After the Second World War, there emerged a new generation of composers, who sought to stretch the boundaries of music history, and find new and exciting styles and forms. Browse our sheet music and scores, take a look at our Modern Classical Music, and explore the wide world of contemporary music with Stretta Music today!
Dodecaphony or Serialism is the use of the twelve semi-tones as the harmonic and structural basis, rather than the traditional harmonic key structure which governed classical music until the turn of the twentieth century. Arnold Schoenberg was the father of twelve-tone composition in the 1930s. Moving into the post-war era, all dodecaphonic or serial musical parameters, including note lengths, dynamics and even timbres were set in rows. After 1948, the Darmstadt “holiday courses” became the centre of Dodecaphony or Serialism for almost a decade. Despite the mathematical and logical basis, twelve-tone composition still produced many highly emotional works such as Luigi Nono’s Il Canto sospeso.
As the technical and electronic possibilities continued to grow and thrive after the war, the first studio solely dedicated to electronic music was founded in Cologne in 1951 by Herbert Eimert. Important electronic music composers were Edgar Varese, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Ernst Krenek, Maurice Kagel, Luciano Berio and Iannis Xenakis, who was also an assistant to the architect Le Corbusier.
Aleatoric comes from the Latin “alea”, meaning dice. Aleatoric composition leaves elements of the music to chance. The American composer John Cage was the first to experiment with aleatoric music, and many others followed, in particular K. Stockhausen, P. Boulez, W. Lutosławski.
Soundscape composition plays with sense and emotion, it uses long drawn musical landscapes to give the listener time to recognise and experience the music in a whole new way. The most important compositions include Atmosphères and Lontano by György Ligeti. Other works of this type were created by Luigi Nono, Krzysztof Penderecki, Iannis Xenakis.
Minimalism also came to Europe from the USA. Minimalism uses repetitive, wide blocks of sound, without strong contrasts or dramatic changes. It is in the repetition, with gradual, small changes, that the minimalist effect is achieved. The pioneers of minimalism in the 1960s were American composers Philip Glass, John Adams, Le Monte Young, Terry Riley and Steve Reich. They were followed in Europe by Henryk Górecki and Arvo Pärt.
for: Viola
Music score
Item no.: 910878
for: Flute and Percussion
Score, Parts
Item no.: 885567
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 880958
for: Baritone Voice, Clarinet and Piano
Book
Item no.: 876194
for: Bass Recorder, Violin and Accordion
Set of parts
Item no.: 838158
for: Chamber ensemble
Score
Item no.: 839517
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Piano reduction
Item no.: 840840
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 835774
for: gemischten Chor (SATB) und Instrumente
Score
Item no.: 113295
for: INST (4-7)
Score
Item no.: 103139
for: BL SEXTETT
Score
Item no.: 103097
for: Children's Voices, SATB and Piano
Choir score
Item no.: 863908
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Book
Item no.: 135603
for: Choir (2 voices), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 887459
for: Soprano Baritone Voice SATB
Choir score
Item no.: 883028
for: Men's Voices
Choir score
Item no.: 870678
for: Choir (2 voices), piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 865520
for: Countertenor and Chamber Ensemble
Book
Item no.: 888336
for: Voice (soprano), orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 883489
for: Tuba (B-flat), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1600430
for: Chamber ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 617155
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 879627
for: Mixed choir (SSAATTBB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1668177
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 631416
Item no.: 614837
Item no.: 614828
for: 2 recorders (SA)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 397339
for: Clarinet, string orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 188900
for: Sopran, Tenor, Bass, gemischter Chor und Orchester
Study score
Item no.: 378282
for: Kinderchor (SMez), Melodie-Instrumente und Schlagwerk
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 374372
for: Klavier und Streichorchester mit Flöte oder Violine
Solostimme
Item no.: 179069
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 215077
for: Zither
Item no.: 211696
for: Sologeiger, Tonband, Bassbariton und 33 Instrumentalisten
Study score
Item no.: 352499
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 352456
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 352441
for: Cello
Item no.: 352361
for: Voice (medium), piano
Item no.: 352343
for: gemischter Chor (SATB) mit Soli (AB), Sprecher und kleines Orchester oder 2 Klaviere und Schlagzeug
Piano reduction
Item no.: 352340
for: gemischter Chor (SATB), 3 (2) Klaviere und Schlagzeug (5 Spieler)
Partitur
Item no.: 352329
for: Bariton und Orchester
Study score
Item no.: 352131
for: Flute, piano
Item no.: 352106
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 352078
for: 2 pianos
Ensemble score
Item no.: 352076
for: Flöte, Altflöte, Bassflöte (1 Spieler)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 352048
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 352040