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 (SATB), narrator, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 120391
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 316551
for soprano, mixed choir (SATB) and orchestra
Hymn to Hebrew prayers from the Haggada
for: Soloist (soprano), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 681722
for high voice and piano
for: Voice (high), piano
Score
Item no.: 353805
Five songs
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 292406
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Book
Item no.: 240319
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 838341
Hugo Wolf Gesamtausgabe (Complete edition)
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 417819
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 291151
for: Women's choir (SSA), piano
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 910520
for: Voice (baritone), 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 644505
Changes of position and preparatory scale studies
Sevcik Violin Studies
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 199371
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 260768
for: Voice (medium), viola, piano
Score, part
Item no.: 340875
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 211960
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 633516
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 242319
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 611529
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 930219
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 403696
for: Voice, violin
Music score
Item no.: 484702
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 411988
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 212597
for: Piano 4 hands
Book
Item no.: 1317976
Changes of Position
Sevcik Viola Studies
for: Viola
Music score
Item no.: 199716
for: 2 soloists (ST), mixed choir (SATB), chamber orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 566241
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 486849
for: 3 soloists (STB), boys’ choir, mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Score
Item no.: 297537
Piano reduction
Item no.: 242954
for: Voice (high), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 198575
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score, online playback
Item no.: 865345
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 659419
for: Voice (medium), piano
Music score
Item no.: 124342
for: Violin
Music lesson book
Item no.: 177069
for: 2 voices (sbar), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 929286
Alphabetic' Works for Piano
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1191544
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1163390
for: Voice (soprano), piano
Music score
Item no.: 328962
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 614783
for: 2 solo voices (SBar), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 176271
for: Bb Tuba
Book
Item no.: 247724
for: Violin
Music lesson book
Item no.: 257447
Edition Schott
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 734382
for: Voice (low), piano
Item no.: 227195
for: Voice (medium), piano
Music score
Item no.: 1163156
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 388445
Item no.: 355812
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 255808