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: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 889013
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 888549
for: Choir
Score
Item no.: 887746
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 887496
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 887118
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 887099
for: Flute
Score
Item no.: 238453
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 921528
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 921240
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 894099
for: Violin
Sheet music
Item no.: 893857
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 239607
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 239338
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 239334
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 892869
for: Guitar or Lute
Score
Item no.: 330449
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 180604
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 173901
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 170197
for: Salon orchestra
Buch
Item no.: 1590759
for: Salon orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1590739
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1590676
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1590655
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1590593
for: Salon orchestra
Buch
Item no.: 1590569
for: Salon orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 1590537
for: Salon orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1590488
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1590377
for: Salon orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 1590359
for: 2 solo voices (MezBar), mixed choir (SATB), string orchestra, organ; trumpet, harp, kettle drums ad lib.
Harp (orchestral part)
Item no.: 1664353
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 923096
for: Children's Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 922654
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 328364
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyric book
Item no.: 777685
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1646966
for: String orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 1546297
after the Chorale Prelude BWV 622 by J.S. Bach
for: String orchestra
Cello 2 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 260860
Violin 1 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 189702
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1201601
for: Small wind band
Set of parts, extra part
Item no.: 106028
for: Guitar
Item no.: 173601
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197484
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 618898
for: Mixed choir (SATB); piano ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 1155677
for: Violin, viola, cello, double bass, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 344075
for: String quartet [string orchestra]
Violin 1 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 1666520
op. 99
for: Guitar, orchestra
Single part Violin 2
Item no.: 730208
for: String quartet [string orchestra]
Cello (orchestral part)
Item no.: 1666523