Stravinsky
Stravinsky was one of the first true 20th century composers, not just in date, but in feeling. He didn’t jump completely off the tonality wagon like the atonal dudes, but he did some crazy awesome stuff with dissonances and complex rhythms.
He is best known for the Rite of Spring (or: Le Sacre du Printemps, if you feel French and fancy). The Rite of Spring is best known for being that ballet where there was a riot at the first performance, in 1913.
That particular piece is literally and musically savage. It’s about a bunch of savages, sacrificing a virgin to the god of Spring. The original choreography involves lots of stomping and tribal circling, and not so much twirling and crap like people kind of expect from a ballet. The music is rhythmic, vicious, and the time signature changes every few bars. Here is a bit from one of the early movements, “the Augurs of Spring”, where it really starts getting going:
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A lot of his music has this spiky, dissonant quality to it, although nothing I know is quite like like the Rite.
The other pieces he is best known for are two other ballets, Pulcinella and The Firebird. For new classical listeners ballets are sort of nice because they have lots of small movements, instead of a few really massive ones. It’s easier to find your way around.
Here’s a bit from The Firebird, from the movement called The Infernal Dance of King Kastchei:
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Which has a similar kind of flavor to the Rite, even if it isn’t quite as deliciously violent.
Stravinsky also went through a “neoclassical” period in which he wrote music in styles similar to Mozart and Bach. I haven’t really explored this era of his, so I’m going to keep my mouth shut about it (for now).
