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: Treble recorder, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1291800
for: Soprano saxophone, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1291797
for: 5 saxophones
Sheet music
Item no.: 1291512
for: 4 clarinets
Sheet music
Item no.: 1291504
for: 4 woodwinds (quartet)
Sheet music
Item no.: 1291498
for: Oboe, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1235071
for: Double bass, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1235049
for: Concert band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1260686
for: 5 saxophones
Sheet music
Item no.: 1234778
for: Brass quintet
Sheet music
Item no.: 1234774
for: 4 trumpets
Sheet music
Item no.: 1234768
for: Women's choir (SSA), organ
Score
Item no.: 273017
for: Vocal
Item no.: 1529944
for: Vocal
Item no.: 1529895
New edition. The piano part is notated in reduced size.
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 1549189
für Streichorchester
Studienpartitur
for: String orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1343817
Klassik
for: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 166282
for: Several instruments
Set of parts
Item no.: 420028
Motette zu Psalm 118, Vers 17
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 199872
für fünf Blockflöten (SATBB)
for: 5 recorders (quintet)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 413990
für 2 Violinen und Baß (Violoncello)
for: 2 violins, cello
Score, Parts
Item no.: 417842
for: Voice, organ
Score
Item no.: 420017
for: Accordion orchestra
Score
Item no.: 580775
for: Voice, Organ Accompaniment
Score
Item no.: 329475
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 1667608
Ein deutsches Weihnachtsliederspiel nach oberbayerischen und tiroler Weisen
for: gemischter Chor (SATB) (Frauenchor, Kinderchor) mit Soli (SSATBarB) und kleines Orchester
Einzelstimme Klavier (Orchester)
Item no.: 748090
Ein deutsches Weihnachtsliederspiel nach oberbayerischen und tiroler Weisen
for: gemischter Chor (SATB) (Frauenchor, Kinderchor) mit Soli (SSATBarB) und kleines Orchester
Choir part Alto
Item no.: 739198
for: Choir (1 voice), organ
Score
Item no.: 315038
aus: op. 5; Text: Joh. 3,16 (Weihnachten)
for: Mixed choir (SABar) a cappella
Music score
Item no.: 744546
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score (spiral binding)
Item no.: 890160
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 880639
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 565400
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Book
Item no.: 321952
op 74 Nr. 1 und 3
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 169313
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 1159214
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 619083
for: 2 High Voices and Piano
Choir score
Item no.: 317300
for: Concert band
Conductors part (C), Parts
Item no.: 132502
for: Mixed choir, organ [piano]
Score
Item no.: 365744
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1048544
for: Soprano Voice, Mezzo Soprano, Tenor Voice, SATB divisi, Piano
Score
Item no.: 388446
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 114354
for: 2 trumpets, 2 trombones (quartet)
Bläserpartitur
Item no.: 171085
for: Piano; voice ad lib.
Music score
Item no.: 243860
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 100619
A Carol of the Nativity
arranged for cello and piano
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 673583