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: Organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 4464
for: Organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 4161
for: 3 flutes (trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 101022
for: VL VC ORG
Item no.: 144200
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 486091
for: Solo [ad lib.], Mixed Choir [SATB] and Orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 563324
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 489462
for: Violine mit Oboe, Englischhorn, Klarinette (A) und Fagott
Set of parts (Wind instruments)
Item no.: 298031
for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Choir part Bass 2
Item no.: 242759
for: Männerchor (TBB) und Kinderchor (SMez)
Choir score
Item no.: 203854
for: Piano
Item no.: 201343
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 389053
Brieger Christnacht 1944
for: Mixed choir (SATB), precentor, strings, organ
Choir score
Item no.: 177431
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1202930
Piano reduction
Item no.: 464558
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 637685
for: Voice (high), piano
Item no.: 408811
for: Soloists, narrator, children's choir, instruments
Lyric book
Item no.: 229403
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 944678
for: Mixed choir (SATB), harp [piano]
Score
Item no.: 498359
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 644963
for: Youth string orchestra
Score
Item no.: 687250
for: Solo (Sopran), einstimmiger Kinderchor (Frauenchor), Violoncello, Kontrabass, Orgel
Score
Item no.: 231039
for: Voice, piano
Book
Item no.: 347724
for: Symphonic orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 808344
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1651236
for: Brass band
Score
Item no.: 864809
for: Brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 882939
for: 4 flutes (quartet)
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 925112
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 862001
Piano reduction
Item no.: 100613
for: Concert band
Conductors part (C), Parts
Item no.: 138595
for: Mixed choir (SATB); piano ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 198621
Kleine Adventskantate für gemischten Chor und Instrumente
for: Mixed choir, instruments
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1663948
for: Wind quartet [wind ensemble 4 voices]
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 111363
for: Mixed choir (SSATTB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 334876
Two improvisations for 12 violoncellos
for: 12 cellos
Set of parts
Item no.: 729589
for: Flexible ensemble (5 voices)
Sheet music
Item no.: 1291514
for: String orchestra
Sheet music
Item no.: 1291506
for: Flexible ensemble (4 voices)
Sheet music
Item no.: 1291505
for: 4 brass instruments
Sheet music
Item no.: 1291499
for: Bass clarinet
Sheet music
Item no.: 1291803
for: Mixed choir (SABar) a cappella
Sheet music
Item no.: 2291
for: für Violoncello und Klavier
Item no.: 146270
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Choir score
Item no.: 246408
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 947386
for: Voice (tenor/soprano), piano
Item no.: 351293