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: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 411283
Series: Richard Strauss Works – Critical Edition (RSW) 5
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score (Hardcover)
Item no.: 773524
for: Flute, piano
Music score, online audio
Item no.: 614927
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 171593
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 431102
for: Piano, orchestra
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1665540
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1552139
for: Voice (medium), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 3277
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 265984
In memory of Dmitri Shostakovich
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 659839
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 163194
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 138598
for: 2 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos (sextet)
Study score
Item no.: 1134811
Waltz for Violine and Piano
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 100696
for: Flute, piano
Item no.: 208330
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 403727
for: Piano and Violin
Book
Item no.: 136092
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 334392
for 16 Wind instruments
for: Wind ensemble
Conductor score
Item no.: 766668
for: für Orchester
Score
Item no.: 133221
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 160814
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 128212
for: Organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 3489
for: Symphonic school orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 658513
for: Violin, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 178093
Score
Item no.: 430029
für Klavier
for: Piano
Item no.: 1343852
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1046592
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 184126
for: Trumpet, piano
Item no.: 275246
for 16 Wind instruments
for: Wind ensemble
Conductor score
Item no.: 766662
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 670070
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 661572
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 369691
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 369654
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 373489
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 694438
for: Trombone, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 325466
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 389149
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 245469
for: Cello
Item no.: 124388
Versions 1913 and 1931
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 679499
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 197999
Reprint von 1873
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 242699
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 198921
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1640578
for: Voice (medium), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 3291
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 283826