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: Violin
Music lesson book
Item no.: 684556
for: String orchestra, percussion
Score, Parts
Item no.: 146482
for: Narrator, piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 629978
for: Voice (soprano), piano
Music score
Item no.: 350623
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 767296
for: Voice, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 395242
for: Voice, chamber orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 486288
Symphonic Tale for Children
for: Narrator, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 182942
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 131270
for: Flute, Oboe and Clarinet
Study score
Item no.: 298868
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 144347
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 617921
in the first position
for: Viola
Music score
Item no.: 177558
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 327919
for medium voice and piano
for: Voice (medium), piano
Music score
Item no.: 784172
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 659684
for: Cello
Music score
Item no.: 472651
for: Piano, Voice, High Voice
Piano/Vocal
Item no.: 1562189
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Piano/Voice/Guitar
Item no.: 1028814
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 324680
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 492509
for: 4-6 String Instruments
Buch
Item no.: 1206896
for: Voice, piano
Single edition
Item no.: 667079
for: Violin
Music lesson book
Item no.: 257446
for: Voice
Piano reduction
Item no.: 318149
for: Cello
Music score
Item no.: 341098
for: Viola
Music lesson book
Item no.: 199718
for: gemischten Chor (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 273612
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 463744
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1555996
tje composer's arrangement for two clarinets and stringed instruments
for: 2 clarinets, 3 violins, viola, cello
Score, Parts
Item no.: 133305
for: Cello
Music lesson book
Item no.: 681876
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 306791
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Book
Item no.: 145572
for: Voice (medium), piano
Music score
Item no.: 198549
for: Soloist (soprano), narrator, mixed choir (SATB), boys' choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 289683
from The Planets
for: Cello, piano
Music score
Item no.: 722323
Edited from the sources
Wiener Urtext Edition
for: Piano
Music lesson book (urtext edition)
Item no.: 660044
for: 2 Violins and Piano
Set of parts
Item no.: 100789
Chorale cantata op. WoO V/4 Nr. 4
for: Soloist (soprano), mixed choir (SATB), the parish, violin, viola, organ
Score
Item no.: 237853
for: 3 soloists (STB), boys’ choir, mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 198636
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 837428
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 796043
for Mixed Choir
Nr. 1 von Drei Motetten
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 336955
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Score
Item no.: 5654
for: Voice, piano
Piano/Vocal
Item no.: 1026082
for: Voice (soprano), piano
Music score
Item no.: 146280