Textbooks describe this period as a departure from tradition. In this period, there were so many different styles of music and genres, so there was no dominant style. For me, That is the most interest thing about this period, because in the evolution of traditional music, repertoire styles tend to evolve in isolation, they confined to their own culture, in 20 century,With modern technology and contact with people from all over the world, composers began to integrate and innovate elements from different countries. “performers study and gain mastery in Repertoires of cultures other than their own, And composers can draw on the entire world of music in creating new crossover styles”(textbook）

In this period, a harmonic system different from the past musical tradition emerged, which is atonality. Traditional music is based on smooth, natural, and regular progress, while atonality composition is contrary to traditional music, atonality has no tonal center. “That rejected Principles of a key center and the distinction between consonance and dissonance that had been Foundation of Western Music for centuries.”That’s how the textbook describes it.

I listened to Arnold Schoenberg’s piece called “Phantasy for Violin and Piano, Op. 47 (1949)”.Arnold Schoenbe is the creator of atonality. Before I heard it, I imagined it to be chaotic, in fact, it was more chaotic than I thought. It presented on violin and piano. It was very different from the traditional music I heard before. This piece was irregular, which made me feel anxious and upset. In the end, the rapid sound of the violin and piano made this mood reach its peak.