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: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyrics
Item no.: 896727
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 888720
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 483983
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 366654
for: Clarinet, String Quartet and Piano
Study score
Item no.: 342586
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 911132
for: Symphonic Band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 900202
for: Symphonic Band
Score
Item no.: 893608
for: Clarinet, string orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 493562
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 490314
for: 3 solo voices (STB), orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 365192
for: Opera
Study score
Item no.: 345259
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 326588
for: 2 pianos
Music score
Item no.: 301155
for: 2 Violins, Viola, Cello and Piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 224025
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197668
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197499
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 131584
for: Horn, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 342306
for: Voice (baritone), piano
Book
Item no.: 340671
for: Bassoon, piano
Book
Item no.: 216952
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 901544
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 892459
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 889679
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 336668
for: Concert Band and Speakers
Score, Parts
Item no.: 648344
for: Sopran, Violoncello und Harfe
Set of parts
Item no.: 1545181
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 201606
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 201605
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 1545481
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 201452
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1211579
for: Soli [ABarB], Narrator, Children's Choir and Instruments
Score
Item no.: 907959
for: Children's Choir and Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 906806
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 894761
for: Symphonic Band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 487298
for: String orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 370727
for: Harp, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 350981
for: small Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 328596
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 683286
for: Orchestra
Conductor score
Item no.: 203895
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 1199513
for: Organ
Audio-CD
Item no.: 767954
for: 2 pianos
Item no.: 297118
for: 2 pianos
Item no.: 297115
for: 2 pianos
Item no.: 217325
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