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, cello, piano (piano trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 553582
for: Flute, cello, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 277465
for: Symphonic orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 291681
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 581647
for: FL OB KLAR BASS-KLAR HRN FAG TRP PERC VL VA VC KB
Score
Item no.: 418830
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 554164
for: 3 KLAV 6MS
Score
Item no.: 209259
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1109186
Book
Item no.: 1350419
for: Violin, string orchestra
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 1016007
for: Flute, orchestra
Viola (orchestral part)
Item no.: 1031524
Opera in 4 acts and a prologue
Lyric book
Item no.: 1341147
for: Cello
Score
Item no.: 821948
for: Organ or Harmonium
Score
Item no.: 412900
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 412446
for: Libretto
Lyrics
Item no.: 1356406
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1356362
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1356359
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1356358
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1356348
for: Solfege
Buch
Item no.: 264175
for: Women's choir (SSAA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1025163
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 412457
for: Viola, piano
Book
Item no.: 141794
for: Choir, organ
Choir score
Item no.: 116374
for: Handtrommel
Stimme
Item no.: 879025
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 878432
for: Descant recorder
Stimme
Item no.: 878058
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 877473
for: Sopran-Blockflöte, Alt-Blockflöte
Stimme
Item no.: 874342
for: Mezzosopran solo, Bariton solo, Klavier, Sopran solo, Tenor solo, Klavier
Singpartitur, Spielpartitur
Item no.: 883426
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 117427
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 117078
after the Chorale Prelude BWV 622 by J.S. Bach
for: String orchestra
Cello 2 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 260860
for: Youth string orchestra
Violin 1 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 371526
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 1696477
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 383449
for: Alt solo, Violine solo, Orchester
Score
Item no.: 115223
for: Mixed choir (5 parts) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 115139
for: Frauenchor (SA)
Choir score
Item no.: 114876
for: Sopran solo, Gemischter Chor (SATB)
Choir score
Item no.: 114779
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 114778
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 877630
for: Alt-Blockflöten (2), Flöte
Stimme
Item no.: 874120
for: Violin
Stimme
Item no.: 871742
for: Flute, piano
Ensemble score
Item no.: 871720