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: Voice (medium/low), piano
Music score, online audio
Item no.: 489724
for: 3 Blockflöten (SSA oder SAT)
Item no.: 555238
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 777271
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 685769
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 198759
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1703465
for: Violin, organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 1703462
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 456125
for: 2 violins, cello
Score, Parts
Item no.: 420225
for: Voice, piano
OTHER
Item no.: 263905
Book
Item no.: 664000
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Buch
Item no.: 400663
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 631093
20 leichte Vortragsstücke
for: Cello, piano [2 cellos]
Piano score, ensemble score
Item no.: 129664
for: Women's choir (SMezA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 850304
for: Voice (low), piano
Item no.: 201202
for: Flöte, Oboe, Klarinette, Bass-Klarinette, Fagott und Horn
Score
Item no.: 445808
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 896278
for: Accordion orchestra
Score
Item no.: 395687
for: Brass ensemble (12 parts), timpani, latin percussion
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1108762
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1646588
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 658334
for: Flöte, Klavier, Violine
Music score
Item no.: 1202832
for: Trumpet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 963991
for: Tuba, piano
Piano score, 2 solo parts (treble and bass clef)
Item no.: 247347
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 893344
for: Woodwind ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 363313
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 206559
for: Piano
Solostimme
Item no.: 1618365
for: 5 Flöten
Score, Parts
Item no.: 471146
for: Flute, piano
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 145632
for: Concert band
Score (spiral binding)
Item no.: 1626670
for: Trumpet (C/B-flat), piano
Item no.: 431604
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 138387
Facsimile of the autograph
for: Piano
Music score (reprint, hardcover)
Item no.: 636539
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 262531
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, set of parts (strings)
Item no.: 224309
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 388947
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 262714
for: Women's choir [children's choir], piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1120937
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1015698
for: Fanfare
Conductors part (B-flat), set of parts
Item no.: 1014635
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Book
Item no.: 882911
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 322084
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Vocal score, Choir score
Item no.: 321605
for: Violin, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 318240
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 317157