Stefan Kostka received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin and served on the faculties of The Eastman School of Music and the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to Materials and Techniques of Post-Tonal Music, he is the author (with Roger Graybill) of Anthology of Music for Analysis and (with Dorothy Payne) of Tonal Harmony, With an Introduction to Twentieth Century Music. Kostka is now a University of Texas Professor Emeritus, and resides in northwest Massachusetts.

This book provides the most comprehensive analytical approach to 20th-Century Music available -- from Impressionism to recent trends. It covers music from the early 1900s through such movements as Minimalism and the Neoromanticism of the 1990's, and includes chapters on rhythm, form, electronic and computer music, and the roles of chance and choice in Twentieth-Century music. Explores an exceptionally broad range of styles and techniques --including electronic music and MIDI, chance music, and quotation music. Stresses analysis and composition rather than historical aspects. Organizes content by compositional technique. Covers all facets of materials and techniques -- from microtonal scale to melodic organization, chord structures, and serialism. Contains over 100 examples from music literature -- ranging from the beginning of the 20th-Century to the 1990's -- and representing a broad range of styles -- from Impressionism to Serialism to Minimalism and beyond. Includes exercises involving drills, analysis, composition, and listening. For anyone interested in music theory and harmony, analysis of 20th-Century music, or history of 20th-Century music.