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: Mixed choir (SATB), guitar
Choir score
Item no.: 428581
Operetta in three actes
Allowed reprint (1906, Doblinger, Wien)
spiral-bound
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1203304
for: Horn, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 602944
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 199422
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 197961
for: Orchestra
Score
Item no.: 178094
for: Flute, piano
Item no.: 113707
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 611530
for: Piano, Voice
Book
Item no.: 324676
No. 5 Irish Tune from County Derry
for: gemischter Chor (SATBarBarB)
Chorpartitur mit unterlegter Klavierstimme zum Üben
Item no.: 748772
from Turandot
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1341213
for high voice and harp
for: Voice, harp
Music score
Item no.: 120668
Lyric book
Item no.: 318291
for: Piano, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon and French Horn
Score, Parts
Item no.: 325716
for: Organ
Score
Item no.: 364326
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 646478
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 255023
Mit Revisionsbericht
Hugo Wolf Kritische Gesamtausgabe (Complete edition)
for: Voice (low), piano
Music score
Item no.: 475685
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 635623
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 625885
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 818200
for: Voice (soprano), orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 395252
A cylce of six songs
for: Voice (tenor), piano; 2 violins, viola, cello ad lib.
Piano score
Item no.: 635297
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 466139
for: Classical guitar
Music lesson book
Item no.: 132129
for: Soloists, mixed choir, children's choir, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 112895
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 199441
for: Flute
Music lesson book
Item no.: 101079
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 151427
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 223380
for: Flute
Music lesson book
Item no.: 101078
for: Flute, piano
Book
Item no.: 136440
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 325813
"Chrisimas Day in the morning"
for: Frauenchor oder Kinderchor (SSAA) oder 4 solo Singstimmen
Choir score
Item no.: 755312
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Piano/Vocal
Item no.: 1026408
for: Voice (medium/high), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 2982
for: Women's choir (SSA), piano
Book
Item no.: 818500
for: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 395364
for: Soloist (baritone), male choir (TTBB), chamber ensemble
Study score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 769233
for: Voice, strings
Score
Item no.: 665865
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 635981
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 212229
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 328827
for: 4 voices, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 313921
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 619362
for: Narrator, soloists, male choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 198784
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 227646
for: 2 bassoons
Ensemble score
Item no.: 266853