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: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 769371
for: Horn, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 104868
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 367112
for: Piano
Bücher-Set
Item no.: 851262
arranged for piano
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 686961
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 296488
for: Cello, piano
Score, part
Item no.: 172416
for: Bassoon, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 656107
Fingering and bowing for Violin: Eugène Ysaÿe
for: Violin
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 362805
for violin, clarinet and piano
corrected edition
for: Violin, clarinet, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 187818
for: Voice [choir], organ [harmonium]
Score
Item no.: 107559
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 108789
for: 2 solo voices (MezBar), mixed choir (SATB), string orchestra, organ; trumpet, harp, kettle drums ad lib.
Score
Item no.: 301277
for: Clarinet (B-flat), piano
Piano score, Solo part (pdf download)
Item no.: 1485
for: Recorder, piano
Book
Item no.: 493227
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1582647
Flute (Technik) (Technique)
for: Flute
Item no.: 215358
Volume 1: Femmes de Légende
Edition in eleven volumes
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 369081
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 279909
Including first publication of two further settings
for: Voice (mezzo-soprano), piano
Score
Item no.: 198547
for: Viola [violin], piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 690325
for: Flute [violin], cello, piano
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 677576
for two pianos
for: 2 pianos
Piano reduction
Item no.: 197736
for: Violin, clarinet, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 107227
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 431101
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1017726
for: Horn, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 279910
for: Celli (2), Klavier (Orgel)
Sheet music
Item no.: 1640308
Reprint
Repertoire Explorer
for: Flute, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 1343710
for: Bass trombone, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1272482
for: 5 woodwinds (quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 298948
for: Organ
Item no.: 293200
Suite for orchestra (1919) arranged for 2 pianos by Achilleas Wastor (2015)
for: 2 pianos
Noten 2 Exemplare zur Aufführung nötig
Item no.: 760180
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 108938
"When at night I go to sleep" from "Hansel and Gretel"
for: Sopran, Mezzo-Sopran und Klavier
Music score
Item no.: 738103
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 283724
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 107557
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 472048
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 108932
for: Viola
Music score
Item no.: 626236
for: Horn (F), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1272453
for: 2 solo voices (MezBar), mixed choir (SATB), string orchestra, organ; trumpet, harp, kettle drums ad lib.
Set of parts
Item no.: 301278
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Score
Item no.: 484907
for 16 Wind instruments
for: Wind ensemble
Set of parts
Item no.: 766670
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1591211
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 108816
Complete Edition (Parts I-IV)
Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 607291
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 330404