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: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 488261
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 225271
for: Piano and Vocals
Buch
Item no.: 362693
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 2966
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1048126
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 395019
for: Piano 4 hands
Item no.: 282913
for: Soli [SBar], Mixed Choir [SATB] and Orchestra
Book
Item no.: 909736
Weihnachts-Musik: Nr. 5 (mit Text)
for: Harmonium [organ manuals]
Music score
Item no.: 775465
Abendsegen und Traumpantomime aus der Oper "Hänsel und Gretel"
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 725102
for: GES-H (T) VL ORG
Item no.: 179691
for: Women's choir a cappella
Score
Item no.: 156047
for: Organ
Music score (hardcover)
Item no.: 284468
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 107213
Fantasy of "Silent Night, holy Night"
for: Piano 4 hands
Music score
Item no.: 747159
Geistliche Musik
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1091684
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 625164
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 874583
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Item no.: 321933
Archivio Bossi
for: GES-H (S) VC ORG
Item no.: 339174
for: Harp
Music score
Item no.: 485062
for: Voice (low), piano
Buch
Item no.: 579206
for: Flexible ensemble (6 voices); children's choir ad lib.
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 2390
für Harmonium
for: Harmonium
Music score
Item no.: 661404
for: SSA and Organ
Buch
Item no.: 259675
for: Voice (medium/high), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 4403
for: Flute, Bassoon and Harp
Score, Parts
Item no.: 268086
for: Organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 3648
for: Canto (Solisti), Coro SATB (mit Stimmteilungen), 2 Flöten, Oboe, Englischhorn, 2 Fagotte, Triangel, Klavier vierhändig
Score
Item no.: 635714
for: Voice (high), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1164
for: Solo voice, mixed choir (SATB), organ; strings ad lib.
Score
Item no.: 281497
for: Canto (Solisti), Coro SATB (mit Stimmteilungen), 2 Fl (Fl+Picc), Ob, Eh, 2 Fg, Triangolo, Pfte 4hdg
Piano reduction
Item no.: 636741
for: Organ
Item no.: 432081
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 328278
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 328277
Orff-Schulwerk
for: Soli, Kinderchor, Sprecher und kleines Orchester
Score
Item no.: 748264
for: Voice (soprano), orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 353665
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 822487
for: Voice, piano
Piano/Vocal
Item no.: 1612440
for: Piano, Voice, High Voice
Piano/Vocal
Item no.: 1613140
for: Voice, piano
Piano/Vocal
Item no.: 1561502
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 552536
for: Soli, Kinderchor, Sprecher und kleines Orchester
Choir score
Item no.: 180855
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Score
Item no.: 120515
for: Fanfare
Score, Parts
Item no.: 869168
for: Mixed choir (SATB); piano ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 292966
for: Soli, Kinderchor, Sprecher und kleines Orchester
Score
Item no.: 351895
for: Brass band
Score
Item no.: 877599