The story of music in this century is one of leave-takings. Traditional relationships with tonality, rhythm, form and sound have been left behind or radically reinterpreted. Western Europe has been usurped as the centre of musical culture. Exile and misunderstanding have forced composers to rethink their affiliations. The most dramatic period of change in history has been reflected in music of extraordinary beauty and excitement.

Accompanying the television series of the same name, Leaving Home looks at the central preoccupations of composers in this century and their relationship to the other arts. Michael Hall examines how the impact of their sounds and ideas can be seen finally to have the most acute and elemental resonance with this century of turmoil and diversity.