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: Vocal Soloists, Choir and Chamber Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 260361
for: Children's Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 890020
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1530526
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 887118
for: Choir
Score
Item no.: 853577
for: Harpsichord or 2 Harpsichords
Score
Item no.: 852414
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 310391
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 578128
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 338525
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 889600
for: Guitar or Lute
Score
Item no.: 330449
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 887496
for: Piano 4 hands
Score
Item no.: 880424
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 879361
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 873723
for: Piano, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 854186
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 852891
for: Women's Choir a Cappella
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Item no.: 862564
for: Voice, piano
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Item no.: 854284
for: Voice, piano
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Item no.: 853740
for: Voice, piano
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Item no.: 852089
for: Voice, piano
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Item no.: 852064
for: Voice, piano
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Item no.: 851820
for: Voice, piano
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Item no.: 851415
Score
Item no.: 262658
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 894099
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 886070
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 884861
for: Piano 4 hands
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Item no.: 851928
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 412648
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 411357
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 411122
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 410941
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 166710
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 872114
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 853265
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 821260
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 821140
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 412457
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 873415
for: Voice, piano
Score
Item no.: 853372
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 821825
for: Cello
Score
Item no.: 821948
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 411334
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 411332
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 153757
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1530605
for: Libretto
Lyrics
Item no.: 1356406