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: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 891305
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1553140
for: Orchestra; mixed choir ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 867661
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 886402
for: Voice (high), piano
Single edition
Item no.: 294668
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 930142
for: Fanfare
Score
Item no.: 876307
for: Choir (2 voices), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1672414
Swedish Carols Series
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1651909
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1076865
Fantasie
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197120
Fantasie für Klavier
Fröhliche selige Weihnachtszeit
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197000
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Item no.: 362081
for: Children's choir, piano
Item no.: 193489
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1203520
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 175527
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Set of parts
Item no.: 420002
for: Flute Quintet
Book
Item no.: 994021
for: INST AKK (KLAV)
Item no.: 606977
per Organo
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 640929
for: Singstimme, Streicher, Klavier
Score
Item no.: 586968
Score
Item no.: 333884
für Orgel
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 662464
for: Choir (2 voices), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1167809
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 965472
for: SATB, Orchestra and Organ
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1156235
Galopp
for: Orchestra
Klavierdirektion und Stimmen Piano (Direktion), 2 Violine 1 (Direktion), Violine 1, Violine obl., Violoncello, Viola, Klarinette 1 in B, Klarinette 2 in B, Oboe, Oboe 2, Flöte, Basso, Fagott, Fagott 2, Flöte 2 (picc.), P
Item no.: 732879
Edition Schott
for: Kinderchor, Harmonika und Klavier
Set of parts
Item no.: 732410
1. Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern 2. Vater unser im Himmelreich
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 751561
Galopp
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 746713
Ein deutsches Weihnachtsliederspiel nach oberbayerischen und tiroler Weisen
for: gemischter Chor (SATB) (Frauenchor, Kinderchor) mit Soli (SSATBarB) und kleines Orchester
Piano reduction
Item no.: 748087
Galop
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 741205
for: Soloist, mixed choir, cello, organ
Score
Item no.: 1664988
for: Cello
Instrumental Solo
Item no.: 1554563
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1553247
for: Organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 4161
for: 3 flutes (trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 101022
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 389053
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 489462
Weihnachtslied
for: Mixed choir (SSATTB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 781651
for: Sopran solo, Gemischter Chor, Klavier
Piano score
Item no.: 188828
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 655395
Orff-Schulwerk
for: Kinderchor (SMezA) mit Soli, Sprecher und Instrumenten
Score
Item no.: 736844
for: String orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 609277
for: Trumpet, trombone, organ
Score
Item no.: 116830
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 171084
for: Gemischter Chor, Orchester
Score
Item no.: 115555
for: Organ (manuals)
Music score
Item no.: 115241