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: 3 cellos
Reprint
Item no.: 185000
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 266096
for: Violin, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 868943
for: Organ
Item no.: 369231
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 229365
for: 2 violins
Ensemble score
Item no.: 146518
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 176096
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 142953
for: Voice (alto), piano
[deutsch, russisch]
Item no.: 467755
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 431645
for: GES-H (S) VL VC KLAV
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 108949
for: Cello, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 108947
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 108877
for: 3 bassoons, double bassoon
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 817094
for: Bassoon, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 664451
for: Harp, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 557761
Tone Poem for Large Orchestra
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 777006
Idyll for Orchestra
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 585054
for: Clarinet (B-flat), piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 680472
for: Violin, viola, cello, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 168508
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon (quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 343555
for: Bassoon
Music score
Item no.: 290078
for: Double bassoon
Music score
Item no.: 223086
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 562318
for: 2 violins, viola, cello; double bass ad lib.
Score, Parts
Item no.: 480600
for: Cello Duet
Book
Item no.: 164142
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 165286
for: Piano
Item no.: 156165
for: Piano
Item no.: 287716
for: Voice (high/medium), guitar
Score
Item no.: 246800
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 224345
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 392493
for: Violin, viola, cello (string trio)
Set of parts
Item no.: 646494
for: für Soli: Sopran, Tenor, Chor SATB und Orchester Ausgabe für Gesang und Klavier von Erik Satie
Piano reduction
Item no.: 210986
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyric book
Item no.: 107033
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 105786
for: Piano
Item no.: 475904
for: Mixed choir (SATB); piano ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 907374
for: Cello
Music score
Item no.: 557001
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 770665
for: Cello
Music score
Item no.: 268258
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 908337
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 349923
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Book
Item no.: 193039
for: für Orgel
Item no.: 113428
for: für Gesang und Klavier
Piano reduction
Item no.: 140181
for: für Violine und Violoncello
Item no.: 124442
Lyric book
Item no.: 124323