NEW MUSICAL STYLES

Electronic Music
The capacity of electronic machines
such as synthesizers, amplifiers,
tape recorders, and loudspeakers to
create different sounds was given
importance by 20th century
composers like Edgar Varese,
Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Mario
Davidovsky.
Music that uses the tape recorder is
called musique concrete, or concrete
music. The composer records
different sounds that are heard in the
environment such as the bustle of
traffic, the sound of the wind, the
barking of dogs, the strumming of a
guitar, or the cry of an infant
These sounds are arranged by the
composer in different ways like by playing
the tape recorder in its fastest mode or in
reverse. In musique concrete, the
composer is able to experiment with
different sounds that cannot be produced
by regular musical instruments such as
the piano or the violin.
Sample of Electronic music
 EDGARD VARESE (18831965)
Edgard (also spelled Edgar) Varse was
born on December 22, 1883. He was
considered an innovative French-born
composer. However, he spent the greater
part of his life and career in the United
States, where he pioneered and created
new sounds that bordered between music
and noise.
POME LECTRONIQUE
Edgard Varese
Project
Make your own electronic music
Chance Music
Chance music refers to a style
wherein the piece always sounds
different at every performance
because of the random techniques
of production, including the use of
ring modulators or natural elements
that become a part of the music
 Most of the sounds emanate from
the surroundings, both natural and
man-made, such as honking cars,
rustling leaves, blowing wind,
dripping water, or a ringing phone.
As such, the combination of
external sounds cannot be
duplicated as each happens by
chance.
An example is John Cages Four
Minutes and Thirty-Three Seconds
(433") where the pianist merely
opens the piano lid and keeps silent
for the duration of the piece. The
audience hears a variety of noises
inside and outside the concert hall
amidst the seeming silence.
 JOHN CAGE (19121992)
John Cage was known as one of the 20th century
composers with the widest array of sounds in his
works. He was born in Los Angeles, California, USA
on September 5, 1912 and became one of the most
original composers in the history of western music.
He challenged the very idea of music by
manipulating musical instruments in order to
achieve new sounds. He experimented with what
came to be known as chance music.
Sample of John Cage composition
Project
Make your own Chance Music