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Was Czech. Used various folk sounds and natural influences from around the world to influence his writing.
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Bridged Austro-German tradition with 20th century modernism. Was a talented conductor who converted from Judaism for a director position at Vienna Court Opera.
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Used impressionist and symbolist art aspects in his music. Used whole tone scale and delicate harmonies to exploit overtones and skirt cadences
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He wrote various operas and tone poems that are still very popular. He followed after the style of Wagner and Lizst and represents the latter side of Germans. His father was a famous horn player.
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Finnish; his affinity for nationalism is expressed in his work, which are mostly tone poems and symphonies. He was a heavy drinker and temperamental.
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French avant-garde. Lifelong heavy drinker who died of cirrhosis.
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Influential in bringing African-American works and influences into the spotlight in the 1920s.
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Russian; part of the Russian Romantic tradition. He was known for his piano works and symphonies, and moved to the US in 1917.
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Father of the 2nd Viennese School. Developed 12-tone technique as we know it. Was extremely controversial in his time in the theory field. Moved to California to work as a professor.
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American who was noted for poly-rhythms, polytonality, quarter tones and aleatoric technique.
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French whose works are notable for their colorful orchestration, distinctive tone and unresolved dissonances.
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Hungarian who was was strongly influenced by his country's folk music.
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Russian-born, moved to US in 1939; known for his ballets which shocked Parisian audiences with frequent dissonance and irregular rhythm; later developed a neoclassical style and experimented with serialism,
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Australian-born, US citizen in 1918; played a prominent role in the return of British folk music.
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Austrian; leading proponent of serialism; music marked by brevity
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French-born, spent most of his career in the US; very focused on timbre and rhythm; coined the term "organized sound" for his work
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Austrian composer of the 2nd Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with twelve-tone technique.
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French teacher and conductor who taught many 20th century composers.
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Russian, known for being an iconoclastic composer-pianist and composing many well known classics.
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French; a member of Les Six. Influenced by jazz and Brazilian music and extensive use of polytonality.
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Swiss composer born in France. Member of Les Six, his most known work is Pacific 231.
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German, advocate of the New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit). Used folk music and his compositions were banned by the Nazis.
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German, wrote music for the Nazis, and wrote Carmina Burana
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American, instrumental in the development of the american sound in classical music. Was a modernist, neoromantic, and neoclassicist.
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Austrian, became famous for Hollywood scores
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Major pianist and composer for orchestra in jazz idiom.
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American, used folk music as well as the fugue and passacaglia. Was also known for his use of antiphonal effects.
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French composer and pianist. Was a part of Les Six, and alternated between light-hearted works and religious music.
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American composer and jazz orchestra leader. Master of writing for the 78 rpm disc, many of his compositions have become jazz standards.
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German composer who moved to America. Held the ideal of writing music that served a socially useful purpose, Gebrauchsmusik. Also wrote work on Jewish themes.
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American composer, referred to as "the Dean of American Composers". The open slowly changing harmonies in his music created what is thought to be the sound of American music.
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Austrian-American, student of Webern, explored atonality and wrote numerous books.
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German émigré, influenced by Schoenberg and Hindemith. Works based on twelve tone and diatonic scales.
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Chinese composer. Composed songs for Chinese films. During the Cultural Revolution, became a target due to his Western music, particularly his defense of Claude Debussy.
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Russian composer who experimented with 12-tone, but stuck to basic tonality. Lived through Stalin's reign while other composers died around him
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French, influenced by Greek and Hindu music, birdsong, and his faith.
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American modernist composer. Combined elements of European modernism and American "ultra-modernism" into a distinctive style with a person harmonic and rhythmic language, after an early neoclassical phase.
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American born. Combined Romanticism with classical forms.
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Hollywood composer: Orson Welles's "Citizen Kane", Hitchcock's "Vertigo", and Scorsese's "Taxi Driver".
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American. Very experimental. Used aleatory music, silence, ;repared piano, random objects, etc.
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English composer/ pianist, wrote many operas and song works.
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Composer as well as mathematician, noted pioneer of electronic music.
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Saxophonist, leader of the Bebop movement.
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Romanian-born Greek French avant-garde; very unique, architecture-like music; "texture music"
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Hungarian-Austrian composer. Best known for the use of his music in film. Very well regarded, innovative, and influential composer.
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French composer, conductor and writer. Dominant figure of post-war classical music. leading figure in avant-garde, and played an important role in the development of integral serialism.
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German composer. Known for his work in electronic music, aleatory techniques, serial composition and music spatialization.
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Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Admired for his subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre. Known for combining elements of oriental and occidental philosophy and for fusing sound with silence and tradition with innovation.
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American composer. One of the most influential Minimalist composers.
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American composer of contemporary classical music. Best known for his Symphony No.1 a response to the AIDS epidemic and his film score for Francois Girard's "The Red Violin".
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Contemporary American composer, concert pianist and conducted. One of the most successful woman composers of all time.
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American composer, best known for his orchestral compositions including a Requiem.
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American composer and co-founder of Bang on a Can music collective.
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American composer. Co-founder of Bang on a Can. Jewish descent.
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American composer. Co-founder of Bang on a Can. Married to Michael Gordon.
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American composer, librettist and professor of music composition. Married to John Corigliano.