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.: 1201601
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1136574
for: Children's choir, organ
Choir score
Item no.: 1136573
for: Violin, viola
Set of parts
Item no.: 880168
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 879060
for: Handtrommel
Stimme
Item no.: 879025
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 878432
for: Descant recorder
Stimme
Item no.: 878058
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 877473
for: Sopran-Blockflöte, Alt-Blockflöte
Stimme
Item no.: 874342
for: 2. Posaune
Stimme
Item no.: 872814
for: Women's choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 872272
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 869455
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 869052
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 196490
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 117078
for: Choir, organ
Choir score
Item no.: 116374
for: für Orchester
Taschenpartitur
Item no.: 1135395
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 1120442
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 648835
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 610123
for: Flute, oboe, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 458309
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 585022
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 105882
for: Organ
Single part Organ
Item no.: 419674
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 111441
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1106044
for: 2 voices (SS), organ
Item no.: 582669
for: 3 violins
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 247125
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197484
for: Fanfare
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1208845
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1208806
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 993155
for: Soprano and small Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 301465
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 680805
for: Female Choir [SSS]
Score
Item no.: 619612
for: Small wind band
Set of parts, extra part
Item no.: 106028
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 1696477
for: Piano
Item no.: 1625298
for: Viola, piano
Book
Item no.: 141794
for: Male choir (TTBB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1106040
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1618761
for: Piano
Solostimme
Item no.: 1626643
for: 2 voices (SA), piano
Score
Item no.: 687601
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 383449
for: 4 saxophones (SATBar)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1531194
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 865729