[1][2] The term came to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s to describe an avant-garde approach to instrumental and vocal composition that included non-sonic gesture, movement, costume and other visual elements within the score.
[3] These compositions (such as György Ligeti’s Aventures (1962), Mauricio Kagel’s Match (1964) and Peter Maxwell Davies’s Eight Songs for a Mad King (1968)) were intended to be performed on a concert hall stage, potentially as part of a longer programme of pieces.
[5][6][a] The unconventional scale and unfamiliar aesthetic language of this work often positions it outside of the established traditions, institutions and discourses of opera and musical theatre.
[9] Examples of key music theatre artists who compose and direct their work include Georges Aperghis and Heiner Goebbels.
[11] Other directors of music theatre include Robert Wilson and Christoph Marthaler, and some pieces are created collectively by performance companies such as Poland's Song of the Goat and Germany's Die Maulwerker.