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: Accordion orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 126358
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 412823
for: Violin
Score
Item no.: 821280
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 412748
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 302642
for: Mixed choir (SATB), string orchestra
Score
Item no.: 264975
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 411096
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 160925
for: Violin, piano
Score
Item no.: 411799
for: Violin, piano
Score
Item no.: 411769
for: Accordion
Item no.: 180612
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1204502
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 863200
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 329562
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyric book
Item no.: 777701
for: Mixed choir (SAT), string orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 121726
for: Flute
Score
Item no.: 492195
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 258089
for: Band Music
Score
Item no.: 880823
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 483782
for: Violin, cello
2 Performance scores
Item no.: 180384
for: Guitar or Lute
Score
Item no.: 554264
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 821301
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 259216
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 870134
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 643862
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 340170
for: Trumpet [2 Trumpets] and Piano
Score
Item no.: 412454
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 411519
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 411447
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 411803
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 411276
for: Voice (medium), piano
Music score
Item no.: 411026
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 365080
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 174671
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 622525
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 821320
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 410995
for: Organ or Harmonium
Score
Item no.: 411693
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 411414
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 411138
for: Piano 4 hands
Score
Item no.: 187010
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 412790
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 410928
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 854049
for: Organ or Harmonium
Score
Item no.: 459484