Course Description
Enhance your understanding and appreciation of 20th century classical music by exploring
the piano works of a dozen influential composers between 1900 and 1930. Featured composers
include Russians Sergei Rachmaninoff and Sergei Prokofiev, the French Impressionists Claude
Debussy and Maurice Ravel, Spanish masters Isaac Albéniz and Manuel de Falla, the Hungarian
modernist Béla Bartók, and the jazz-influenced Americans George Gershwin and Aaron Copland.
Introductions to period concepts like impressionism, symbolism, microtones, atonality, and serialism
and a brief venture into avant-garde composing are included.
Instructor talks provide historical context as well as information on 20th century musical
styles. Learn about many renown pianists by watching them perform these masterpieces.
Course Syllabus
Session 1: Music of the 19th Century Romantics (Sergei Rachmaninoff, Gabriel Faure, Erik Satie)
Session 2: The Spaniards (Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados, Manuel de Falla)
Session 3: The Russians (Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Prokofiev)
Session 4: The French (Francis Poulenc, Claude Debussy)
Session 5: International Day (Maurice Ravel, Béla Bartók)
Session :6 The Americans (Charles Ives, Henry Cowell, George Gershwin, Aaron Copland)
