Composers

Bela Bartók
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/bartok.html
This site offers a concise biography of Hungary’s most famous composer, along with photographs and a list of his compositions.

http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/composer/bartok.html
Another concise biography, with two audio examples of his compositions.

Pierre Boulez
See below under Performers

John Cage
http://212.96.130.213/CSS%20Files/composers/JCage%20bio.htm
John Cage is one of the leading experimentalist composers of the 20th century. This site offers a concise biography of Cage, with a list of his works and their recent performances.

http://www.newalbion.com/artists/cagej/
Contains Cage’s “Autobiographical Statement,” a link to a discography, and more.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/profiles/cage.shtml
An “Artist Profile” of cage, with a biography, audio selections, recommended recordings and books, and several articles on Cage and his music.
 
Claude Debussy
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/debussy.html
Claude Debussy was the foremost French composer of Impressionistic music. This site offers a biography, a list of compositions, images of the composer, and audio examples.

http://www.carolinaclassical.com/articles/debussy.html
Offers a biography with links to audio examples of several of his works, as well as photographs of the composer.

http://public.carnet.hr/~fsupek/
A site dedicated to Debussy, it contains a biography, a complete list of his compositions, an attractive exploration of his music coupled with his quotes and Monet paintings (NOTE: These audio examples are in SoundVQ format – a link to download a player is provided on the page), audio selections (in Windows Media Player format), Debussy-related photographs and other images, and links to other sites.

Alberto Ginastera
http://www.ostinato.org/ginas.html
Alberto Ginastera is Argentina’s best-known composer. This site offers a biography and photographs of the composer.

Philip Glass
http://www.philipglass.com/
Philip Glass is perhaps the best-known minimalist composer. This is his official website, which offers not only two biographies (one long, the other short), but also a list of his compositions, recordings, books, etc., news on his music, a calendar of recent and upcoming concerts, photographs from productions of his operas, ballets, and film music, as well as of the composer himself, and even Glass-related jokes.

http://www.glasspages.org/
A site dedicated to Philip Glass, it contains a discography, news, articles, a bibliography, audio selections in various formats, images of scores, photographs, and more.

Zoltán Kodály
http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main.asp?composerid=2847
Zoltán Kodály was one of Hungary’s better-known composers, as well as an important music educator and ethnomusicologist. This site offers his biography, a list of his compositions, a list of upcoming performances of his works, and audio samples of his music.

Darius Milhaud
http://www.musicaltimes.co.uk/archive/obits/197408milhaud.html
Darius Milhaud was a member of a group of six French and Swiss composers known collectively as “Les Six,” and, after Francis Poulenc, is the best-known of the group. This site offers a biography of the composer.

http://www.maurice-abravanel.com/milhaud.html
This site offers a biography of the composer, as well as a list of his works. It is best viewed in Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Terry Riley
http://www.terryriley.com/
Terry Riley is another important minimalist composer, and this is his official website. It contains his biography, a discography, a list of his compositions, images, audio samples, his concert schedule, external links, and more.

Arnold Schoenberg
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/schonberg.html
Arnold Schoenberg was one of the most important composers of the 20th century, having created the compositional technique known as twelve-tone composition. This site offers a biography, images of the composer, and a list of his works.

http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/composer/schoenberg.html
Offers a biography of the composer with two audio selections.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoenberg
A more detailed biography, with numerous internal and external links.

Igor Stravinsky
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/stravinsky.html
Igor Stravinsky was one of the most important composers of the 20th century. This site offers a concise biography of the composer, as well as images, a few audio examples, and an article on his ballet Petrouchka.

http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/composer/stravinsky.html
Another biography of Stravinsky, with several audio examples.

http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main.asp?composerid=2708&langid=1&ttype=BIOGRAPHY&ttitle=Biography#
This site offers more extensive information on Stravinsky, including a biography, timeline, an introduction to Stravinsky’s music, a list of his compositions, recent and upcoming performances of his music, a discography, many sound samples, and more.

Edgard Varèse
http://csunix1.lvc.edu/~snyder/em/varese.html
The French-born Edgard Varèse was one of the most important experimentalist composers. This site offers a biography, as well as images of the composer, a commentary on Varèse by Frank Zappa, and links to other sites.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgard_Varèse
Another biography, with numerous internal links to related articles, as well as links to external sites.

Ralph Vaughan Williams
http://www.agentsmith.com/rvw.php
Ralph Vaughan Williams was an early 20th-century traditionalist composer. This site, though lacking a biography of the composer, does include a timeline, a complete list of works with background information, recommendations on his music, an extensive bibliography, and even a list of Vaughan Williams trivia.

http://www.rvwsociety.com/index.html
Website of the Ralph Vaughan Williams society, it includes a short biography of the composer, a timeline, a list of concerts featuring his music, a wealth of audio examples, a complete list of his compositions, external links, and more.

