The 20th century brought many diverse changes to classical music, with developments in electronics, percussion, and orchestration, not to mention the demise of the tonal system in the work of many composers. An acceptance of folk music--notably jazz, ethnic, and pop--led to extremely varied and creative movements, and these in turn cross-pollinated with innovative avant-garde techniques. Electronic manipulation, minimalist movements, complex rhythms and atonalities, and postmodern techniques all have contributed to, and continue to further, experimentations in the modern world of classical music.

Notable Artists: Igor Stravinsky, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Claude Debussy