The Twenty-First Century (Chapter 39)

I. The New Millennium

A. Historical developments
1. New Year’s Eve of the new millennium celebrated worldwide
2. September 11, 2001: Al Qaeda terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
a. dream of global understanding shattered
b. responses continue to shape society and politics today
3. scientists conclude threats of global warming, governments slow to react
4. hopes for better world continue to emerge
a. increasing freedom for women and young people
b. replacement of some dictatorships with democratic governments
c. growing numbers of people study, work abroad
d. same-sex marriage legal in over two dozen countries
5. integration of global economy continued
a. 1999, European Union introduced new shared currency
b. 2008, Great Recession; worst worldwide downturn since the 1930s
6. growing inequality and isolationism
a. 2008, first African American United States president
b. political polarization continued
c. racial conflict, major concern
d. wealth concentrated in hands of a few
e. rising nationalist and isolationist movements across Europe and Americas
f. number of democracies fell
B. Communication technology
1. new technologies, fabric of everyday life
a. digital cameras introduced in 1995
b. cell phones, over 6 billion subscribers
c. smart phones, power of the computer
d. continued miniaturization of computer components
2. global communications
a. devices linked users to global web of communications, information
b. privately and publicly through the Internet
c. email accessible on mobile phones, tablet computers
d. Facebook launched in 2004
e. Google, created in late 1990s
f. new web publishing tools, proliferation of blogs
g. YouTube debuted in 2005
h. Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat
II. The New World of Music
A. New technology and the music industry
1. greater portability, availability of audio files and streaming
a. 2001, iPod portable media player, pocket-sized device
b. 2002, iTunes: listeners purchase audio files
c. file sharing through podcasts
d. listening online to streaming audio webcasts
e. streaming services: Pandora, Spotify, Tidal
f. sales of CDs plummeted, thousands of record stores closed
B. Decentralizing music production
1. possible for anyone to create, record, produce, distribute music
a. amateurs, professionals bypass recording companies
b. professionals offer music as advertising, sell online content
c. aspiring musicians promote music with online profiles

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 d. decentralized music industry
2. the new patronage, crowdsourcing
a. Kickstarter, Patreon: fans invest financially in forthcoming and ongoing projects
b. Concert in the Garden (2004), by jazz composer Maria Schneider (b. 1960)
i. one of the first musicians to use ArtistShare to fund an entire album
ii. won a Grammy Award the following year
C. Trends in popular music
1. popular music industry forced to reinvent itself
a. renewed focus on live performances
b. concert tours, major artists demand high ticket prices
c. growing number of annual music festivals
d. television shows promote interest through competitions, amateurs aspire to stardom
2. splintering of pop music audience continues
a. niche repertoires have own online communities
b. hip hop, center stage; 2018 Pulitzer Price to Kendrick Lamar (b. 1987)
c. pop artists mix style: funk, soul, hip hop with pop; Beyoncé
d. rock music endures: indie rock, tours of older bands, local cover bands, tribute bands
e. some radio stations maintain focus on mainstream pop
f. golden oldies, mixed formats proliferated
g. remakes of vintage songs
3. retrospective trends
a. hip hop draws on sampled music from earlier decades
b. pop musicians revive, renew sounds from 1960s through 1980s
c. neo soul: 1960s soul and R&B with jazz, funk, hip hop, and African influences
d. disco revival: dance beat, vocals of disco with new sounds
e. harder styles of 1970s also resurrected; post-punk revival, garage rock revival; drew on blues,
new wave, grunge
D. Mashups (bootleg)
1. elements of two or more recordings combined
a. material used is copyrighted; distributed online for free
b. new software tools, Ableton Live, 2001
i. automatically synchronizes samples to match tempo and pitch
ii. users with relatively little training can overlay elements
iii. explosion of mashups
c. mashups often aim to undermine seriousness of either or both source tracks
2. The Grey Album (2004), by DJ Danger Mouse
a. Jay-Z’s 2003 The Black Album with the Beatles’ 1968 The White Album
b. threats of lawsuits from owners of Beatles’ copyrights
c. debate typical of our age
i. intellectual property laws are outdated
ii. those who support copyright laws argue it protects original artists
E. Fusions
1. programming diversity of music
a. organizations, festivals, venues, encourage mixing of artists
i. e.g., Le Poisson Rouge, multimedia art cabaret in New York
b. traditional venues broaden offerings
i. movies with live music performance
ii. collaboration with rappers
2. beyond category
a. composers blend classical and popular traditions
i. Edgar Meyer (b. 1960), Christian Fennesz (b. 1962), Nico Muhly (b. 1981), Ty Braxton (b.
1978)
b. pop star Tori Amos (b. 1963)

