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: Voice (low), piano
Music score
Item no.: 283336
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 1199513
for: Organ
Audio-CD
Item no.: 767954
for: Klavier, Violine und Violoncello
Score, Parts
Item no.: 135276
for: Violin, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 1544654
for: Guitar
Item no.: 368184
with marked and unmarked string parts
for: Viola, orchestra
Piano score, solo part (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 268717
for: Marching band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 185453
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 138474
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1556667
for: für Streichorchester
Score
Item no.: 1135058
for: Voice (low), piano
Music score, online audio
Item no.: 555779
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 554918
for: 4 guitars (quartet)
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 554617
for: OB GCH
Score
Item no.: 294079
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 486745
for: für 4 Gitarren
Score, Parts
Item no.: 486744
for: Men's Choir [TB] oder Female Choir [SA] and Piano
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 910501
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 137004
for: gemischter Chor (SAATB) mit Bariton solo
Choir score
Item no.: 131653
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 144704
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 133225
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1611107
for: Concert band
Conductors part (C)
Item no.: 1193472
for: 2 violins, viola, 2 cellos (quintet)
Score
Item no.: 480178
for: Youth concert band
Score
Item no.: 471671
Piano reduction
Item no.: 471382
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 462880
for: 2 pianos
Item no.: 247512
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 442976
for: Violin, viola, cello, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo parts
Item no.: 352457
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 352456
for: gemischter Chor (SATB), 3 (2) Klaviere und Schlagzeug (5 Spieler)
Partitur
Item no.: 352329
for: Flute, violin, viola, cello, harp
Score
Item no.: 352262
for: Streichquartett und Schlagzeug (1-2 Spieler)
Set of parts
Item no.: 332343
for: Piano, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 444312
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 433048
for: Flöte, Oboe, 2 Klarinetten, 2 Fagotte, Horn, Posaune und Klavier
Score
Item no.: 352460
Keyoboardschule für Kinder ab 6 Jahren im Einzel- und Gruppenunterricht
Mit Tipps für den Mutter/Vater-Kind-Unterricht (Lehrmaterial) (Teaching material)
for: Keyboard
Item no.: 260863
for: Organ manuals [harmonium]
Music score
Item no.: 1203000
Beethovens Oper "Fidelio", ihre Geschichte und ihre drei Fassungen
Book (Hardcover)
Item no.: 348512
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 897468
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 888111
for: für Klavier
Item no.: 124304
for: 4 clarinets
Item no.: 245199
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 239783
op. 23/5
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 732369
for: Clarinet, cello, piano
Item no.: 353089