John Zorn
Naked City
Karlheinz Stockhausen: Kontakte
Diamanda Galás

Avant-Garde

Avant-Garde is taken from the French for "vanguard," which is the part of the armed forces that always stands at the front of the rest of the army. In the case of music, the avant-garde are those individuals who take music to the next step in development or at least take music on a divergent path. The term was first applied only after World War II. In popular idioms it is a term used to describe or refer to free jazz movements but the meaning remains the same: techniques of expression that are new, innovative and radically different from the tradition or the mainstream. Wagner and Debussy can easily be classified as avant-garde relevant to their time but the term did not enter familiar usage until the advent of Stockhausen.

Avant-Garde Artists Highlights

John Zorn
John Zorn
Diamanda Galás
Diamanda Galás
John Cage
John Cage
Harry Partch
Harry Partch
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Zeena Parkins
Zeena Parkins

More Avant-Garde Artists

Avant-Garde Album Highlights

Naked City
John Zorn
Naked City
Karlheinz Stockhausen: Kontakte
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen: ...
Moondog [CBS]
Moondog
Moondog [CBS]
Philip Glass: Music in Twelve Parts
Philip Glass
Philip Glass: Music in ...
Ohm: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music, 1948-1980
Various Artists
Ohm: The Early Gurus of ...
The Roots of the Moment
Pauline Oliveros
The Roots of the Moment

More Avant-Garde Albums

Avant-Garde Song Highlights

Title/Composer Performer Stream
Idalah-Abal Bar Kokhba
Gypsy Violin Harold Budd
Studies (2) on Ancient Greek Scales, for harmonic canon & bass marimba (from "Eleven Intrusions") Kronos Quartet
Fried Chicken for Richard Speck Eugene Chadbourne
1930 Masami Akita
And on the Seventh Day, Petals Fell in Petaluma
Harry Partch
Godard John Zorn
Etude aux Chemins de Fer Pierre Schaeffer
Traffic Continues II: Gusto (For Tom Cora): One Never Knows Do One?/A Ensemble Modern
Fayettenam Camper Van Chadbourne

More Avant-Garde Songs

Avant-Garde subgenres and styles [+]