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.
Allerhand Variationen über ein kurzweiliges Thema
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 728408
op. 31
for: Flöte und Klavier, Basso ad lib.
Music score
Item no.: 731770
for piano four hands
for: Piano 4 hands
Music score
Item no.: 752809
Hommage an Franz Schubert
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 749410
op. 34/14
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 741605
(1907)
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 739518
Original Version
for: 3 guitars
Score, Parts
Item no.: 739200
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 757666
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 757665
(Habanera)
for: 2 guitars
Music score
Item no.: 757597
Suite for orchestra (1919)
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 793901
for: Flute, piano
Score
Item no.: 101244
for: Salon orchestra
Piano part for conductor, Parts
Item no.: 406136
for: Trumpet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 667312
One-act play by Peter Kien
Study score
Item no.: 757844
Nocturne - Scherzetto - Toccata
for: Marimba, piano
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 299788
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 208274
for: Accordion; voice ad lib.
Music score
Item no.: 179356
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 128635
Edition Schott
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 750225
for: Cello, piano
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1052283
for: Voice (high), piano
Piano/Vocal
Item no.: 1027416
for: Flute, Harp and Piano
Book
Item no.: 100762
for: Trumpet, chamber orchestra
Score
Item no.: 462181
for: 5 trumpets
Score, Parts
Item no.: 208034
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 858196
Leuckart-Reprint
for: Voice (high), piano
Item no.: 170927
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1048105
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1050312
for English horn, violin, viola and violoncello
for: Cor anglais, violin, viola, cello
Study score
Item no.: 748465
for: 2 trumpets (B-flat), horn (F), trombone, tuba
Score
Item no.: 322920
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 889881
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 279913
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 215102
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, Solo part (pdf download)
Item no.: 4317
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 625473
for: Trio
Score
Item no.: 411807
for: Harp or Harps
Score
Item no.: 647056
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 411345
for: Voice, piano
Single edition
Item no.: 131721
for: 2 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos (sextet)
Score
Item no.: 1200585
for: Trio
Score
Item no.: 260422
for: Classical guitar
Music score, online playback
Item no.: 291795
for: Flute, Cello or Viola and Piano
Set of parts
Item no.: 163943
for: 2 violins, viola, cello, piano (piano quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 411238
for: Flute, piano
Score
Item no.: 293390
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 257878
for: Women's choir (SMezA) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 107221