasingly
cultivated for over a hundred years. In the concert halls the
works of the Baroque, the Classical and Romantic eras predominate.
This has offered the interpreter exceptional chances.
No wonder jazz musicians have taken over for example the woks of
Bach and arrangements of works by Classical and Romantic composers
have appeared as popular music with catchy rhythms. “Classics on
the rock” or “Hooked on Classics” are “in”. The melodies are by
Back, Handel, Beethoven, Schubert, Weber, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Liszt,
Tchaikovsky, Smetana, Grieg, Dvorak, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov,
Johann and Richard Strauss or Khachaturian. But the rhythm is from
our time, it is electronic.



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