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.
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 971839
für Orchester
Studienpartitur
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1344893
Studienpartitur
for: Violin, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 558883
Klassik
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 972123
Il Girotondo, Musica per un balletto for orchestra
Orchestra
for: Symphonic orchestra
Item no.: 1344567
Viennoise op. 49bis for orchestra
Orchestra
for: Symphonic orchestra
Item no.: 1344311
Hymn of Jesus Op. 37 (Vocal Score)
Choir/Voice & Orchestra Piano Reduction
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1344298
A Song before Sunrise, Symphonic poem
Orchestra
for: Symphonic orchestra
Item no.: 1344107
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1200803
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1202218
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 657632
aus "Six pièces d'orgue avec pédale obligée"
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 611259
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 1201900
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1201868
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1201684
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1202615
Schule
for: Solfege
Buch
Item no.: 269379
Schule
for: Solfege
Buch
Item no.: 269365
Klassik
for: Clarinet
Music score
Item no.: 984401
Klassik
for: Chamber orchestra
Book
Item no.: 984351
for clarinet, horn, violin, viola and cello (small size landscape form
Item no.: 1340746
Gestatteter Nachdruck (1897)
for: Flute, violin, piano
Set of parts
Item no.: 1021636
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 603518
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Single edition
Item no.: 1081489
für Klaviertrio (2. Violine, Kontrabass, C+B Instr. ad lib.)
edition pro salon
for: Flexible ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1646309
Buch
Item no.: 248984
Klassik
for: Mezzo-Soprano and Orchestra
Book
Item no.: 984410
for: Clarinet, piano
Item no.: 120958
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 662910
für Orgel über das Thema Fede a Bach
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 298409
for: Woodwind ensemble
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 842789
Single part Violin
Item no.: 898855
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 298841
for: Voice (soprano), piano
Music score
Item no.: 344819
Single part Clarinet
Item no.: 948671
Prologue & Intermezzo
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1070112
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 942203
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 942160
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 941186
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 940161
for: Clarinet
Music score
Item no.: 936547
for: Percussion
Item no.: 261942
for: 4 violins
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 149920
for: Small wind band
Flute 1 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 191209
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1121019
über das Thema 'Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen' von Johannes Crüger
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 989830
for: 4 Männerstimmen (TTBB), Frauenchor, Männerchor, Klavier
Choir score
Item no.: 184378
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1091224