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.
op. 1
for: 2 guitars
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1209412
Album Des Enfants Deuxième Série Op.126 N°9
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1120043
Nach dem Erstdruck herausgegeben
for: Oboe, piano
Score, solo part
Item no.: 498934
2 Flutes, Hautbois, 2 Clarinettes, Cor, Sax Tenor et Baryton
for: Wind ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1071874
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1667846
4 Impressioni Sinfoniche
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 998777
3 Trompeten, 3 Posaunen, Pauken und Orgel
Studienpartitur (mit Manuskript der Orchesterfassung)
for: KAMMERMUSIK SONSTIGE BESETZUNGEN OKTETTE
Item no.: 1344912
Studienpartitur
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1344831
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1045418
Gb
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1049328
C
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1049188
G
for: Violin
Instrumental Solo
Item no.: 1051923
for: Guitar
Instrumental Solo
Item no.: 1051885
op.91
Festive Music
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 676451
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 988063
from the Opera Cavalleria Rusticana
for: Tenor, Choir and Symphonic Band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1198557
Ballett nach einer Erzählung von Loenid Andreyev
Vladimir Dokoudovsky gewidmet
for: Symphonic orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 380873
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 840425
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 556032
Oriental
Original für Klavier
for: 2 guitars
Ensemble score
Item no.: 608354
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 998044
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 489310
for: 2 saxophones (SA)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 105883
original für Horn und Klavier
for: Oboe, organ
Score, Parts
Item no.: 695217
Öl auf Leinwand als mehrfarbiger Kunstdruck
Poster
Item no.: 235958
for: Voice (tenor), piano
Item no.: 164230
from the Opera «Hänsel und Gretel»
for: 6 brass winds
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1562979
for: Brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1562455
from "Jazz Suite No. 2"
for: Brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1560839
FJH Starter Series
for: Concert band [youth concert band]
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1109449
Opéra en 3 actes
Livrets collection Opéra de Paris
Lyric book
Item no.: 833560
for: Oboe
Music score
Item no.: 1667661
for: Harpsichord
Item no.: 1661563
for: Salon orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 326042
für Blockflötenquartett
for: 4 recorders (SATB quartet)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 281141
Kleine Fantasie für Klavier
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197230
op. 2 / 3
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 197203
Klavier
for: Piano
Piano score
Item no.: 197180
Operette in drei Akten
Lyric book
Item no.: 193505
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 492755
für Klavier und Orchester
Repertoire Explorer
for: Piano, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 353616
for: Dulcimer, piano
Item no.: 343254
für Orchester
Studienpartitur
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 559845
Klassik
for: Voice (baritone), piano
Book
Item no.: 468538
Gb
for: Voice, piano
Piano/Vocal
Item no.: 1030699
for: Voice (medium), piano
Piano/Vocal
Item no.: 1027403
Bb
for: Clarinet, piano
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1589496