ABSTRACT
The history of music of the last several decades can be distinguished sharply from the early modernistic wave that shaped the course of music throughout the first half of the present century. Since World War II, philosophical and political attitudes as well as aesthetic and technical approaches have been modified radically by composers of contrasting national backgrounds—each composer or group of composers seems to be speaking a unique and often isolated “musical language.” Thus, while there are interconnections among the various musical approaches, an overwhelming sense of multiplicity and disconnection characterizes the present situation, an uncertain one regarding the future course of musical developments.
