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.: 1144578
for: Brass band
Score
Item no.: 1144416
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1143141
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 864059
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 879060
for: Wind Band
Score
Item no.: 894363
for: CHORMUSIK GEMISCHTER CHOR A CAPPELLA GEISTLICH EINZELN
Score
Item no.: 119371
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 134381
for: Viola, string orchestra
Score
Item no.: 455513
for: Organ
Score
Item no.: 420140
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 419694
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 383446
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 367913
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 362319
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 383305
for: SAX ENSEMBLE SCHLAGZ
Score
Item no.: 393032
for: Marching band
Score
Item no.: 842344
for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Score
Item no.: 908132
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 906729
for: Symphonic Band
Score
Item no.: 868305
for: school orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1117688
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1109186
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1103029
for: Choir, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 288311
for: Women's choir [children's choir] (SSA), piano
Score
Item no.: 287895
for: Orchestra
Score
Item no.: 287695
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 941795
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 949502
for: Brass band
Score
Item no.: 978742
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 258828
for: Flute and String Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 215067
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 258659
for: Arpa E Altri Strumenti
Score
Item no.: 258598
for: Male choir
Score
Item no.: 258170
for: Voice, piano
Choir score
Item no.: 962312
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 858279
for: Men's Choir [TTBB] and Piano
Choir score
Item no.: 977157
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 966211
for: Voice, piano
OTHER
Item no.: 263869
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 262931
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 260170
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 259991
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1530605
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1530572
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1530526
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 1530510
for: Violin
Sheet music
Item no.: 1356418