Changes in 20th Century Music that affected Symphonies and Symphony Writers and Project the Future for 21st-century Symphonies

(My Opinion in) changes in 20^th century music and how that affected symphonies and symphony writers. Then, project the future for 21^st-century symphonies (styles, timbres, forms, venues, audiences, media, and so forth)

20^th century classical music is also known as Modern classical music. In early 20^th century the style of composition definitely changed from romantic period. We could found new words such as Atonal, Serialism, Chance music, Experimental music. Composers were more willing to experiment with new music forms or reinvent music forms of the past. They also took advantage of the resources and technology that were available to them. Composers had more creative freedom. Composers in 20^th century try to diverse reactions in challenging older categories of music, innovations that lead to new ways of organizing and approaching harmonic, melodic, audio and rhythmic aspects of music, and changes in aesthetic worldviews in close relation to the larger identifiable period of modernism in the arts of the time. Could say this is also innovation in music.
                The change of the styles and techniques that are affected symphonies and symphony writers by their way of composing that they try to equal all the sound by twelve-tone technique (created by Arnold Schoenberg) but the sound that occur from this kind of composing is not sound that simple and could say that it’s hard to listening to or to appreciate with the sound like the past because the composer want to share new ideas of music. Another thing that changes from the past is the smaller size of orchestra if compare to the past because the value of money had change after world war there was depression. Definitely no one interested to attend live performance and no one have money to pay for concerts. People need to keep money for their living. So composers have to decrease the number of instrument in their composition so they can hire musicians to perform their own composition for example in Anton Webern’s Symphony (op. 21) composed in 1927. That has 2 movements but has only 9 minutes long. It’s short but has many ideas in this symphony such as complex canons, final six pitches are a transposed retrograde of its first six pitches of the matrix, seven variations in the 2^nd movement.
                If I could project the future for 21^st-century symphonies and also all kind of music, I think there won’t be the composer or musician that their career is only do the music stuff for their living. Those could be doctor or businessman that can be musician and composer. Because music will cannot be occupation anymore. People in society think that music is just easy thing to find and should be free for them. They can do illegal things by download free MP3 from internet or event watch free music video and concerts from Youtube website.  The value of music will decrease. Nobody interesting that how musicians or composers will live their live so people who love music need to do music as hobby and just share their idea to free media. This also affected symphonies. No one will listen to long music because they need to keep time to do the job for capitalism life style. No time to appreciate art but keep working and concentrating for factory system and their boss. The forms, styles, timbres will getting shorter and less instrument (That’s already happened in Webern’s symphony already; short symphony). Instead of using musical instruments they could use others equipments such as watering can or spoon to be a part of compositions. For example, Drip Music by George Brecht that can expand this idea of composing to be a dripping watering can symphony. In the style of music in 21^st century could be easier to understand and maybe have no form of music and also try to escape from the form in the past. 

The Classical Music Criticism and Judgment by Mutita Narkmuang

The Classical Music Criticism and Judgment
by Mutita Narkmuang
February 23^rd, 2013
               
               Classical music is one kind of the art music from various style of music. On Oxford Dictionary give the meaning of classical music as serious music following long-established principles rather than a folk, jazz, or popular tradition, and even give more specifically meaning by the period of music(since the music has 6 periods; middle age, renaissance, baroque, classic, romantic and contemporary)  that classical music is the music written in the European tradition during a period lasting approximately from 1750 to 1830, when forms such as the symphony, concerto, and sonata were standardized.
                How do we judge the classical music, and what is the musical value of classical music? I think this is the hard thing to critics about the good or bad of the things that we call it as one kind of art.
We could analyze music by their elements such as the musical form, the harmony, the rhythm, orchestration, register of that piece etc. But also the problems is everyone has different taste and also some have the same taste too such as one composer love the way dominant chord run to sub median chord and then resolve to dominant again then end with tonic chord but another one like the way to begin the phrase with sub median then dominant for two bars to extend the dominant longer (could call it as dominant prolongation) until tonic in the last bar. The question is what is the best chord progression of those two ideas? , and how do we judge what is the best chord progression?  And interesting question is how do we judge that one piece copy from any other pieces? Another example is if we judge one of the phrases in symphony no.9 by Beethoven “Ode to Joy” as the best phrase that compound with many good melodies, best chord progression and  orchestration and great idea to add choir to that movement but there is also a question that who judge that this phrase is the best. How do they judge? , and what is the material that they use to judge this kind of classical music to make it the best of Beethoven’s pieces?
                The Best music in all kind of area not only includes by best music by creativity composers but also has to have best performers that can perform the best performances too. In classical music the performers have to do analyze and interpretation the music that they will perform, have to know the period of that music so they could play as the style of each period, have to practice in the right way to gain more techniques to their muscles to control their musical instrument, have to perform as natural as possible like they are speaking, eating or walking. The best performers have to bring all emotions and energy from the music that is just a music note on the paper to touch their audiences’ heart. The problems are what is the best performance?  , and how do we judge the performance?
                As a classical guitarist I used to compete in one competition. All juries have to fill in the form for all competitors. There topics are Technique, Dynamics, Balancing, Precision and Rhythm, Style and Expression, and Stage Performance. Maybe those topics could judge the best performance but the problem I could see was one song that I performed called Marley’s Ghost by Andrew York the main part of first section was the melody on the bass line. One of jury wrote on the Balancing blog that I played too loud but another on said I played too soft so I got the question that who is correct?  This could show that it is hard to judge the best performance. It is depend on what do you like? What is your feeling? What are the things that you used to experiences?

                At last the way we critic and judge classical music could be judge from both quality of pieces and the quality of performance. The performers should know the aesthetic of composers who composed the songs that they will perform so they can perform in the way right way from performers’ interpretation. And definitely the listeners will judge it by their experience and feeling.