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: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 388445
klavarskribo notation
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1087903
klavarskribo notation
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1088172
Altdeutscher Liederreim
for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 681341
for: Trumpet (B-flat) [cornet], piano
Score, part
Item no.: 960666
for Oboe and String Orchestra
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 667016
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1202504
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 269647
Klassik
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 281565
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Item no.: 365427
for: Organ manuals [harmonium]
Music score
Item no.: 491146
und Klavier für Orchester
Studienpartitur
for: Trombone, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 363378
Music For Winds
for: Trombone, piano
Item no.: 301773
for: 3 bassoons, double bassoon
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 1016997
Harmoniumwerke 7
for: Harmonium [organ manuals]
Music score
Item no.: 490496
for: Harmonium
Music score
Item no.: 492158
for: Harp
Music score
Item no.: 1139552
Ein Lieder-Cyklus op. 186
for: Voice (baritone), guitar [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 197371
Hinshaw Sacred
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 903606
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 204651
Firenze
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 990468
Klassik
for: Children's choir, piano
Buch
Item no.: 269732
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 358685
op. 87
for: Cello solo, string orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 495812
Neu-Russische Meister
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 357187
for: Mixed choir; piano ad lib.
Item no.: 552186
Ausgabe für tiefere Stimme in 4 Bänden
for: Voice (low), piano
Item no.: 565588
for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 172403
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 158595
for: Double bass, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 404148
for: 2 GES (CH) ORG
Item no.: 227251
for: Piano
Item no.: 249194
for: 8 horns
Score, Parts
Item no.: 778583
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 602661
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 571468
for: Flute, piano
Item no.: 469802
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 169896
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393723
for: Flute, string orchestra
Score
Item no.: 687990
for: Flute, clarinet (B-flat), bassoon, 2 violins, viola, cello (septet)
Score
Item no.: 226371
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 324426
for: Trumpet (B-flat), piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 382924
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 382883
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 584704
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 656008
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, piano
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 404359
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 305786
Piano reduction
Item no.: 306792