Rzewski

Rzewski, another American composer, was born in 1933. His piece "Winnsboro Cotton-mill Blues, begins with a series of repeated bass notes that have a motoric feel. It sounds similar to a machine turing over and over. It has a strong rhythmic drive. As the work progresses so does the range and it moves to a higher register. Yet it always moves back to having a emphasis on the bass. About mid way through there is a very jazzy, improvisatory section, but then it returns back to the churning bass motion.

Adams

John Adams is an American minimalist composer. He wrote China Gates for the piano in 1977. He claims that the steady 8th notes throughout the piece represent "the steady rainfall of time." The form is in three parts, and is close to a palindrome.

Crumb

Crumb's music is influenced by a large array of previous composers. His music, like Debussy, prioritizes the actual sound and sonorities of music. It is almost all foreground and is easy to listen to. He wrote a lot of compositions based on symbols, like Messiaen. In his books of Makrokosmos, he wrote every 4th piece in a symbolic shape. In 1962 he wrote a set of 5 piano pieces. He uses many different techniques in these pieces, such as preparing some of the strings on the piano, strumming on some of the strings, and using a wide arrange of textures and registers on the piano.

Cage

Cage, 1912-1992, was an avant garde composer who studied with Cowell and Schoenberg. He also used many extended techniques, and furthered the development of the prepared piano. He, like other contemporaries of his, also explored music of chance.

Cowell

Henry Cowell, 1897-1965, was an American composer who did used many extended techniques on the piano. He wrote works like Aeolian Harp and the Banshee that required the performer to pluck and strum the strings. His music uses tone clusters, played by the hand or forearm, and relies greatly on overtones.

Berio

Berio is another italian composer, who did a lot of experimentation with electronic music. He wrote a series of Sequenzas for different instruments. Sequenza IV is written for piano. It also has a very thin texture. It uses a wide range and jumps around the keyboard.

Dallapiccola

Dallapiccola, an italian composer who lived from 1904-1975, was a serialist composer who was greatly influenced by the second Viennese school. His Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera is made up of 11 short movements. They almost have very thin textures. They begin in a very contemplative manner and have slow tempi.