Heitor Villa-Lobos
http://www.rdpl.red-deer.ab.ca/villa/villamap.html
Heitor Villa-Lobos is Brazil’s best-known composer. This website offers a biography, a bibliography, information on his compositions, including a discography and external links to audio examples, essays, and more.

http://www.museuvillalobos.org.br/index0.htm
This site, belonging to the Villa-Lobos Museum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, offers an illustrated biography of the composer and several (mostly MIDI) audio examples.

Performers

Pierre Boulez
http://www.andante.com/profiles/boulez/boulezintro.cfm
Pierre Boulez is an important 20th century composer and conductor. This site offers a lengthier biography, a discography of both his compositions and conducting, and articles about some of his compositions, with audio examples.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4649345
This site offers a recorded interview of Boulez that was broadcast on the National Public Radio show Fresh Air.

Cleveland Orchestra
http://www.clevelandorchestra.org/html/index.asp
The official website of the Cleveland Orchestra, offering a history of the orchestra, biographies of the music director and the orchestra’s other conductors, and more.

Branford Marsalis
http://www.branfordmarsalis.com/branford/intro.cfm
Bradford Marsalis is a well-known jazz saxophonist. This, his official website, offers a biography, current news about Marsalis, a discography, photographs, and more.

Philharmonia Orchestra (New Philharmonia Orchestra)
http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/
The Philharmonia Orchestra (also known as the New Philharmonia Orchestra from 1964-1976) is one of England’s premiere symphony orchestras. This, their official website, offers a biography, history and timeline of the orchestra, biographies of its conductors, information about the instruments of the orchestra, downloadable recordings (priced in pounds sterling), and much more.

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
http://www.orpheusnyc.com/
The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is an outstanding ensemble based in New York. Their official website offers a history of the orchestra, biographies of its musicians, a discography, and more.

Musical Styles

Impressionism
http://library.thinkquest.org/27110/noframes/periods/impressionism.html
This site provides a concise discussion of impressionism in music, with audio examples.

http://www.andante.com/article/article.cfm?id=10634
An article on impressionism and its influence on later composers.

Minimalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalist_music
This site offers a discussion of minimalism, with numerous links to related articles and audio files.

http://www.newmusicbox.org/page.nmbx?id=31tp00
A more extensive website, with a definition of minimalism, a focus on some early minimalist composers, a bibliography, and more.

Serialism
http://www.pcpros.net/~ntxawgl/music/12_tones_technique.htm
A history and description of this 20th-century compositional technique, with a bibliography.

http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx?id=1550
A more extensive website, with a history of the technique and articles on how it was used by American composers.

Miscellaneous

Firebird
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firebird_Suite
An article on this famous ballet by Igor Stravinsky. It includes the history of the work, a short list of recordings of the full ballet and the suite Stravinsky extracted from it, and links to two audio examples.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/discoveringmusic/audioarchive.shtml
This page offers links to audio files of radio programs from the BBC in which particular works and their composers are discussed. For a discussion of the suite from the Firebird ballet, scroll down to “Stravinsky” and click on “Stravinsky – The Firebird Suite.”

Musique concrète
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musique_concrète
An article on this 20th-century compositional technique, with numerous links to related articles.

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/whitefiles/b2_h/4_radiophonic_workshop/rws/pgs/rx01.htm
Another article on this technique, with descriptions of various ways in which recorded sound is manipulated.

Petroushka
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/stravinsky_shearer.html
A history and discussion of the second of three ballets that Igor Stravinsky composed in the 1910’s for the Paris-based Ballets Russe.

Pierrot Lunaire
http://www.colleges.org/techcenter/music/modules/pierrot/index.html
An extensive website that offers information about this important work by Arnold Schoenberg.

Rite of Spring (Le Sacred du Printemps)
http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/stravinsky/lesacre90.html
A history of this monumental work by Igor Stravinsky that shocked the public at its premiere in 1913.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/discoveringmusic/audioarchive.shtml
This page offers links to audio files of radio programs from the BBC in which particular works and their composers are discussed. For a discussion of the Rite of Spring, scroll down to “Stravinsky” and click on “Stravinsky – The Rite of Spring – Part 1” and “Stravinsky – The Rite of Spring – Part 2.”

http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/milestones/991110.motm.riteofspring.html
A short history of the ballet, with a link to a National Public Radio program audio file that contains a discussion of the piece.

Synthesizers
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/whitefiles/b2_h/4_radiophonic_workshop/rws/pgs/rx02.htm
An article on music synthesis, with a history and a description of different techniques employed.