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, piano
Item no.: 377168
for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 950945
for: Choir (2 voices), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 950449
Klassik
for: Voice (soprano), piano
Book
Item no.: 984332
for: Baritone horn (B-flat)
Item no.: 330178
Gesang (tief) und Klavier
for: Voice (low), piano
Item no.: 474052
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Book
Item no.: 1203647
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 164787
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 161880
für Orchester
for: Piano 4 hands
Item no.: 305547
op. 20
Stimmensatz
for: Cello, orchestra
Harmony parts (complete winds)
Item no.: 424508
for: Trumpet, organ
Item no.: 203428
Sange Fra
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1175968
Instrumental Accompaniment Set
for: Choir
Score, Parts
Item no.: 902507
from "The Bridge on the River Kwai"
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 635487
nach Tänzen aus Leopold Mozarts Notenbuch für Wolfgang
für Blockflötenquartett, Streichquartett oder andere Instrumente
for: 4 recorders [2 violins, viola, cello/4 melodic instruments]
Single part Violin 2
Item no.: 207627
Zehn Stücke
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 343839
for: Flute, orchestra
Score, Piano reduction, Solo part(s)
Item no.: 142194
for: FL (OB) VL KLAV
Item no.: 213585
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Item no.: 388026
for: 4 saxophones (SATBar)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1020117
for: Trumpet, piano
Item no.: 200532
Choral
for: Male choir (TTB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 825755
for: Choir
Choir part Tenor
Item no.: 166691
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 1534619
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 154789
for: 5 wind instruments
Set of parts
Item no.: 380065
for: TASTEN- UND BALGINSTRUMENTE KLAVIER KLAVIER ZWEIHÄNDIG
Item no.: 302259
für Klavier und Orchester
Studienpartitur
for: Piano, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1585844
Book
Item no.: 1350419
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1056844
for: Flexible ensemble (5 parts), piano (school orchestra)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 119234
Klassik
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 269614
from 'Quartetto geniale'
First print
Foulds Edition
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1344460
Lauda per la Natività del Signore per soli, coro, strumenti pastorali
Choir/Voice & Orchestra Piano Reduction
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1344443
Burletta. Concert piece for violin and orchestra Op. 97
Violin & Orchestra
for: Violin, orchestra
Item no.: 1344337
pour piano, flute et violoncelle avec orchestre à cordes
Studienpartitur
for: ORCHESTERWERKE STREICHORCHESTER MEHRERE SOLOINSTR.
Study score
Item no.: 1344261
Symphony No. 2 in B flat Op. 21
Orchestra
for: Symphonic orchestra
Item no.: 1344364
for: Piano
Single edition
Item no.: 664385
Orgel, VI/II, Va, Vc, Kontrabass, timp
Item no.: 1616733
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1043508
for: 2 Violins and Piano
Book
Item no.: 164616
Pantomime in 1 Aktop. 19
Klavierauszug
Item no.: 195084
Heft 8: Kleine Sinfonie, op. 87
for: Youth string orchestra
Violin 1 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 371526
for: 2 pianos 8 hands
Item no.: 482576