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: Voice, piano
Book
Item no.: 993327
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 993303
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 992688
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1006631
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 1007804
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 1007637
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 1005401
for: 2 pianos
Book
Item no.: 1007195
Book
Item no.: 1007464
for: Violin, piano
Book
Item no.: 1007376
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1005723
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 1007447
for: Violin, piano
Book
Item no.: 1007092
Book
Item no.: 1006814
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 890706
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 924696
for: 5 woodwinds (quintet)
Score
Item no.: 926920
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1138911
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 923576
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 923443
for: Chamber orchestra
Score
Item no.: 833464
for: Children's choir
Score
Item no.: 114370
for: 2 violins
Ensemble score
Item no.: 836119
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 836439
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 834838
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 858870
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 858289
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 840068
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 839696
for: Voice
Buch
Item no.: 837908
for: 4 clarinets
Score
Item no.: 564366
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 637185
for: Piano, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 350425
for: Trumpet, strings
Score
Item no.: 340834
for: Accordion orchestra
Score
Item no.: 446645
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 420376
for: Horn
Score
Item no.: 420206
for: Flute, clarinet, violin, cello (quartet)
Score
Item no.: 419802
for: Viola or 2 Viole and Piano
Score
Item no.: 1353307
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 380144
for: Blockflötenquartett
Score
Item no.: 910943
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 949741
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 938541
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 941667
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1009775
for: Soprano, Tenor Voice and Piano
Score
Item no.: 977189