Masterworks of 20th-Century Music

"Masterworks of 20th-Century Music" introduces more than one hundred of the greatest compositions by world-renowned composer that have entered the standard orchestral repertory. The author surveyed dozens of major American orchestras to focus on those works that an average audience member is most likely to hear. Concertgoers who are intimated by the modern repertoire finally have a single resource that will help them understand and enjoy it. Like an educated guide, he walks the listener through the piece, explaining how all the elements come together to form a unified whole. This book serves the general reader interested in 20th-century music, plus students, teachers, and scholars.

Douglas Lee is Professor of Musicology, Emeritus, at Vanderbilt U. An active scholar of 18th-century instrumental music, he has also written many articles for journals, reference works, chapters in books, critical editions, plus program and liner notes for concert performances and CD recordings. He lives in Nashville, TN.

Preface; John Adams; Samuel Barber; Béla Bartók; Alban Berg; Leonard Bernstein; Benjamin Britten; Aaron Copland; John Corigliano; George Gershwin; Alberto Ginastera; Henryk Górecki; Paul Hindemith; Gustav Holst; Charles Ives; Zoltán Kodály; Darius Milhaud; Carl Orff; Sergei Prokofiev; Maurice Ravel; Dmitri Shostakovich; Igor Stravinsky; Ralph Vaughan Williams; William Walton; Anton Webern