The Opinions of Music Education Students about 20th and 21st Centuries Classical Music: Uludag University Exemplification

Abstract

The debates of music historians, composers, and performers on difficulties in understanding the 20^th and 21^st Centuries international classical music and the reasons have been ongoing for years. The opinions of music education students on this matter and their interests in music of these periods are a matter of curiosity. With this research, students' attitudes towards music of these periods were determined and suggestions were made in the direction of the obtained results. The target population of the study contains Uludag University Faculty of Education Music Education Department students and the research sample contains 117 students from the same department. A questionnaire consisting of open-ended and closed-ended questions was prepared in order to determine the opinions of music students about 20^th and 21^st century international classical music. From the results of the survey, it was deduced that Music Education Department students do not recognize enough about 20^th and 21^st Centuries composers, they rarely listen to these periods, but when the opportunity is created, they like to practice and listen to these periods.

Keywords: History of music, classical music, 20^th and 21^st Centuries music, opinions of students.