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Following the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods in music, our new writing is the Contemporary Period, the last step of the periods in music. Contemporary Period, which started in 1900s, is a revolution unlike other music periods.

With the 20th century, music has gone through the era; the technique, form and essence that were expressed in patterns have undergone a fundamental change with the Contemporary Period. According to some music historians, all of the music composed in the 20th century was handled within the framework of modernism and the chance of the composer in this century was to use the previous centuries as a reference. The music made during this period represents a rebellion against German-Austrian Romanticism which was full of patterns. Barber, Bartok, Debussy, Puccini, Rahmaninov, Ravel and some other composers were successful at new and different techniques by breaking the rules.

The composers of the period were influenced by each other and stated that they were open to development and innovation without being tied to a movement, and in this direction they formed an age in music by expressing free, realist and their own cultural depths. The composers of the Contemporary Period not only made this change by producing new composition, but also adapted some of the composition belonging to the Baroque, Classical and Romantic Periods to the Contemporary Period.

The Contemporary Period, which entered our lives as a rebellion to the Romantic Period, also includes works with jazz influences after the First World War. Stravinsky’s Ragtime (1918) and Copland’s Two Blues (1926) are the examples of these works.

After 1945 and World War II, the Contemporary Period, which took on new names such as New Music and Modern Music, later was named Postmodern Music. For the Contemporary Music, which contains many names, the people named it as ‘The Age of Experiments.’

The Contemporary Period in music was born as a revolt against Romanticism. Although it is an international art music period that has not been avoided from development, change and innovation, there have been trends and techniques developed in this period.

The Modern Period, which has made it most talked about with its development and changes, has followed the scientific developments parallel to the changes within itself. With the invention of the turntable, music was delivered to the furthest areas of the world, and audience was formed by radio. The fact that cinema has become a voice has opened up new opportunities for composers.

With this article, we have completed a series of articles on Braque, Classical, Romantic and Contemporary Periods. You can subscribe to our weekly newsletter to follow musiconline’s new blog posts and get news from here.

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