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 i. composing for Deutsche Grammophon
ii. Night of Hunters (2011), song cycle
c. pop groups like Radiohead attract attention of classical musicians
d. Janelle Monáe (b. 1985) blending funk, rhythm and blues, hip hop with science fiction and film scoring
e. Uri Caine (b. 1956), jazz pianist, composer
i. collaborations with klezmer, funk, and hip hop artists
ii. reworking of Mahler, Bach, Beethoven, Verdi, Vivaldi
iii. fundamentally reimagined, idiomatic works of fusion
f. Jason Moran (b. 1975), jazz pianist
i. influences of Thelonius Monk and avant-garde jazz, with modern popular sounds, sampling,
and hip hop
g. singer and bassist Esperanza Spalding (b. 1984), pianist Robert Glasper (b. 1978)
i. jazz artists who incorporate elements of hip hop
ii. work with hip hop artists to explore new avenues
h. collaborations reach wider audience
3. fusions on Broadway
a. The Light in the Piazza (2005), by Adam Guettel (b. 1965)
i. sound and feel of opera, neo-Romanticism, operatic melodies
b. Mamma Mia! (1999), by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus
i. disco hits
c. Fela! (2008–9)
i. music and life of Nigerian singer Fela Kuti
d. The Band’s Visit (2016–17), songs and music by David Yazbek (b. 1961)
i. sounds of Egyptian popular music, Umm Kulthum
e. Hamilton (2015), by Lin-Manuel Miranda (b. 1980)
i. inverts racial and cultural hierarchy
ii. hip hop primary musical style; rhythm and blues to Broadway-style show tunes
F. Classical music: dying or vibrant?
1. A dying tradition?
a. classical radio stations are dwindling
b. proportion of younger listeners and concertgoers decreases
c. recoding industry supplanted by digital downloads, streaming, self-recording
d. several major orchestras have experienced financial hardships
e. drop in number of orchestras and performances in the United States
2. A golden age?
a. more classical music is available
b. more people listen to it worldwide than ever before
c. familiar classics in commercials, video games, movies
d. little-known music issued by publishers, record companies
e. level of performance has never been higher
f. access to entire range of music from the past
3. responses
a. innovative programming and marketing
b. orchestras, chamber groups sponsor education and outreach programs
c. concerts for targeted audiences
d. pre-concert lectures, post-concert discussions
e. collaborations with pop and multimedia artists
f. live broadcasts in theaters by the Metropolitan Opera in New York
g. universities stream concerts, operas on the Internet
h. conservatories, schools of music adding courses in music business
4. classical music outside the United States
a. old traditions of home music-making have endured more in Europe
b. classical music engages disadvantaged young people in Latin America

