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
Item no.: 420808
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1012735
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 124480
for: Clarinet, piano
Item no.: 106347
for: Viola, piano
Item no.: 106346
for: Mixed choir (SSAATTBB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 850413
for: Flute, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 393409
for: Gemischter Chor Orgel ORCH
Study score
Item no.: 392292
for: Guitar
Item no.: 368184
Five Pieces
EMB Leggiero
for: Youth string orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 579683
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 256715
for: Women's choir (SMezA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 822729
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 677115
for: Horn, piano
Item no.: 621035
for: Piano
Item no.: 636585
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 683286
for: Trombone, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 861723
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 861638
for: Organ
Item no.: 113559
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 206052
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 180402
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 187951
for: Violin and 11 Instruments
Score
Item no.: 262746
Study score
Item no.: 311632
for: Piano
Item no.: 471251
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 388888
for: Solfege
Buch
Item no.: 256974
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 180417
for: Horn, organ
Item no.: 490941
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 373427
for: Violin, String Ensemble and BC
Score
Item no.: 263245
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 357564
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 336668
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 245965
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 254982
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 256400
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 462880
for: Gemischter Chor, SAB, Gemischter Chor (SATB)
Choir score
Item no.: 117190
for: Treble recorder
Stimme
Item no.: 879890
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Chorpartitur, Sammelband
Item no.: 871013
for: Frauenchor (SAA)
Choir score
Item no.: 459199
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 459171
for: Horn, piano
Ensemble score, solo part
Item no.: 116325
for: Cello, piano
Book
Item no.: 366797
for: Piano
Item no.: 1703282
with Soprano part
for: Voice (soprano), 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 1017541
for: Violin, String Ensemble and BC
Score
Item no.: 263241
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 388791