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: Wind instruments
Set of parts
Item no.: 379778
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 379649
Klassik
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1109805
for: FL FAG (VC) KLAV (CEMB)
Single part(n)
Item no.: 382704
Klassik
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1541312
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 446709
Studienpartitur
for: ORCHESTERWERKE KAMMERORCHESTER SOLO-SINGSTIMME
Study score
Item no.: 116434
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 630084
for: Choir
Choir part Tenor
Item no.: 386025
Band 2
for: Descant (soprano) recorder, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1012119
for: SAX QUINTETT (SAATB)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 331487
Classics for Children Series
for: Choir (2 voices), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1125497
Selected Works 1
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score (hardcover)
Item no.: 817560
Reprint
Repertoire Explorer
Study Score 206
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 329401
op.63
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 683697
Kinderchor, Sprecher, Instrumente
Wir singen und spielen - Heft 8
Item no.: 1616591
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 269578
Schule
for: Solfege
Buch
Item no.: 269561
Schule
for: Solfege
Buch
Item no.: 269548
5st gemischter Chor, Orgel
Item no.: 1616763
5st gemischter Chor
Item no.: 1616604
1-4st. gemischter Chor, Gemeinde Fl, Ob, Fg, Streicher.
Item no.: 1616586
3st gemischter Chor, Gemeinde, EnglHn, Fg, Fl, Ob, Orgel
Item no.: 1616391
Kantate für Kinder
Soli (Kinderstimmen), Sprecher und Kinderchor mit Instrumentalbegleitung
for: Children's [youth choir], narrator, instruments
Single part Flute
Item no.: 429273
for: Flexible wind band
Conductors part
Item no.: 188384
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1203659
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 604618
Blasmusik - Haentzschel
for: Concert band
Set of parts
Item no.: 197258
für Klavier
for: Piano
Item no.: 1585849
Orgel
Item no.: 119618
aus op. 76
for: Male choir
Vocal score
Item no.: 577550
for: Organ, piano
Item no.: 420016
Gedichte von Dagmar Nick
for: Voice (medium), piano
Ensemble score
Item no.: 419647
edition pro salon
for: Violin, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1657034
Clarinet and String Ensemble
for: Clarinet and String Ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 829939
Oboe and Clarinet Ensemble
for: Oboe and Clarinet Ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 829690
Trumpet and String Quartet
for: Trumpet and String Quartet
Score, Parts
Item no.: 829332
for: 2 Trumpets, Horn, Trombone Tuba in C
Score, Parts
Item no.: 829257
Trumpet and Piano
for: Trumpet, piano
Book
Item no.: 1054731
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 829056
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1202836
for: Harmonium
Music score
Item no.: 1202806
for: Harmonium
Music score
Item no.: 1202796
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 972027