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.: 395295
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 395289
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 180027
for: Viola [cello], piano
Piano score, Solo parts
Item no.: 229334
for: Treble recorder, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1243141
for: Organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 2086
for: Cello
Item no.: 120912
Suite from Radúz a Mahulena op. 13
Reprint
Repertoire Explorer
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1015753
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1072129
From The West Side Story
for: Klarinettenensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1531112
for: Flute
Item no.: 190998
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 186965
for: Horn, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 134040
for: Oboe, horn, piano (trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 474849
for: Flute, piano [organ]
Item no.: 104937
für Orgel
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 682413
for: Trumpet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 269944
10 Charakterstücke für Orgel
for: Organ
Item no.: 555508
Streichquintett
Leuckart-Reprint
for: 2 violins, 2 violas, cello
Set of parts
Item no.: 492547
Reprint of the first edition (Peters, Leipzig, 1932)
for: Voice (medium), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 694861
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1201427
Leuckart-Reprint
for: GES-H (S) VDG (VC) ORG
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 368260
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1202443
Für Violine, Violoncello und Klavier
Klaviertrio
Leuckart-Reprint
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 465246
Klassik
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 395582
for: Bläserquintett
Buch
Item no.: 304286
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 388644
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 395543
for: Chamber orchestra
Score
Item no.: 390055
for: Voice, piano
Book
Item no.: 268326
for: 2 pianos
Book
Item no.: 462004
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 884620
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 482645
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Music score
Item no.: 240285
für Orgel
for: Organ
Noten
Item no.: 631216
for: Horn, piano
Item no.: 576105
for: Clarinet
Music score
Item no.: 170911
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 183649
for: Piano
Item no.: 104524
The Original Edition
for: Voice (soprano), piano
Music score
Item no.: 776868
for: Symphonic orchestra
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 920427
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 655272
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 419924
for: 2 violins, viola (trio)
Set of parts
Item no.: 129095
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 100780
for: Flute, viola
Item no.: 120858