Art music of the 20th and 21st Centuries
Creative projects
The conference proceedings NM I 2002 include reports of projects by invited composers.
Rosenboom (NM I no. 34, pp. 263-271) describes a computer-based system that can generate musi-
cal structures from direct measurements of EEG.
Minciacchi (NM I no. 36, pp. 282-301) has created systems that convert neurobiological data into
structures from which sound objects are generated.
Radulescu (NM I no. 39, pp. 322-363) presents models for creating spectral music based on ring
modulation.
Non-tonal music
Two papers include music that is not based on major-minor tonality.
In a study of learning new musical systems, Bigand (NM I no. 37, pp. 304-312) applies newly com-
posed dodecaphonic canons in the style of Anton Webern.
Koelsch (NM III no. 56, pp. 374-384) reports a test of social cognition of music, based on excerpts
from piano pieces by Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) and Anton Webern (1883-1945).
Musical innovations
Apart from these contributions, musical works of the 20th and 21st centuries are not considered in
the Neuroscience and Music (NM) conferences. This omission is remarkable, because art music of
the last 100 years has introduced new and challenging approaches to music perception, music cog-
nition, and music-induced emotion.^28
Significant musical innovations in the 20th Century include the following:
Charles Ives’ multilayered music
Bela Bartok’s extended tonality
Igor Stravinsky’s patterns of variable meter
Edgar Varèse’s use of noise and electronic sound
Henry Cowell’s tone clusters
Olivier Messiaen’s extended harmony, composite timbres and additive rhythms
John Cage’s and numerous other composers’ use of percussion
Witold Lutoslawski’s use of quarter tones
Iannis Xenakis’ use of glissandi
György Ligeti’s sound masses and transitions between regularity and irregularity
Luciano Berio’s use of musical gestures
Karlheinz Stockhausen’s and numerous other composers’ development of electronic sound
Krzysztof Penderecki’s use of unconventional instrumental techniques
Steve Reich’s repetitive musical patterns.
These composers are classics of the 20th Century. In addition, the music of innumerable living com-
posers is currently presented at festivals, played in concert halls, and distributed as recordings. A
28 The Musical Timespace presents innovations in 20th Century music by Xenakis, Ligeti, Lutoslawski and Ives. Cf.
chapter 4.