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: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 412180
for: Cello, piano
Score
Item no.: 412968
for: Cello, piano
Score
Item no.: 411995
for: Musikerziehung
Book
Item no.: 161850
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 867695
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 854254
for: Guitar or Lute
Score
Item no.: 394105
for: Clarinet and Various Instruments
Score
Item no.: 204260
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 853279
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 889531
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 822105
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 852792
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 893921
for: Guitar
Score
Item no.: 259608
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 634030
for: Voice, piano
Score
Item no.: 853097
for: Voice and various instruments
Score
Item no.: 852227
for: Violin, String Ensemble and BC
Score
Item no.: 263240
for: Voice, piano
Score
Item no.: 138258
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 339010
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 190213
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 339009
for: Violin, piano
Score
Item no.: 853761
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 629123
for: 4 Part Choir A Cappella
Score
Item no.: 277435
for: Accordion orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 142747
Oriental Phantasy
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 561772
for: Accordion orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 218758
for: Voice (tenor/baritone), violin, cello, harp, double bass; organ ad lib.
Set of parts
Item no.: 643515
for: Vocal and Piano Reduction
Piano reduction
Item no.: 260733
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 613775
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 608346
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 602753
for: Male choir (TTBB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 145052
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 818072
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 818071
for: 2 pianos
2 Performance scores
Item no.: 209579
for: TB Chorus Part
Choir score
Item no.: 818863
for: Mixed Choir [SATB] A Cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1329320
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 326247
for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 347026
for: Women's choir (SSAA), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 338277
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 866410
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1549195
Second volume
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 695401
aus der Operette "Saison in Salzburg"
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 788090
for: Horn
Music score
Item no.: 157816
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 141077