Modern Period ca. 1900-1950 Timeline Directory
DateEvent
1900Dream of Gerontius (Elgar)
1901Pelleas et Melisande (Debussy)
1903Gurrelieder (Schoenberg)
1905Salome (Strauss)
 La Mer (Debussy)
1906Kammersymphonie (Schoenberg)
 The Unanswered Question (Ives)
1907Symphony no.8 (Mahler)
 Sketch for a New Musical Esthetic (Busoni)
1908Golliwog's Cakewalk (Debussy)
1908Mysterium (begun by Scriabin)
1909Elektra (Strauss)
1910Harmonielehre (Schoenberg)
 The Firebird (Stravinsky)
 Prometheus (Scriabin)
1911Petrushka (Stravinskky)
 Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss)
 Erwartung (Schoenberg)
1912Pierrot Lunaire (Schoenberg)
 Die ferne Klang (Schreker)
 Jeux (Debussy)
 The Tides of Manaunaum (Cowell)
1913Rite of Spring (Stravinsky)
 Treemonisha (Joplin)
 Prometheus (Scriabin)
1914Sports et Divertissements (Satie)
1916Palestrina (Pfitzner)
1916Symphony no.4 (Ives)
1917Classical Symphony (Prokofiev)
 Sonata Bureaucratique (Satie)
1918Cock and the Harlequin (Cocteau)
1918The Soldier's Tale (Stravinsky)
 Ragtime (Stravinsky)
1919Piano-Rag-Music (Stravinsky)
 Quartet Euphometric (Cowell)
 Society for Private Music Perf. (est. Schoenberg)
1920Concord Sonata (Ives)
 The Planets (Holst)
 Pulcinella (Stravinsky)
 Furniture Music (Satie/Milhaud)
1921Int'l Composers Guild (est. Varese)
1923Rhapsody in Blue (Gershwin)
 La creation du monde (Milhaud)
DateEvent
1923Pacific no.231 (Honneger)
 Ameriques (Varese)
 Les Noces (Stravinsky)
 Octet for Winds (Stravinsky)
1924Wozzeck (Berg)
 The Banshee (Cowell)
1925Piano Suite (Schoenberg)
1926Lyric Suite (Berg)
1927Johnny spielt auf (Krenek)
 Showboat (Jerome Kern)
1928Threepenny Opera (Weill)
 An American in Paris (Gershwin)
 Symphony Op.21 (Webern)
 Genesis of a Music (Partch)
 Variations for Orchestra (Schoenberg)
1930New Musical Resources (Cowell)
 Li Po Songs (Partch)
1931Afro-American Symphony (Still)
 Ionisation (Varese)
 Sun Treader (Ruggles)
1934Four Saints in 3 Acts (V. Thompson)
 Mathis der Maler (Hindemith)
1935Porgy and Bess (Gershwin)
1935Lulu (Berg)
 Violin Concerto (Berg)
1937The Cradle Will Rock (Blitzstein)
 Symphony no.5 (Shostakovich)
 Carmina Burana (Orff)
1939Billy the Kid (Copland)
 Symphony no.3 (Roy Harris)
1940Symphony in C (Strainsky)
1941Folk Song Symphony (Roy Harris)
 Composition w/12 Tones (Schoenberg)
1942Rodeo (Copland)
 Fanfare for the Common Man (Copland)
 Die Kluge (Orff)
1944Appalachian Spring (Copland)
1945Carousel (Rodgers/Hammerstein)
1946Annie Get Your Gun (Berlin)
 Brigadoon (Lerner/Loewe)
1948Sonatas and Interludes (Cage)
1949Quatre Etudes de rhythme (Messaien)
1951Schoenberg is Dead (Boulez)
Previous Period - Romantic