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: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 878237
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Buch
Item no.: 873011
for: Alto saxophone (E-flat)
Music score
Item no.: 837441
for: Bass Recorder
Buch
Item no.: 838933
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 840282
for: Soprano, French Horn and Orchestra
Score
Item no.: 862462
for: Soprano, Recorder and String Quartet
Score, Parts
Item no.: 861459
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 325588
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 325587
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 838786
for: Tubaquartett
Score, Parts
Item no.: 964971
for: Clarinet Duet
Score
Item no.: 892473
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 866480
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1541855
for: Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 1541791
for: Blockflötenquartett
Score
Item no.: 980822
for: Trumpet, trombone, piano
Score
Item no.: 980716
for bassoon
for: Bassoon
Music score
Item no.: 1541784
Cantata for speakers, soli (ST), chorus (SATB), timpani organ and strings
Oversize
for: 2 soloists (ST), mixed choir (SATB), narrator, strings, timpani, organ
Score
Item no.: 362406
for: Voice (tenor), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 157908
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Book
Item no.: 240251
Lyric book
Item no.: 131842
after "The Bacchae“ by Euripides
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Study score (facsimile)
Item no.: 738453
for voice and ensemble
for: Singstimme (mittel) und Ensemble
Set of parts
Item no.: 758094
A Ballet Satire
for: Frauenstimme und Ensemble
Study score (facsimile)
Item no.: 779585
for: Violin
Instrumental Solo
Item no.: 1612457
Three Poems
for: Voice (soprano), piano
Noten mit eingelegter Singstimme
Item no.: 736521
for: 5 brass winds
Score, Parts
Item no.: 490088
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 151295
for: Mixed Choir [SATB], String Quartet, Percussion, Lute and Harpsicohrd
Piano reduction
Item no.: 840085
for: Violin, guitar
Score
Item no.: 839977
for: Orchestra and Organ
Score
Item no.: 858032
for: SATB and Organ Accompaniment
Choir score
Item no.: 765991
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 280024
Music lesson book
Item no.: 315529
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1542004
for: Vocal, Recorder, Viola, Harp
Score
Item no.: 1587284
for: Choir and Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 1587274
for: Voice (soprano), 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 1542283
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 1542208
for: Percussion Quartet
Set of parts
Item no.: 1542165
for: Voice and Various Instruments
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1541714
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Score
Item no.: 902166
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 971608