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 i. Venezuelan initiative El Sistema
c. number of Asians pursing training and careers in Western music continues to grow
G. Music in classical genres
1. Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952)
a. studied composition in native Finland
b. 1982, moved to Paris to work at IRCAM
c. 1980s and 1990s, made her reputation in spectralist tradition
d. L’amour de loin (2000; last tableau of Act IV, NAWM 224), opera
i. spectralist musical style, story of twelfth-century troubadour
ii. melodic material is modernist
iii. form of Jaufré’s lament evokes patterns in troubadour songs
iv. melodic style has similarities to troubadour melodies
v. later material derived from melodic cells in Jaufré’s lament
vi. unique fusion of twelfth- and twentieth-century ideas
2. Caroline Shaw (b. 1982), violinist, singer from North Carolina
a. Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013
b. Allemande from Partita for 8 Voices (2009–11, NAWM 225)
i. upbeat motive, contrapuntal textures, typical Baroque style
ii. unpitched recitation of texts, “allemande left”
iii. final section unmeasured, chantlike melodies
iv. fusion of Baroque, medieval, American, and non-Western elements with modern classical
tradition
3. Jeremy Sams (b. 1957), composer and librettist
a. The Enchanted Island, premiered at Metropolitan Opera in New York, 2011
i. literal mashup in classical genre, a work of quotation and collage
ii. Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest
iii. music from Baroque composers
iv. arias: Handel’s operas, oratorios, cantatas; vocal works of Vivaldi
v. choruses, descriptive instrumental interludes: Rameau, Leclair, other French composers
4. Osvaldo Golijov (b. 1960)
a. grew up in Argentine Jewish family
b. influences: Piazzolla’s nuevo tango, synagogue music, klezmer
c. studied with George Crumb; career in United States
d. Ainadamar: Fountain of Tears (2005), Grammy Award-winning opera
i. on 1936 murder of Spanish poet Federico García Lorca
ii. combines computer music, musique concrète, modernist dissonance, elements from Spanish
flamenco, Cuban rhythms, Latin American popular music
e. La Pasión según San Marcos (The Passion according to St. Mark, NAWM 226)
i. composed for Passion 2000 project
ii. fusion and polystylism
iii. African-influenced traditions from Cuba and Brazil
iv. varied timbres of Latin American percussion, each playing distinctive rhythm
v. Peter’s remorse evokes sounds of Bach and vocal styles of flamenco and folk song
5. Thomas Adès (b. 1971), British composer
a. Ring from Concentric Paths (2005, NAWM 227), violin concerto, first movement
i. combines Romantic virtuoso tradition with new virtuosity, texture and process of late
twentieth century
ii. perpetual motion; cycle of 5ths, roots related by M3rds
iii. Baroque resonances: chain of suspensions and resolutions, continuous sixteenth-note
arpeggiated figuration
6. John Adams
a. began in minimalist tradition

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 b. embraces wide range of topics
i. El Niño (1999–2000), Jesus’s Nativity
ii. On the Transmigration of Souls (2002), mourning deaths of World Trade Center attack
c. Doctor Atomic (2005; Batter my heart, NAWM 228), opera
i. Robert Oppenheimer and other scientists prepare first test of atomic bomb
ii. post-minimalist techniques: orchestral interludes
iii. expressive vocal line, recalls nineteenth-century opera
iv. fuses minimalism and Romantic opera: points of contact between them
v. sectional forms, tonal melodies, slow-moving harmonies, other parameters convey powerful emotions
7. Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962)
a. exemplifies accessible modernism
b. studied at Curtis Institute, University of Pennsylvania with George Crumb
c. awards
i. Violin Concerto, 2010 Pulitzer Prize
ii. Percussion Concerto, 2010 Grammy Award
iii. Viola Concerto, 2018 Grammy Award
d. blue cathedral (2000, NAWM 229), orchestral tone poem
i. written in memory of her brother
ii. piece features flute (her instrument), and clarinet (his instrument)
iii. effects are typical of Debussy
iv. no tonal progressions, triads and diatonic fields are familiar
v. coloristic orchestration
III. The Future of Western Music
A. Fusions, mashups, mixtures, blends are manifestations of long-standing trait in Western tradition
1. capability to absorb influences is at the core of Western tradition
2. continuing tension between finding niche of listeners and a wider audience
3. past music is heard by more people each year than heard it during composer’s lifetime

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