Introduction. The nineteenth-century musical background -- pt. I. Beyond tonality : from 1900 to World War I -- 1. The historical context : Europe at the turn of the century -- 2. Some transitional figures -- Austria : Mahler -- Germany : Richard Strauss -- Busoni -- Pfitzner -- Reger -- France : Debussy -- Satie -- Russia : Skryabin -- 3. The atonal revolution -- Schoenberg -- Schoenberg as theorist and teacher -- Webern -- Berg -- 4. New tonalities -- Stravinsky -- Bartók -- 5. Other European currents -- Russia : Rachmaninov and others -- Italy : the futurists -- Czechoslovakia : Janáček -- Hungary : Kodály -- Scandinavia : Sibelius and Nielsen -- France : Ravel -- 6. Beyond the continent -- Music in England -- Vaughan Williams -- Holst -- Charles Ives and American music.

pt. II. Reconstruction and new systems : between the wars -- 7. The historical context : Europe after World War I -- 8. Neo-classicism -- The "new spirit" in France -- Satie -- Les Six -- Poulenc -- Milhaud -- Honegger -- Stravinsky and neo-classicism -- Bartók -- 9. The twelve-tone system -- Schoenberg -- Webern -- Berg -- 10. The influence of politics -- Germany -- Hindemith -- Weill -- Russia -- Prokofiev -- Shostakovich -- 11. Other Europeans -- Italy : Casella, Malipiero, and Dallapiccola -- Germany : Orff -- Austria : Hauer -- Krenek -- Poland : Szymanowski -- Czechoslovakia : Hába -- Spain : Falla -- 12. England after World War I -- Walton -- Britten -- Tippett -- 13. The United States -- The new American traditionalists -- Copland -- Sessions -- The experimental tradition in American music -- Cowell -- Partch -- Varèse -- 14. Latin America -- Villa-Lobos -- Chávez -- Ginastera -- Other Latin Americans.

pt. III. Innovation and fragmentation : from World War II to the present -- 15. The historical context : the world and World War II -- 16. Integral serialism -- The postwar compositional mood -- The serial revolution in France : Messiaen and Boulez -- Serialism in Germany : Stockhausen -- American serialism : Babbitt -- Stravinsky and serialism -- 17. Indeterminacy -- Cage and other Americans -- Indeterminacy in European music -- Notational innovations -- 18. Innovations in form and texture -- The implications of serialism and indeterminacy -- From pointillism to group composition -- Textural music -- New instrumental resources -- Stochastic music -- Corresponding developments in American music -- 19. The new pluralism -- The post-serial age -- Quotation and collage -- Jazz, rock, and popular influences -- Ethnic sources -- 20. A return to simplicity : minimalism and the new tonality -- Minimalism -- The rediscovery of tonality -- Microtonality -- 21. Music and the external world -- New approaches to language -- Extensions in music theater -- Multimedia -- Traditional opera -- The encroachment of reality -- Environmental music -- Music and politics -- 22. Developments in technology : electronic music -- Antecedents -- Musique concrète -- Electronic studios -- Synthesizers -- Live and electronic mixtures -- Live electronic music -- Computer music -- The impact of technology on twentieth-century music -- 23. Epilogue : music today -- The current musical scene -- The culture of musical pluralism -- Musical tradition today -- A glimpse at the future.