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
Music score
Item no.: 156363
for: Trumpet, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 358990
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 582837
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 779405
(Paraphrase grégorienne n°2)
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 988682
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 100861
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 171825
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir book
Item no.: 641954
for: Piano
Item no.: 479760
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 197781
Songbook
Item no.: 183950
for: Voice, piano
Book
Item no.: 143569
for: Piano
Item no.: 579989
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 107285
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 267053
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: Piano
Score
Item no.: 154257
for: Violin, piano
Score
Item no.: 169317
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction (Hardcover)
Item no.: 246019
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 930038
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 382823
for brass quintet
for: 2 trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba (quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 256117
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 172721
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
Edition Schott
for: 2 treble recorders (duet)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 749611
for: Bass trombone, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1615168
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
Zwei Konzertstücke
for: 2 flutes, piano
Music score
Item no.: 747743
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 458598
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 375665
for: Violin, viola, cello (string trio)
Set of parts
Item no.: 412953
for: Voice, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 124817
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 271828
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 358986
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 185921
for: Chamber orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 392431
for: 4 brass instruments
Sheet music
Item no.: 597427
for: Trumpet (B-flat), piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 380404
Version for Organ by Heribert Breuer
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 755324
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 759840