Us musical styles in the 20th century from this cultural melting pot of immigrants a multitude of musical styles emerged in the us within three broad categories each distinguished by its overall purpose i american roots music ii american popular music commercial music iii american classical music art music. American music in the twentieth century by gann kyle publication date 1997 topics music united states 20th century history and criticism publisher new york schirmer books london prentice hall international collection inlibrary printdisabled oliverwendellholmeslibrary phillipsacademy americana digitizing sponsor kahle austin foundation contributor phillips academy oliver . Kyle ganns book american music in the 20th century breaks this trend although gann spends an obligatory amount of time on the forefathers of contemporary music in the us the main portion of this book deals directly with music written in the past fifty years also refreshing gann provide readers with insightful information on women and minority composers one chapter is dedicated solely to the development and current status of electronic music in the us. A compositional tradition arose in the mid 20th century particularly in north america called experimental music its most famous and influential exponent was john cage 1912 1992 11 according to cage an experimental action is one the outcome of which is not foreseen 12 and he was specifically interested in completed works that performed an unpredictable action 13