During the course of the twentieth century, this all changed. Aside from the Second Viennese School, as the century has worn on, it is difficult to see how one style has dominated a particular period. Twentieth century has essentially evolved along with the emergence of new technologies in both the recording of music and ways in which it is now distributed.
To summarise, the last 100 years has seen a rapid development of music to the point where almost anything goes. Even to the point of John Cage’s 4 Minutes 32 Seconds (I don’t propose to get into a discussion here whether that is, or is not music, otherwise I could end up opening a whole can of worms!)
For schools, this presents an opportunity to embrace these developments and is one of the main reasons we are seeing the introduction of technology into school music departments. What we are seeing is not so much a move away from the traditional teaching of 4-part harmony and musical style, but the incorporation of new ideas and methods. There is nothing stopping a pupil harmonising their Bach chorale with the aid of a computer. Indeed, with the use of Piano Rolls, it is easier to make small corrections before the final score is presented.
Other than the next generation of aspiring recording engineers and producers, there may be limited value in learning how to operate Cubase, but it does teach young people how music today is produced and distributed. That in itself opens doors into the world of marketing and publishing, not just in the field of music, but in the wider digital revolution that we are all now part of.