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: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 299392
for: 2 pianos
Item no.: 351770
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 134126
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 871850
for Guitar
Guitar Archive
Edition Schott
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 393708
for: Piano, orchestra
Book
Item no.: 197743
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 197781
for: Bass clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 336402
for: Voice (baritone), piano
Book
Item no.: 268023
for: Flötenquartett
Score, Parts
Item no.: 238447
for: Flute, harp
Score
Item no.: 238348
Songbook
Item no.: 183950
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 388531
Eight piano duets from the beloved musical
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 473767
for: Voice, piano
Book
Item no.: 143569
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 150318
for: Piano
Item no.: 579989
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 191862
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 324343
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 177132
for: Harp
Item no.: 302292
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 673381
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 635250
for: Clarinet, cello, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 606436
for: Piano
Item no.: 284280
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 180124
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 156363
for: Narrator, flexible ensemble (school orchestra); children's choir ad lib.
Score, Parts
Item no.: 227851
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 623224
for: 2 violins
Ensemble score
Item no.: 140298
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 156766
for: Harp
Item no.: 327852
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 108903
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 199909
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 267053
for: Trombone, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 266906
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 267372
for: Violin, viola, cello (string trio)
Set of parts
Item no.: 412953
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 493747
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 154257
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 107285
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 271828
for: Choir
Score
Item no.: 174857
for: Violin, piano
Score
Item no.: 169317
Eulenburg Miniature Scores
for: Violin, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 261198
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 282920