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, piano
Score
Item no.: 155701
for: Solo S, SATB, Piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 107241
for: Women's choir (SMezA) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 107221
for: Guitar or Lute
Score
Item no.: 334395
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 212289
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 170188
for: Cello
Music score
Item no.: 163506
for: Marimba [xylophone/vibraphone], piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 343721
for: Organ
Score
Item no.: 101278
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 108877
for: Women's choir a cappella
Chorpartitur, Sammelband
Item no.: 115021
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 240036
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 240008
for: Bassoon, piano
Book
Item no.: 266751
for: 2 violins, viola, cello, piano (piano quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 411238
for: Guitar or Lute
Book
Item no.: 188222
The Original Edition
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 773986
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 458843
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 432022
for: Piano
Single edition
Item no.: 412987
for: Voice, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 412139
for: Trio
Score
Item no.: 411807
for: Cello or 2 Celli and Piano
Score
Item no.: 411771
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 411406
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 411345
for: Voice, Piano and String Orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1212632
for: Flute, piano
Score
Item no.: 101244
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Music score
Item no.: 101025
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 100877
for: Flute, Harp and Piano
Book
Item no.: 100762
for: Classical guitar
Music score, online playback
Item no.: 291795
for: Salon orchestra
Piano part for conductor, Parts
Item no.: 406136
for: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 100834
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 179371
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 431102
Lyric book
Item no.: 128217
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 108788
for: 2 soloists (TBar), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 236973
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393732
for: Piano
Item no.: 176986
for: Voice (medium), organ
Music score
Item no.: 298066
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyric book
Item no.: 107033
for: Flute
Ensemble score
Item no.: 115848
for: Flute, piano
Score
Item no.: 293390
for: Trumpet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 667312
for: Women's choir (smeza), organ
Organ score
Item no.: 498431
for: Flute
Score
Item no.: 283674
for: Voice, flute, cello, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 165802