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: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 959758
for: Women's Choir [SSA] and Piano
Choir score
Item no.: 959616
for: Piano, orchestra
Buch
Item no.: 834738
for: Soloist (baritone), male choir (Bar), orchestra, organ
Viola (orchestral part)
Item no.: 370883
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 797244
for: Cello, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 262873
for: Piano, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 854186
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1643711
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1649326
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1649282
for: Piano
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1650748
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1648484
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1648354
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1648328
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1649142
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1649141
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1648007
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1649035
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1649034
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1649020
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1648954
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1650806
for: Symphonic orchestra
Viola (orchestral part)
Item no.: 1680940
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1646966
Final Version 1906
additional part
for: Soloist (alto), boys' choir, women's choir, orchestra
Double bass (orchestral part)
Item no.: 781361
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1625015
Study score
Item no.: 1621559
for: Concert band
Study score
Item no.: 1611379
for: 2 Blockflöten (SA) und Klavier
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1546014
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 1546252
for: Concert band
Item no.: 1619426
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1618761
Gesamtausgabe 7 (Complete edition)
for: Violin, orchestra
Partitur, Leineneinband
Item no.: 346880
for: Symphonic orchestra
Violin 1 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 608089
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 889600
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 117427
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 117078
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Score
Item no.: 308646
for: Symphonic orchestra
Violin 1 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 694147
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 898245
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 888366
for: Piano
Item no.: 1625298
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1626844
for: Concert band
Direktion
Item no.: 1626813
for: Concert band
Direktion
Item no.: 902046
Score
Item no.: 897463