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: Mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1544895
for: 3 soloists (SSS), male choir, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1349769
for: Chamber orchestra
Score
Item no.: 311468
Piano reduction
Item no.: 186911
for: 3 voices [women's choir] (SMezA), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 353848
for: Schlagzeug-Ensemble und Klavier zu vier Händen
Ensemble score
Item no.: 353832
for: Flute Duo
Book
Item no.: 244267
Spanish Dance no. 5
for: 6 flutes
Score, Parts
Item no.: 656756
for piano
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1548977
for: Voice (low), piano
Music score
Item no.: 283337
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1149280
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 1149254
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 260875
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 228723
for: Voice, guitar
Music score
Item no.: 683559
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 160862
for: Piano
Item no.: 376067
for: Piano
Single edition
Item no.: 462678
Lyric book
Item no.: 314487
for: Trumpet
Music score
Item no.: 357619
for: Instrumental
CD-ROM
Item no.: 268942
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 197789
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 193189
Eisler Complete Works (EGW) Series II/3
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 301651
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393923
for: Flute, piano
Item no.: 393406
for: Sprechchor
Item no.: 352176
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 288513
for: Violin
Item no.: 242303
for Violin and Piano
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 362746
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 162974
for: für Gesang und Klavier
Piano reduction
Item no.: 313654
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 312873
for: für 6 Solostimmen (S, 2A, T, 2Bar), Frauenchor, Männerchor, Tänzer und Orchester
Piano reduction
Item no.: 295808
for: für Gesang und Klavier
Item no.: 292438
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 141257
for: Percussion quartet (4 players)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 130991
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1677882
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 124504
for: 2 classical guitars
Set of parts
Item no.: 169459
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 298915
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 680814
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 199397
for: Brass band
Sheet music
Item no.: 594264
Hugo Wolf Gesamtausgabe (Urtextausgabe) (Complete edition)
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 366593
for: Klarinette und 2 Violen
Score, Parts
Item no.: 106327
for: Sopran-Blockflöte (Flöte) und Gitarre
Ensemble score
Item no.: 420951