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: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 792117
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 337198
for: Piano
Item no.: 112894
for: 4 soloists (SATB), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra, organ
Piano reduction
Item no.: 112820
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 112794
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 326059
Piano reduction
Item no.: 294261
for: 13 Blasinstrumente
Set of parts
Item no.: 113166
for: Voice (low), piano
Music score
Item no.: 375750
for: Bassoon, piano
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 388454
for: Voice (soprano), piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 264239
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 910281
for: Violin [cello], piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 350614
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 179402
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 681723
for: Male choir (TTBB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 170192
for: Viola [violin], cello
Ensemble score
Item no.: 141412
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 226127
Edition Schott
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 735914
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part, online audio (playback)
Item no.: 582094
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 395289
for: Organ
Score
Item no.: 582240
for: Voice (high), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 4070
Nº 4, from: Dix Pièces pour Orgue ou Harmonium
Paris, 1899
for: Organ [harmonium]
Sheet music
Item no.: 6480
for: Voice (medium), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 5397
for: Violin, orchestra
Klavierauszug, Stimme
Item no.: 612198
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 486279
for: Trumpet (B-flat) [clarinet/tenor saxophone], piano
Score, part (pdf download)
Item no.: 2622
for: Violin, viola, cello, piano
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 586486
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1198808
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 303001
for: Tuba, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 198483
for: Women's choir (SSA), piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 184989
for: Clarinet, Horn, Fagott, Piano, Violin, Viola and Violoncello
Score
Item no.: 244112
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 881908
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 297536
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 315136
for flute and piano
Great Performer's Edition
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 244652
for: Voice, guitar
Music score
Item no.: 324392
for: 3 Flutes or 3 Violins
Book
Item no.: 281569
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 219035
for: Flute, Violin and Piano
Book
Item no.: 100878
for: Trombone, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 216955
for Guitar
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 679841
for: Mandolin, piano
Buch
Item no.: 1583833
for: Soloists, children's choir, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 177653
for alto Saxophone
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 100850
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 100953
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