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: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 382823
C
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1048434
für Fagott und Klavier
Reprint der Erstausgabe von 1968
for: Bassoon, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 676790
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 638559
Sax Attack
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Item no.: 488199
Oper in 3 Akten
Lyric book
Item no.: 124450
for: Voice (medium), piano
Item no.: 360883
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 177969
Zyklus von vier Stücken in Form einer Sonate
for: Organ
Item no.: 462552
Waltz for Violine and Piano
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 100696
für Klavier zu 4 Händen
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 378924
for: Clarinet, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1270873
for four Cellos
for: 4 cellos
Score, Parts
Item no.: 164031
für Gesang, Kinderstimmen, Frauenchor, Harfe und Streicher
Studienpartitur
for: CHORMUSIK FRAUEN- + KINDER-CHOR MIT BEGLEITUNG GEISTLICH EINZELN
Study score
Item no.: 638028
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 244602
for: String orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 930454
for: 2 alto saxophones, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1270885
GeWV 229
for: Trumpet (B-flat), piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 380404
for: Organ
Item no.: 433897
(2 Trompeten, Horn in F, Posaune)
Partitur und Stimmen
for: 4 brass instruments
Sheet music
Item no.: 597427
for: Voice (soprano), orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 194283
Lyric book
Item no.: 344674
for: Voice (soprano), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 113109
New Urtext Edition with comparison of sources and reproduction of fragments from the autograph manuscript
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1681650
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1660643
(1911)
for: Flute, piano
Music score
Item no.: 724624
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 352253
for: 10 cellos
Set of parts
Item no.: 353831
for: Harp, strings
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 352814
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1203446
arranged for Organ
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 383036
for: Women's choir (SSA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 622836
for: Bass trombone, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1615168
for: Sopran, Horn in Es und Klavier
Score, Parts
Item no.: 192426
for: Flute, piano
Item no.: 187440
for: Piano
Item no.: 288859
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 676692
for: für Orchester
Taschenpartitur
Item no.: 151460
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Score
Item no.: 180224
for: Choir
Score
Item no.: 586484
for: Bassoon, piano
Book
Item no.: 1006147
for: Choir
Score
Item no.: 1619748
for: Soloist (tenor), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1654453
after the ballet "Les malheurs de Sophie" for 10 wind instruments
for: 2 Flöten, 2 Oboen, 2 Klarinetten in B, 2 Hörner in F und 2 Fagotte
Score
Item no.: 748477
for: Mandolin orchestra
Score
Item no.: 490791
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 930038
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 338692