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: 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: Clarinet, Horn, Fagott, Piano, Violin, Viola and Violoncello
Score
Item no.: 244112
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: Organ
Score
Item no.: 582240
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
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 773288
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 315136
op. 18
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Item no.: 1538940
per fiati, ottoni, timpani, batteria, pianoforte e contrabassi
Repertoire Explorer
for: Chamber ensemble
Study score
Item no.: 273106
for: Voice (medium), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 5397
(1920 & 1947)
Hawkes Pocket Scores 178
for: Wind ensemble
Study score
Item no.: 147532
for: Violin, piano
Book
Item no.: 340617
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 219035
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 197317
for: Guitar, Orchestra
Score
Item no.: 315119
for: Clarinet
Music score
Item no.: 324170
for: 2 string orchestras
Score
Item no.: 407288
from "Pulcinella"
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 198012
for: Trombone [baritone horn], piano
Item no.: 349558
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 463358
for: Voice (high), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 4070
for: Trumpet (B-flat) [clarinet/tenor saxophone], piano
Score, part (pdf download)
Item no.: 2622
Nº 4, from: Dix Pièces pour Orgue ou Harmonium
Paris, 1899
for: Organ [harmonium]
Sheet music
Item no.: 6480
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1005389
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 426091
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 682280
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 627157
for: Piano
Music score, online audio
Item no.: 1541582
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part, online audio (playback)
Item no.: 582094
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Book
Item no.: 272991
for: Voice (low), piano
Music score
Item no.: 375750
Score
Item no.: 262759
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 180416
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 552633
for: Flute [violin], piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 310634