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.: 318912
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 367703
for: Piano 6 hands
Item no.: 421033
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393732
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 558194
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 315684
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 560314
for: Trumpet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 269945
for saxophone quartet
for: 4 saxophones (SATBar)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 336039
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 142252
for five clarinets (BBBBBass)
for: 5 clarinets [4 clarinets, bass clarinet]
Score, Parts
Item no.: 658561
aus der Oper Turandot
for: 4 horns (quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 485072
Orgelwerke 8
for: Organ
Item no.: 459241
6 pièces de compositeurs français du début du XXième ciècle
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Piano score, solo part (anthology)
Item no.: 776686
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 636424
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 375851
for: Bassoon
Music score
Item no.: 164242
Sieben Stücke für die sieben Tage der Woche
Klavier, Gitarre, Blockflöten und Violine in wechselnden Besetzungen
for: Several instruments
Score, Parts
Item no.: 115935
Suite: Preludio
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 991297
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 244602
for: String orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 930454
for: Organ
Item no.: 433897
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1660643
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1203446
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Score
Item no.: 180224
for: Bassoon, piano
Book
Item no.: 1006147
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 338692
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 258336
for: Piano
Music score, CD
Item no.: 812878
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1005940
for: 2 violins, viola (trio)
Set of parts
Item no.: 224134
for: TASTEN- UND BALGINSTRUMENTE KLAVIER KLAVIER ZWEIHÄNDIG
Item no.: 301891
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 100861
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 171825
for: Piano
Item no.: 479760
for: Piano
Item no.: 579989
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1558974
for: 2 violins
Ensemble score
Item no.: 140298
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 267372
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 930038
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 676692
op. 27
for: Flute, piano
Music score
Item no.: 725501
Edition Schott
for: 4 recorders (SATB quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 737681
for: Clarinet (B-flat), piano
Music score
Item no.: 746413
The Piano Version
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 736294
Edition Schott
for: 2 treble recorders (duet)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 735861
in einem Satz
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 748379