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
Music score
Item no.: 1530334
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1530312
for: Cello
Music score
Item no.: 1175508
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1195348
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 1171878
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1176531
In D
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Single edition
Item no.: 1081143
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1171217
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1170501
for: Brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1143353
in eb
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Single edition
Item no.: 1084271
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Single edition
Item no.: 1083575
for: Brass band
Set of parts
Item no.: 1145142
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1144724
3 Tr. in C, 4 Hr. in F und 2 Posaunen
Item no.: 1592653
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1140892
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1539545
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1176626
Klassik
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 1103917
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 1171874
Klassik
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 1110938
for: Bläserquartett
Buch
Item no.: 1173770
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1194704
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 1172153
for: Saxophone
Music score
Item no.: 1139381
for: Flute, piano
Book
Item no.: 1191461
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1141028
Choir score
Item no.: 1176854
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1141512
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1200825
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1202582
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1145409
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1143600
for: Voice (high)
Buch
Item no.: 987629
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 1172071
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1530304
Something's coming / Tonight
for: Choir and Piano, CD or Instruments
Set of parts
Item no.: 1212163
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1140592
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 1171847
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1103814
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1194803
1929
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 683378
Orale : Textes
for: Instrument
Music score
Item no.: 1140399
for: Woodwind ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 977677