Year 10 Music · Responding — Listen and Analyse · 11m read

20th- and 21st-Century Music

The last 120 years broke every musical rule — from atonality to looping minimalism and electronic sound. These ideas shape today's music.

Learning objective: Describe innovations in 20th- and 21st-century music.

By the end of this lesson you can:

• I can describe impressionism, minimalism and serialism.
• I can describe electronic and experimental music.
• I can analyse a contemporary work.

The 20th century broke the rules. Imagine a game that has used the same rules for 300 years — then players start inventing new ones. Composers asked: what if there's no key? What if we just repeat? What if the sound comes from a computer?

20th- and 21st-Century Music

MOVEMENTS:
• IMPRESSIONISM (Debussy) — atmosphere, whole-tone scales.
• ATONALITY AND SERIALISM (Schoenberg) — no key centre; 12-tone rows.
• MINIMALISM (Reich, Glass) — repetition, gradual change.
• ELECTRONIC — tape music, synthesisers, sampling.
• AUSTRALIAN COMPOSERS — Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Peter Sculthorpe, Deborah Cheetham Fraillon, Elena Kats-Chernin.

CONTEMPORARY:
• Film/game music, crossover, music technology.

| Movement | Key idea | Composer | Listen for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Impressionism | Atmosphere, colour | Debussy | Whole-tone scales, blurred harmony |
| Serialism | 12-tone rows | Schoenberg | No tonal centre |
| Minimalism | Repetition, gradual change | Reich, Glass | Looping patterns |
| Electronic | Technology as instrument | Stockhausen, Delia Derbyshire | Synths, tape |
| Australian art music | Landscape, identity | Sculthorpe, Kats-Chernin | Drones, local inspiration |

Key ideas at a glance

• Every rule-break has a reason: Ask what the composer wanted.
• Listen without expectations: Judge by its own goals.
• Technology reshaped music: Recording and synthesis created new forms.
• Australian voices matter: Study local composers.

Worked example (Medium)

Describe minimalism.

1. Technique. Repeated short patterns.
2. Change. Gradual shifts over time.
3. Effect. Hypnotic, evolving texture.

Answer: Repetition with gradual change creating a hypnotic effect.

Worked example (Medium)

Describe a minimalist piece for a listener new to it.

1. Pattern. Short ideas repeat many times.
2. Change. Small changes happen gradually.
3. Effect. Hypnotic, evolving.

Answer: Short repeating patterns that change gradually, creating a hypnotic effect.

Common mistakes

• Calling atonal music random It is carefully organised. Fix: Explain the system (e.g. tone rows).
• Calling unfamiliar music "noise" Shuts down analysis. Fix: Describe its techniques and purpose.

Delia Derbyshire and the Doctor Who theme

In 1963 Delia Derbyshire realised the *Doctor Who* theme at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop — before synthesisers were common.

She built each sound by recording oscillators and plucked strings to tape, then cutting, speeding up and splicing the tape by hand. It became one of the first widely heard pieces of electronic music and influenced generations of electronic artists.

Practice questions

1. Steve Reich is associated with:

   1. Serialism
   2. Minimalism
   3. Baroque
   4. Romanticism

   (1 marks)

2. What is atonal music?

   (2 marks)

3. Which composer is linked to 12-tone serialism?

   1. Debussy
   2. Schoenberg
   3. Reich
   4. Mozart

   (1 marks)

4. Minimalism features:

   1. Constant key changes
   2. Repetition with gradual change
   3. No rhythm
   4. Only voices

   (1 marks)

5. Name an Australian composer and describe one feature of their music.

   (2 marks)

Summary

• Impressionism, serialism, minimalism, electronic.
• Australian composers.
• Rules were challenged and expanded.
• 20th-century composers questioned every rule.