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.
from "Trois femmes de légende pour orchestre"
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 469865
for: Tenor saxophone (B-flat), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1290516
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 100953
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 358663
for: Piano
Music score
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for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Score
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for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 677241
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 762266
for: Flute, violin, piano
Item no.: 634119
for flute and piano
Allowed reprint (1928, Chester, London)
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 677566
for alto Saxophone
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 100850
for: Voice (low), piano
Music score
Item no.: 375750
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 608349
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 108905
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 767858
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 226127
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 461232
Piano reduction
Item no.: 294261
for: Violin, viola
Ensemble score
Item no.: 273371
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 392563
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 142899
for: Viola [violin], cello
Ensemble score
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for: Clarinet, string orchestra, harp, piano
Piano reduction, solo part
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for: Cello
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with marked and unmarked string parts
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 214091
for: Organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 2086
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 478794
Belwin Classic Library
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 403821
for: Organ
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 466837
for: Flute [violin], piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 281559
for: Piano
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for bassoon and piano
for: Bassoon, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 412131
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 197842
for: Violin [cello], piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 350614
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 197862
for: String Quartet or String Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 582701
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 197863
for: Flute [violin], piano
Piano score, solo part
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for: Orchestra, Soprano Voice, SATB
Score
Item no.: 176617
for: Flute, clarinet, piano
Set of parts
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für Klavier (Urtextausgabe) (Urtext)
for: Piano
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for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 379612
for: Organ
Score
Item no.: 582240
for: Soloists, children's choir, orchestra
Score
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Edition Schott - Single Edition
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
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for: Organ
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for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
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for: Piano
Music score
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