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
Sheet music
Item no.: 3605
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 5679
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 5408
for: Organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 5309
for: 2 mandolins [guitars]
Ensemble score (pdf download)
Item no.: 4999
for: 3 cellos
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 4831
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1357676
for: Voice (high/medium/low), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1357610
for: Voice (high/medium/low), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1357534
for: Viola
Sheet music
Item no.: 4812
for: Violin, viola
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 4583
for: Organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 6317
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, Solo part (pdf download)
Item no.: 6310
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 6193
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Score
Item no.: 6188
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, Solo part (pdf download)
Item no.: 6108
for: Flexible ensemble (4 voices)
Sheet music
Item no.: 1210365
Arranged for viola, transposed to G major
Bärenreiter's Concert Pieces
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 612199
for: Symphonic orchestra
Book
Item no.: 910990
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 999678
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 324207
for: Piano 4 hands
Buch
Item no.: 860856
for: Voice, piano
Piano score
Item no.: 257801
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 260387
for: Piano Duet and 8 Instruments
Study score
Item no.: 992788
for: 2 flutes (duet)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 318043
for: Voice (low), piano
Book
Item no.: 316628
for: 2 Violins, 2 Altos, 2 Violoncellos
Set of parts
Item no.: 993529
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 898119
for: Jazz ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 803492
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 807625
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 808057
for: Choir (2 voices), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 808513
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 641253
for: Piano
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 687073
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 900357
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 469785
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 993209
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 993026
for: Organ
Score
Item no.: 992936
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 153676
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 314995
for: Viola, cello
Ensemble score
Item no.: 177215
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 325499
for: Women's choir (SSA), piano
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 916751
Granados Danza Espanola (Unión Musicale)
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1653520
for: Voice (high), piano
Score
Item no.: 257538
for: Male choir, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 307932