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: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 324565
for: Piano, Violin and Cello
Score
Item no.: 389540
for: Mixed ensemble
Score
Item no.: 832953
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 124992
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 487542
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 778900
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 777092
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1012474
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1011109
for: Organ
Score
Item no.: 1009086
for: Voice, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 983895
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1585864
for: Brass band
Score
Item no.: 1591023
for: Brass band
Score
Item no.: 1590997
for: Flexible woodwind ensemble (4 parts)
Score
Item no.: 1016834
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1171786
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1478373
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1534952
for: Soprano and Symphonic Band
Score
Item no.: 1198176
for: Organ
Score
Item no.: 1194289
for: Soprano, Soprano [Descant] Recorder, Viola Da Gamba and Harpsichord
Score
Item no.: 1193877
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1193832
Score
Item no.: 1190825
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1060886
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1069741
for: Concert Band and Vocal Soloist
Score
Item no.: 1069458
for: Concert Band and Vocal Soloist
Score
Item no.: 1069295
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1065009
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1064004
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1061274
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1060723
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1060087
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1060027
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1067723
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1067671
for: 2 mixed choirs (SATB, SATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 676621
Score
Item no.: 673493
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Score
Item no.: 645867
for: Piano, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1201997
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Score
Item no.: 1160645
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 1160628
for: Mixed ensemble
Score
Item no.: 1138118
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1137439
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1145415
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1144578
for: Brass band
Score
Item no.: 1144416
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1143141
for: CHORMUSIK GEMISCHTER CHOR A CAPPELLA GEISTLICH EINZELN
Score
Item no.: 119371