Contemporary Period (1900 to present)

Contemporary Period is the fifth period of music (European) which I am exposed to, where repertoires in this period are composed from 1900 to present. It refers to the modern forms of art music. For a more detailed historical background of repertoire created during this period can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_music

Bela Bartok is one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was born in 1881 in Hungary, and died in 1945. He began studying piano with his mother when he was five years old. The family settled in Pressburg where Bartok met Ernst von Dohnanyi who became a good friend and advisor. He also became good friends with Zoltan Kodaly, with whom he later researched Hungarian folk music. In 1909, Bartok married Marta Ziegler. His six volumes of piano pieces called Mikrokosmos were written for his son, Peter. He used many folk tunes in his compositions.

To play music of this period, we need to take note of the following:-

1. The melody is based have unpredictable or irregular phrase lengths. Shape is often jagged using very narrow or very wide intervals, often based on non-traditional scales.

2. Greater usage of irregular meters. Chords are made up of 4ths, 5ths or clusters of three or more adjacent notes to create a dissonant sound. Tempo changes are common.

3. The full range of the instrument is utilized, from ppp to fff (a wide dynamic spectrum).

4. Need to plan fingering carefully to play the less familiar patterns and hand shape must adjust to narrow or wide intervals and unusual chord shapes.

5. Titles tell a story, pieces express a wide range of emotions, sounds reflect the character.

6. Often use of unconventional pianistic movements such as playing with the palm or forearm, or tapping the wood of the piano. Big physical gestures and motions needed to accomodate extreme registers of the piano.