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: Women's choir (SMezA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 850833
for: Choir
Set of parts
Item no.: 1160075
for: Tenor solo, Bass solo, Gemischter Chor: SSATB
Choir score
Item no.: 114756
for: Symphonic Band
Score
Item no.: 893608
for: Piano
Music score, online audio
Item no.: 624470
for: Women's choir (SA), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 476985
for: Clarinet, String Quartet and Piano
Study score
Item no.: 342586
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197668
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 180902
for: Flute
Music score, Playback-CD
Item no.: 602695
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 315678
for: Symphonic Band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 904486
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 904482
for: Violin
Item no.: 353605
for: Orchestra
Score (hardcover, with musicological analysis)
Item no.: 1545758
for: Voice (medium), 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 683262
for: String orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 370727
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 564297
for: small Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 328596
Tone Poem for Orchestra
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 287078
for: 2 flutes, alto flute
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1713738
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 198612
for: für Soli, gemischten Chor (SATB), großes Orchester und Fernorchester
Studienpartitur
Item no.: 602708
Students book
Item no.: 106137
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 395391
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part, playback-CD
Item no.: 370755
for: Flute, piano
Ensemble score
Item no.: 367004
for: Symphonic Band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 900202
for: Symphonic Band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 899105
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 888720
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1556667
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 468382
für Klarinette und Klavier
for: Clarinet, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 590869
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1183093
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 669482
for: 2 pianos
Ensemble score
Item no.: 403692
Book
Item no.: 118904
for: 2 guitars
Ensemble score
Item no.: 346831
for: Male choir (TTBB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 178700
for: Clarinet, string orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 493562
for: Organ
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 579910
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1611107
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 358670
for: Clarinet, piano
Item no.: 124421
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 383599
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 383167
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1711979
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1543915