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: Clarinet (B-flat), piano
Piano score, Solo part (pdf download)
Item no.: 2355
for: für Streichquartett
Set of parts
Item no.: 124389
Reprint of the first edition (Aibl, München, 1881)
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 694897
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 685536
for: Flexible Instrumentation
Score, Parts
Item no.: 223236
for: 2 String Orchestras, Piano and Percussion
Study score
Item no.: 289689
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 395580
for: Clarinet (B-flat), piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 292358
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 162229
for: Voice, piano
Single edition
Item no.: 128152
für Viola bearbeitet
for: Viola
Ensemble score
Item no.: 210342
for: Flötenquartett
Score, Parts
Item no.: 100960
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 909318
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 369891
for: 2 pianos
Score
Item no.: 288825
for: Piano
Book (Hardcover)
Item no.: 766351
Tondichtung für Orchester
Neuausgabe der Originalfassung
Gershwin Orchestra Urtext
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 659940
for: Clarinet, 2 violins, viola, cello
Set of parts (4)
Item no.: 616968
for: Piano, 2 Violinen, Viola, Klarinette, Horn, Fagott
Score, Parts
Item no.: 104099
for: Guitar
Item no.: 161588
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 121351
for: Piano
Piano score, online audio (playback)
Item no.: 135677
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 582260
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 492321
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 246259
for: Cello, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 628333
for: 2 pianos
Score
Item no.: 684353
for: Violine oder Viola
Item no.: 127536
for: Piano
Item no.: 287946
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 310691
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 663730
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 636617
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 395615
for: Soprano Voice and Guitar
Book
Item no.: 400984
for: 2 pianos
Item no.: 108939
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 108913
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 108808
for: 2 flutes (duet)
2 Performance scores
Item no.: 666016
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 664616
for 16 Wind instruments
for: Wind ensemble
Study score
Item no.: 766659
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 166443
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 558197
for: Violin, orchestra
Klavierauszug, Stimme
Item no.: 558193
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 175095
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 157934
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 659755
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 654875
for: Piano
Item no.: 617084