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Dubbed \u2018The War to End All Wars\u2019, the First World War<\/strong><\/a> proved anything but. Nonetheless, when, on 11 November 1918, Allied and German personnel gathered in a railway carriage in Compi\u00e8gne, France, to sign the Armistice and end the four-year conflict, it was as if a firm line was being drawn through the timeline of history.<\/p> A new era had begun, with misty-eyed romanticism replaced by hard-edged realism and, right across the globe, old values and social orders ripped to shreds. Artistically, too, the world was looking in new directions \u2013 premiered in October 1919, Elgar<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s ultra-Romantic Cello Concerto<\/a><\/strong> seemed to mourn not only times and friends past, but indeed the composer\u2019s own musical world.<\/p> But to what degree has music from the last century reflected the course of history? Here are 20 works that, in one way or another, define their time and place, from symphonies<\/a><\/strong> written in the shadow of Stalinism to big-screen soundtracks and modern-day reflections on issues such as the nuclear threat and global pollution. <\/p> Yes folks: welcome to our 100-year history lesson, presented through the medium of music. <\/p> 1918-27: brighter days in America, uncertainty in Europe<\/a><\/strong><\/p> 1928-37: totalitarianism: obey or defy?<\/a><\/strong><\/p> 1938-47: responses to war and terror<\/a><\/strong><\/p> 1948-57: time for reflection… and experimentation<\/a><\/strong><\/p> 1958-67: nuclear fears, and escapist fantasies<\/a><\/strong><\/p> 1968-77: music responds to a decade of paranoia<\/a><\/strong><\/p> 1978-87: Cold War panic and the rise of the video game<\/a><\/strong><\/p> 1988-97: breakthroughs in Europe, inequality in the US<\/a><\/strong><\/p> 1998-2007: gender struggles, and a major atrocity<\/a><\/strong><\/p> 2008-2018: the perils of fame… and a warming planet<\/a><\/strong><\/p> The Times:<\/strong> With the aftermath of World War I behind it and the Wall Street Crash and Great Depression yet to happen for another five years, 1920s America was full of optimism. The economy boomed with the advance of technology, Americans sought the good life and people flocked to the big cities \u2013 New York, Chicago, San Francisco \u2013 in their droves. This was the era of The<\/em> Great Gatsby<\/em> and, seemingly, nothing could derail it.<\/p> The Music:<\/strong> Music in the US would reflect these good times, although jazz<\/a><\/strong> had, in fact, done so since before the end of the First World War. Now it was promising to give classical music an injection of energy and invention. There were those who objected to jazz\u2019s suave invasion, including the composer Var\u00e8se, who claimed that, far from being \u2018America\u2019, jazz was \u2018a negro product, exploited by the Jews\u2019.<\/p> But the very point of George Gershwin<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s Rhapsody in Blue<\/em><\/strong><\/a> was that it was<\/em> written by a Jewish composer and did <\/em>make use of music of black origin. Rhapsody in Blue<\/em>, premiered in New York in February 1924 by the composer alongside Paul Whiteman\u2019s Palais Royal Orchestra (controversially made up entirely of white players) immediately threw open the question of exactly what American music was.<\/p> From the opening clarinet trill<\/a><\/strong> and upward slide (improvised in rehearsal and subsequently kept) to its overt jazz harmonies and rhythms, Gershwin\u2019s music proved once and for all that American \u2018art\u2019 music and jazz could mix to staggering effect. Classical music would never be the same again. The audience reaction was extraordinary: Stokowski, Rachmaninov<\/strong><\/a> and Kreisler were there and declared themselves fans. As did, later, Ravel<\/strong><\/a>, Prokofiev<\/strong><\/a>, Schoenberg<\/strong><\/a> and one Alban Berg\u2026 <\/p>Contents<\/h2>
1918-27: brighter days in America, uncertainty in Europe<\/strong><\/h2>
George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue<\/em> (1924)<\/strong><\/h3>
‘There were those who objected to jazz\u2019s suave invasion’<\/h4>