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.
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 259857
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 259793
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 259313
for: Viola or 2 Viole and Piano
Score
Item no.: 259068
for: 2 pianos
Score
Item no.: 258871
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 258649
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 258531
for: Band Music
Score
Item no.: 258240
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 777693
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 776810
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 257911
for: Choir
Score
Item no.: 207370
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyric book
Item no.: 776645
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyric book
Item no.: 778408
for: Voice (tenor), piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 776855
for: 2 Pianos and Orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1542606
for: Voice, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 776967
for: Violin, piano
Book
Item no.: 1005606
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1007686
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1006256
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1007255
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1007013
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 1006779
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1005615
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 1005779
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1610841
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 992329
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 268142
for: Fanfare
Score
Item no.: 1001208
for: Brass band
Score
Item no.: 1001110
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 797035
for: Brass band
Score
Item no.: 1000098
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 926514
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1138878
for: Choir (3 voices), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 992427
for: Voice, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 778477
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 317164
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 927949
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 902381
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 833262
for: Chamber ensemble
Score
Item no.: 833254
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1582983
Score
Item no.: 832688
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 832683
for: Viola
Score
Item no.: 391016
for: 2 Voices and Piano
Score
Item no.: 389670