# How would you go about introducing somebody to 20th century classical music?



## Dedalus (Jun 27, 2014)

Where would you start? What are the best pieces or what is the best path to ease somebody into this era of music? Or do you just throw them right into the deep end and see if they swim?


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Which 20th century classical music? It seems to have changed significantly about every 15 years - Mahler, Strauss, Stravinsky, Sibelius, Nielsen, Berg, Webern, Schoenberg, Bartok, Hindemith, Shostakovich, Britten, Tippett, Messaien, Boulez, Stockhausen, Ligeti, Lutoslawski etc., etc. Something for everyone! Even Rimsky-Korsakov was still active in the very early years of the century.


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## Dedalus (Jun 27, 2014)

The thornier and more modern stuff. Like 12 tone Schoenberg to Boulez, Xenakis and the like.


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

I thought I knew, then _that_ thread happened. Now I don't even know if someone will find this too crazy and dissonant.


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## Magnum Miserium (Aug 15, 2016)

"Pierrot lunaire" with the stipulation that they're not allowed to read about it first.


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## Lenny (Jul 19, 2016)

I wouldn't start with purist 12-tone.. Maybe Stravinsky? His music seems to be both accessible, yet modernist at the same time. Then of course these new "medieval" post-modernists, like Pärt.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Dedalus said:


> Where would you start? What are the best pieces or what is the best path to ease somebody into this era of music? Or do you just throw them right into the deep end and see if they swim?


I threw myself in at the deep end and found enough flotsam to cling to. But there were some very alarming waves, not to mention sharks and pirates. Am I stretching the metaphor too far?

But seriously, it really depends on the person in question, and what they hope to get out of the experience. I was very happy with the mainstream but also always curious about music I'd never heard. I think this positive attitude was helpful; a lot of the 20th-century music I heard didn't appeal, but a small percentage of it just blew me away. So there was always an incentive to listen further. Part of my success was probably luck; for instance, remove Schnittke's Concerto Grosso no.1 from the first Schnittke CD I owned, and I'd probably not have bothered exploring further because the rest of the disc was beyond me. Similarly, if someone had picked out a list of 10 or 20 "essential" 20th-century works, perhaps none of them would have sufficiently appealed and I might have concluded that this music just wasn't for me.

But presumably a desire to keep expanding my horizons was a major factor. A sufficiently enthusiastic person will want to like the music, will make the effort to find something different if what they're hearing isn't doing them any good; so it probably doesn't matter how they approach it - eventually they'll reach their destination.

Whereas for a more cautious person, it's probably better to first find out just how broad their tastes are already - if they think the likes of Prokofiev or Bartók are too horribly modern, then they might have to be very gradually weaned into the 20th century before you even consider letting them near Boulez.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I basically asked this question when I first got here in this thread. Perhaps the most detailed answer was given by a long lost member.

That path is not how I learned to like the music, but I think it's as good an answer as any. Basically I would start with music that begins to veer away from Romantic music - Debussy, Ravel, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Bartok (but not the quartets). I would move to Stravinsky (early ballets and then symphonies) and early Schoenberg. Toucan's suggestion of Mahler symphonies (2,3, 6,and 7) and late Liszt seems a good idea. From there it's hard to know.

Listen repeatedly _but not expecting the music to sound like music you know_. Melody and traditional harmony (CPT) do appear in some 20th century music, but much focuses on timbres, motifs, varying textures instead. It's different, but listen for this difference. I don't know the right approach, and further, it likely varies from person to person.

Maybe the most important thing is to realize that the music was composed for essentially the same reasons as earlier music. It's there for enjoyment.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

mmsbls said:


> ....and further, it likely varies from person to person.


I agree, and that makes these threads dubious. In the thread about how to learn to love Bach (my favourite composer) one of the suggested pieces is the one I like least in his oeuvre. If that had been my introduction to Bach, I might have stopped right there and then.

I would suggest to sample very different styles and to be prepared that there are several that you won't like. And it might be good to expand on what you like best from earlier centuries: symphonies, concertos, chamber music, piano works, vocal works - if you have a genre you prefer, I would look for 20C pieces in that genre first.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

If they like Wagner, Mahler and R. Strauss - then Schoenberg's second quartet and Berg's _Lulu _suite

If they like Debussy and Ravel - then Dutilleux' _Correspondances_ and Takemitsu's _From Me Flows What You Call Time_

If they like Bach and Mozart - Stravinsky's mass, Poulenc's Gloria and Hindemith's _Nobilissima visione_

For everyone: Webern's three songs for soprano, guitar and clarinet; Reich's _Music for 18 Musicians_; Ligeti's _Atmospheres_

If they like avant-garde/experimental/noisy music in non-classical genres: they probably don't need the help, but Stockhausen's _Kontakte_ and Xenakis' _Metastaseis_.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

In my piano studio, I often introduce my young students to 20th-century music through Bartok's Mikrokosmos. Also, there are some nice collections of pieces for children by Kabalevsky, Shostakovich and Khachaturian. By starting with easy 20th-century pieces at a young age, students can gradually become conversant with the languages of contemporary music.


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## Fugue Meister (Jul 5, 2014)

Easy, just play them some of these pieces:





















I've got a few people to go back to the baroque era music but 20th Century Music is the gateway for most people I find.


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

I suggest locking the door first.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

JAS said:


> I suggest locking the door first.


It really does seem to make you angry that other people enjoy music you don't!


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

isorhythm said:


> It really does seem to make you angry that other people enjoy music you don't!


Oh please, a little harmless humor. Pretty much no one "in the real" world is taking any of us seriously anyway.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I wouldn't bother. If an individual has an interest, they'll seek it out for themselves. Why should I inflict my experience and musical trajectory on someone else? Let them have their own experience.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

starthrower said:


> I wouldn't bother. If an individual has an interest, they'll seek it out for themselves. Why should I inflict my experience and musical trajectory on someone else? Let them have their own experience.


Best suggestion :cheers:


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