20th Century

This category contains articles that discuss concepts and analyse the music of the 20th century (1900-1999). From late-Romantic into the fragmented modernist period and beyond, works by composers such as Mahler, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Berio, Lutosławski and Pärt can be found here (once we have covered them!). It also includes Film music written during this time.

Le Papillon (from Chantefleurs et Chantefables) – Witold Lutosławski – Composition Technique

Analysis, 20th Century, Composition, Concert Music /

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYUPk1vKxQk&ab_channel=AnyOldMusic Witold Lutosławski’s Chantefleurs et Chantefables is a song cycle for soprano voice and chamber orchestra, completed in 1991. Textually, the songs use the poetry of twentieth-century French surrealist Robert Desnos (1900 – 1944). A series of children’s poems, compiled and published posthumously in 1955, under the title Chantefables et Chantefleurs (Lutosławski reverses the title […]

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The Day the Earth Stood Still - Herrmann

The Day the Earth Stood Still, Bernard Herrmann – Orchestration Technique

1 Comment / Film Music, 20th Century, Orchestration /

Composed for the film The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Bernard Herrmann’s science-fiction score has a lot to teach us about composition and orchestration in the medium of film, media scoring and wider. In this article today, therefore, I want to take a look at Herrmann’s score. I have done my best to be selective,

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Orchestrating a Swashbuckler - Ethel Smyth

Orchestrating a Swashbuckler: The Wreckers Overture (Ethel Smyth)

20th Century, Arranging, Composition, Concert Music, Orchestration /

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0QZ7LVWDps&t=1s&ab_channel=AnyOldMusic Ethel Smyth’s The Wreckers is an opera set on the South West coast of Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. Perhaps indicative of an incredibly cosmopolitan society during this time, despite the subject matter and Smyth being English, the opera’s initial libretto was in French. However, Smyth had difficulty securing a performance for a French-speaking audience. As

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Bernard Herrmann - Walking Distance - Composition Technique

“Walking Distance” (The Twilight Zone: S1, E5) – Bernard Herrmann – Part 2 – Composition Technique

1 Comment / 20th Century, Composition, Film Music /

Bernard Herrmann’s “Walking Distance” is full of different orchestration and composition techniques. Last week we focussed on some of those orchestration techniques, such as reorchestration. This week we are looking at the composition. However, just like with the orchestration, we will have to be selective. Therefore, I have selected two short cues to look at in

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Walking Distance (The Twilight zone: S1, E5) – Bernard Herrmann – Part 1: Instrumentation & Orchestration

20th Century, Composition, Film Music, Orchestration /

I have not watched many of The Twilight Zone episodes. Not for lack of wanting to, but simply a lack of paired reason and opportunity. What better way, then, to introduce myself to these highly regarded television classics than by doing so through a composer whom I hugely admire, Bernard Herrmann.  In this article, I want to

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Introduction and Allegro for Strings (Edward Elgar) – String Orchestration

20th Century, Analysis, Orchestration /

Delineating a string quartet and string orchestra in the instrumentation and engraving of Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro for Strings impacts its composition, orchestration and arrangement. The reason is that it imposes a compelling dichotomy between a string quartet (solo strings) and a string orchestra (sectional strings). Doing this allows and, undoubtedly, encourages Elgar’s exploration of the solo

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