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.
Ein neuer Zyklus mit 5 leichten Stücken
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 635748
for 2 flutes in C, alto flute, bass flute
for: 4 flutes (quartet)
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 642209
Zyklus für Klavier
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 684383
Elf Lieder auf Texte von Friedrich Schlegel für Bariton und Klavier
for: Voice (baritone), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 674191
Band 1
Ein ideales Ergänzungsheft zu jeder Akkordeonschule
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 397034
for: Brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 594467
for: Piano
Item no.: 205723
(2000)
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 638379
Hybrid Generation
Journal
Item no.: 767655
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 668151
for: Accordion
Music score, Playback-CD
Item no.: 655243
Non est memoria
op. 54a
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 683882
John Cage gewidmet
for: Piano
Piano score
Item no.: 380863
for: 2 voices
Item no.: 381842
für Singstimme und 2 Percusssionisten
for: Singstimme 2 Schlagzeug
Item no.: 381768
für Streichquartett
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 381065
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 771451
Viola, Violoncello und Marimbaphon
Partitur und Stimmen
for: KAMMERMUSIK STREICH- + SCHLAGINSTRUMENTE QUARTETTE
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1652188
für Tuba und Klavier
for: BLECHBLASINSTRUMENTE TUBA TUBA UND KLAVIER
Item no.: 392940
for: BLECHBLASINSTRUMENTE POSAUNE POSAUNE SOLO
Item no.: 347036
Chili Notes Contemporary
for: 2 soprano saxophones
Ensemble score
Item no.: 693154
for: Violin, piano
Score, part
Item no.: 495069
for: HOLZBLASINSTRUMENTE BLOCKFLÖTE OHNE TASTENINSTRUMENT ALT-BLOCKFLÖTE SOLO
Item no.: 495041
Horn und Fagott
Stimmen
for: KAMMERMUSIK HOLZ- + BLECHBLASINSTRUMENTE QUINTETTE
Set of parts
Item no.: 300987
für Kontrafagott und Klavier
for: Double bassoon, piano
Score, part
Item no.: 245057
for: KAMMERMUSIK SCHLAGINSTRUMENTE OKTETTE
Item no.: 149063
for Organ
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1555963
Motet No. 13 op. 154 no. 2
for: Women's choir (SSAA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1613219
for: Trumpet, trombone
Ensemble score
Item no.: 477815
für Dieter Schnäbel zum 80. Geburtstag
for: Voice (mezzo-soprano), flute (piccolo, flute and bass flute), clarinet (E-flat, B-flate and bass clarinet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 655464
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 117561
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 665115
für Violine und Klavier
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 678553
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 610934
for: Klarinetten in B (2)
Performance scores
Item no.: 551166
for: Saxophon Solo (Sopran-Saxophon und Alt-Saxophon)
Solostimme
Item no.: 361638
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 1558141
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 381821
für Alt-Saxophon und Klavier
Christopher Ford gewidmet
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 432151
for: Percussion Quintet
Score, Parts
Item no.: 183544
Gegenwartsmusik
for: 6 Marimbas
Score, Parts
Item no.: 632882
Gegenwartsmusik
for: Viola and Strings
Buch
Item no.: 632050
Gegenwartsmusik
for: Percussion ensemble (6 players)
Buch
Item no.: 630639
Gegenwartsmusik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 473116
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 464429
Klassik
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 184649
Gegenwartsmusik
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 270170
Gegenwartsmusik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 271419