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, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 176791
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 107224
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 261625
for: Clarinet (A)
Music score
Item no.: 354305
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 108802
for: Tuba, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 613401
for: Voice (low), piano
Item no.: 565587
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Music score, Playback-CD
Item no.: 658909
for: Violin, viola, cello (string trio)
Set of parts
Item no.: 223172
for: Violin; piano ad lib.
Piano score, solo part, playback-CD
Item no.: 576423
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 779304
for: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 100863
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 676420
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 397239
for: Violin, viola
Item no.: 287787
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197549
for: Horn, piano
Score
Item no.: 412886
for: 2 violins, viola, cello, piano (piano quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 296795
transcribed for Flute and Guitar
for: Flute, guitar
Ensemble score
Item no.: 280053
Music Drama in One Act op. 54after Oscar Wilde's Poem of the Same Name
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 214248
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 101123
for: Bassoon, piano
Score
Item no.: 695716
for: Organ
Item no.: 157499
Early Piano Music, Vol. III
First Edition
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 446873
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 113756
for: für Klavier
Item no.: 113430
for: 2 violins, viola, cello, piano (piano quintet)
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 113408
for: 4 soloists (SATB), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra, organ
Score
Item no.: 272879
for: für Sopran, Flöte, Viola und Violoncello
Partitur und Stimmen
Item no.: 182198
for: für Bläserquintett
Score
Item no.: 113271
for: Cello, accordion
Item no.: 332296
for: 2 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos (sextet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 107029
for: Klarinette, Waldhorn, Violoncello und kleine Trommel
Score, Parts
Item no.: 228761
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 359010
for: Children's or Female Choir [SA] and Piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 899930
Score
Item no.: 478814
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 358675
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 206033
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 358514
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 392326
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393700
for: 2 pianos
Music score
Item no.: 896369
for: Clarinet
Music score
Item no.: 216949
for: Women's Choir
Score
Item no.: 495166
for: Viola, piano
Book
Item no.: 471776
Book (Hardcover)
Item no.: 132663
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 300423
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 200077