Classical Music from 1903 to 1988 (A Timeline of Major Works)

[Uatu]

---Debussy's very existence and L'apres midi d'un faun are the sole reason the authors and editors of Groves, after years of careful deliberation, changed their original date for the beginning of the modern era from 1900 to 1890.
---Unlike the other more gradual progressions and transitional composers moving toward modernism, Debussy dumped that all for a radically new and truly modern approach in the relative time it takes to snap your fingers. He summarily dispensed with and abandoned the old and a very startlingly new thing appeared, wholly modern, and the first and only. This extreme 'overnight' change without any precedent developments leading up to it is the Milestone work flagging a headlong plunge into modern and the modern era, whisking all before it away. This can not be overemphasized, and within the spare brevity which is the nature of the kind of chart you've made, you somehow need to make that emphasis.


---Ive's Central Park in the Dark, is mentioned while omitting that it was paired with The Unanswered Question. If not in Central Park in the Dark, I'm fairly certain Unanswered Question is the first use of polymetrics, and that is a very big deal; again, that needs mention.

---Stravinsky's Concerto per due pianoforti soli  -1935 predates Carter's Sonata for 'Cello and Piano by two decades plus, and it is the Stravinsky piece in which metrical modulation was first present as an integral element of the piece -- extensively throughout several of its movements. re-set your text accordingly.

---A minor academic footnote, of academic importance and less than a first world problem in re your chart: Milton Babbitt composed and published the first total serialist piece [sorry, I can not recall its name] one year prior Messiaen's Mode de valeurs et d'intensités first saw the light of day.

---I question the merit, or any interest, of including Hovhaness at all. It is patently absurd to say he in any way anticipated "Holy Minimalism," [I know, it is in Wiki as that -- "What, Wiki is Wrong?" At least I'm happy with the question mark you put after that statement.] It is not Holy Minimalism; it is officially Spiritual Minimalism. That "Holy" is only slightly less egregious than the "Spiritual" tag, but "Holy" wins out as 'just so wrong.' 
---Hovhaness wrote modal-tonal music in that hokiest of hokey genres which Zemlimsky dubbed as musical exoticism. Hovhaness' is an East-European Orthodox Christian mysticism, with a mightily twee affectation and gloss of being far-eastern mysticism. The fact he could toss of modal fugues readily really counts for nothing at all. If he influenced anything, it might be a certain stamp of film music for those mid-twentieth century Bible Epics. The most fleeting mention of his existence is enough to suffice, where in my opinion, you don't need to include this composer at all.

One slight anomaly: you say a neoclassical Stravinsky score written after his Apollo is "less cynical than the earlier neoclassical works," and that contradicts the existence and fundamental nature of his Apollo. That maybe needs a fix.

Your list I think is more useful as a thumbnail sort of quick reference for "those who already know," rather than useful to those more at the beginning. Too, timelines are usually better and more readily useful when graphically laid out horizontally; they instantly become of great use, to beginner as well as aficionadi.

Your chart set vertically, it seems to have and dulling and unyielding pace of its stream of data. The traditional horizontal presentation, with the life-lines of composers, landmark works set in spatial proportion along the lines, is innately more exciting.

Lotta work -- commending you on it.

Best regards

Thanks for your notes - I can't disagree with any of it.  My only excuse is that it was compiled in the space of a fortnight practically in its entirety based first on the Griffiths book and then just random sources (as listed at the bottom).  I suppose as things went along I started getting a bit "whimsical" with putting in Hovhaness and Grainger (and myself ). 

The vertical nature I stand by though, since every time I come across a horizontally-oriented webpage it drives me crazy because it goes against the navigational nature of web-based media.  Using my scroll-wheel is much easier than dragging around with a mouse.  There are many other timelines organized horizontally anyways and an interested student should be able to find those fairly easily.

Thanks for the corrections.  The whole thing about "firsts" is that there's always another person preceding the most recent "first" popping up.  An argument could be made that Beethoven first explored polymeter/metric modulation and 12-tone music in the 9th Symphony (I've actually heard it).

To be honest, the Stockhausen page is now part of my "completed" projects, which means I'm preparing a new blog (you'll note I have a few blogs listed on the side bar).  If you feel strongly, please feel free to add your text to the "comments" area, but I probably won't be updating it at this late date (unless I mis-spell "Carter" as "Farter" or something like that.  )

[Monsieur Croche]

You're welcome. In proportion to what you've done, those are but tiny edits among a ton of collated info.

I agree with you about the vertical vs. horizontal, re: computers. Computers and scrolling though are opposed to those very handy, and iconic way, we do think and use texts, whether it is dog-earing a page, keeping a finger there while flipping to another area in the book, and then synergistically connecting the 'icons' of those two separate paragraphs into one idea.

This is wholly true for time-line charts. In physical form, laid out on table or hung up on a wall, they are very readily negotiated and 'taken in.' You just can not do that with computer screen and the format. I've only known a few people with three large screens for an array horizontal display. One was a studio musician / engineer, the rest were -- brokers, lol.

I think you did quite well.  And you're correct on another thing, too: it may need someone other than spell check to tell you if Carter's first name is Elliot, or Elliott, lol.


Best regards.