The piano is central to the music of the twentieth century. Here Burge, widely acclaimed for introducing much of this literature to the repertoire, offers a personal and inviting overview of the often challenging music written for solo piano during this century. Divided into four sections, each covering a key historical period with musical examples, this resource examines the development of different styles and compositional techniques, and integrates historical and artistic details. Burge offers cogent performance suggestions for selected works of Aaron Copland, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, Luciano Berio, John Cage, George Crumb, and others.
Following the main text is a Selected Bibliography, a Chronological List of Works and Publishers, Notes, Discography, and Index. A valuable addition to this paperback reissue is a CD of Burges performances of several works discussed in the text.

Twentieth-century piano music
Part 1: From 1900 to the end of World War I
1. Debussy 3 2. Schoenberg 23 3. Ives 33 4. Ravel 46 5. Scriabin and Rachmaninoff 53 6. Other composers 61
Part 2: Between the two World Wars
7. Bartók 73 8. Stravinsky 85 9. Schoenberg and Webern 91 10. Hindemith 99 11. Prokofiev 103 12. Les Six and others in Europe 110 13. Copland 116 14. Other composers in America 123 15. Messiaen 128
Part 3: The postwar period
16. Stockhausen and Boulez 139 17. Dallapiccola and Berio 158 18. Other composers in Europe 166 19. Cage 178 20. Copland, Sessions, and the
mid-century piano sonata 185 21. The American avant-garde 196
Part 4: The 1970s and 1980s
22. Crumb 211 23. Martino 221 24. Rzewski and Albright 228 25. Composers in the Far East and Europe 238 26. Other composers in America 247