Classical Music

Romantic traditions continue with the Russian Rachmaninov (1873-1943) in piano concertos and symphonies, the Finnish symphonist Sibelius (1865-1957), the evocatively colourful English Delius (1862-1934) and his compatriot Elgar (1857-1934). In English music an interest in folk-music brings the national romanticism of Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), followed by the more cosmopolitan Britten (1913-1976) and his revival of English opera. Stravinsky (1882-1971), like Rachmaninov an exile from Communist Russia, goes on to more experimental modernism in the course of a long career. Composers working in Communist Russia include Prokofiev (1891-1953) and Shostakovich (1906-1975). In France a new era is introduced by Debussy (1862-1918), with innovative harmonies developed from earlier composers such as Chopin. Other leading French composers include Ravel (1875-1937) and, in a younger generation, the group known as Les Six, including Milhaud (1892-1974) and Poulenc (1899-1963), influenced, like others, by the eccentric Erik Satie (1866-1925). In Germany romantic veins are further explored in the operas of Richard Strauss (1864-1949). In Vienna the innovative techniques of atonality and serialism developed by Schoenberg (1874-1951) and taken up by his pupils Berg (1885-1935) and Webern (1883-1945) have a strong international influence, not least in American academia. In the hands of the most gifted musicians, such as the French composer Messiaen (1908-1992), these techniques prove productive, if sterile with the less inspired. Similarly another tonal approach to composition by the German composer Hindemith (1895-1963) has proved less happy in the hands of his followers. The late 20th century brought a reaction against serialism and a tendency towards more widely acceptable writing, lacking the demanding astringency that had become prevalent and favouring a return to tonal music. Other composers of importance include the Hungarian Bartók (1881-1945) and his compatriot Kodály