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: Horn (F), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1272453
for: Viola
Music score
Item no.: 626236
for: 2 bassoons [cellos], piano
Piano score, Solo parts
Item no.: 684748
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 128212
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 108932
for: 2 solo voices (MezBar), mixed choir (SATB), string orchestra, organ; trumpet, harp, kettle drums ad lib.
Set of parts
Item no.: 301278
for: Trumpet, piano
Item no.: 275246
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 197961
Volume 1: Femmes de Légende
Edition in eleven volumes
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 369081
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 108816
The Original Edition
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 770308
for: Voice (high), violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 697326
Complete Edition (Parts I-IV)
Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 607291
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 330404
for: Voice [choir]
Music lesson book
Item no.: 475518
Five songs
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 292406
for: Voice (medium), viola, piano
Score, part
Item no.: 340875
Organ Improvisation
for: Organ
Music lesson book
Item no.: 239919
for: Flute [violin], piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 281559
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 330347
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 194575
for: Cello
Music score
Item no.: 297096
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 358989
A Collection of new Dance-rhythms
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 759181
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 397233
for: Organ
Item no.: 225260
for: Flute [violin], cello, piano
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 677576
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 478792
for: Violin, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 197844
Einzelabgabe ohne Chorpartituren nur mit Antikopierpunkt!
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Organ score
Item no.: 557772
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 665443
for: Trumpet In C and Piano
Score
Item no.: 240476
Transcription
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 750203
for: Violin, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 3406
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 205614
Three Poems
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 635028
for: Violin, clarinet, piano
Study score
Item no.: 208220
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 208880
for: Violin, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 769520
Concerto after old folksongs
Edition Schott
for: Viola, chamber orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 288094
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 696043
for: 2 pianos
Piano reduction
Item no.: 641980
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Item no.: 121376
for: 2 pianos
Piano reduction (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1552161
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 288600
Urtext Edition, clothbound
for: Piano
Music score (Hardcover, Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1640747
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 248143
for: Flute, violin, viola, cello, harp [2 violins, viola, cello, piano]
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 581108
© 2004–2024 by Stretta Music. Order and buy sheet music online.
Your specialist for all kinds of sheet music. Online shop, sheet music, music scores and play along for download, books, music stands, music stand lights, accessories.
Germany
Austria
Switzerland
Netherlands
Belgium
France
Luxembourg
Italy
Spain
Portugal
Denmark
Finland
Sweden
Poland
Czech Republic
United Kingdom
