20th century classical music

20th century classical music, the classical music of the 20th century, was extremely diverse, beginning with the late Romantic style of Sergei Rachmaninoff and the Impressionism of Claude Debussy, and ranging to such distant sound-worlds as the complete serialism of Pierre Boulez, the simple triadic harmonies of minimalist composers such as Steve Reich, and Philip Glass, the musique concrète of Pierre Schaeffer, the microtonal music adopted by Harry Partch, Alois Hába and others, and the aleatoric music of John Cage.

Jazz-influenced composition

A number of composers combined elements of the jazz idiom with classical compositional styles. Notable examples include:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• George Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue
• Claude Debussy, Golliwog's Cakewalk (from Children's Corner, 1908)
• Igor Stravinsky's Ragtime for 11 instruments (1918)
• Paul Hindemith, 1922 Suite für Klavier
• Kurt Weill, Threepenny Opera (1928)
• Ernst Krenek, Jonny spielt auf (1926)
• Bruce Arnold, A Few Dozen (1955)