The classical modern period, 1900-1945, saw a great deal of cultural change, and many different composers helped shape the musical landscape of the early 20th century. Browse our sheet music and scores, take a look at our Classical Modern Sheet Music Downloads, and explore the wide world of classical modernism with Stretta Music today
The horrors of World War I brought about such a shift in perspective, that art would never be the same again. The cultural and social changes that had already begun at the end of the 19th century led to new prospects, which were mirrored and expressed through various innovative artistic movements, them sum of which is called Classic Modernism.
During the 20th century, the boundaries of tonality were stretched so far that one could no longer speak of tonal music. The most striking examples of this are polytonality, employed by composers like Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, and Charles Ives, and to an even greater extent serialism, the twelve-tone music of Arnold Schönberg and his students.
The rise of nationalism in the late 19th century sparked a great interest in rediscovering folk music. New technical developments, such as the invention of the phonograph, also made it easier to document and collect folk music. Great folk Pioneers were the Romanian composer Béla Bartók, the Czech composer Leo Janáček, the Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály, and the Australian-American composer Percy Grainger.
This development led to a new idiom within classical music, both melodically and rhythmically. Good examples of the integration of folklore into classical modern music are the melodies from Janáček’s Jenufa, which are based on the rhythm and intonation of the Czech language, and Bartók’s Second Violin Rhapsody.
Expressionists aimed to capture true emotions without glossing over them. Above all, they looked at the subjective inner world, in contrast to the outer world, and left all traditional ideals of beauty behind.
Expressionist music is characterised by dissonance, extreme dynamics and great contrasts in colour, pitch and effect. In music, expressionism is generally associated with the Second Viennese School, founded by Arnold Schönberg and his students Anton Webern and Alban Berg, and the dodecaphonic, twelve-tone technique they used, known as serialism.
Examples of expressionist music include Schönberg’s Erwartung, 1909, and Berg’s Wozzeck, 1922.
Another classical modern departure from the ideals of the Romantic Period was to draw on forms and tropes of the Baroque Period and the Classical Period. This was expressed in the use of traditional musical forms, as in Martinů’s Concerto da Camara, 1937, the use of traditional instrumentation, as in Manuel de Falla’s Concerto for Harpsichord, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet & Cello, 1926, and also in the use of thematic material from the 18th and 19th centuries, such as in Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, 1920.
Buch
Item no.: 1173751
Klassik
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 1111674
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Single edition
Item no.: 1083369
for: Brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1144501
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1077840
for: 2 trumpets
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1144675
for: Trombone, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1137700
Buch
Item no.: 1172182
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 648293
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1201292
for: Brass band
Set of parts
Item no.: 1590902
for: 4 saxophones (SAABar/ AATBar) [5 saxophones (SAATBar/ AATTBar)]
Score, Parts
Item no.: 779174
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1195248
for: Euphonium, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1590871
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1110557
for: 3 guitars
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1070590
Marsch / March / Marche op. 68
RUNDEL Julius-Fucik-Edition
for: Concert band
Score, conductor's part, orchestral parts
Item no.: 556370
for: Mandocello
Item no.: 487940
for: GES FCH (SSAA)
[tschechisch, deutsch]
Item no.: 114218
for: Piano
Item no.: 114053
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 104051
Saxophoniar 38
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 291861
for: Horn, violin, viola, cello
Score, Parts
Item no.: 189971
Gesang (hoch) und Klavier
for: Voice (high), piano
Item no.: 156991
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Item no.: 226443
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 462513
for: FL KLAR TRP POS
Item no.: 158053
Marsch für grosses Blasorchester
for: Concert band
Conductors score reduction, set of parts
Item no.: 1017067
Reprint
Repertoire Explorer
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 1344235
TV, Film, Musical und Show
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1176922
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 277394
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 559739
Interpretationen, Quellentexte, Komponistenmonographien
Book (Hardcover)
Item no.: 408818
World Of Clarinets
for: Clarinet choir
Item no.: 277805
Book
Item no.: 250930
for: Opera
Buch
Item no.: 250665
for: Classical
Buch
Item no.: 249573
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 253247
Buch
Item no.: 252634
Buch
Item no.: 251472
für Fagott und Streichquartett
for: FAG 2 VL VA VC
Set of parts
Item no.: 306569
Sinfonisches Stimmungsbild
Repertoire Explorer
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 361991