Roman Ingarden’s theory of the musical work is usually criticized for not being able to handle the problems of avant-garde music. The most important reason for this criticism is its dependence upon the musical score and, generally, upon the conventions of pre-twentieth century European classical music. In my paper I offer a revision of Ingarden’s theory, which on one hand leaves its substantial arguments intact and on the other hand allows the theory to tackle the problem of avant-garde music successfully. I ultimately hope to demonstrate that this revised theory is suitable for dealing with the problem, and can yield fruit when applied.