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, piano
Score
Item no.: 778884
for: Voice (medium), piano
Item no.: 120477
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Songbook PVG (Piano/Vocal/Guitar)
Item no.: 1209893
for: Harp
Music score
Item no.: 615043
for: Voice, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 818204
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 179573
for: Clarinet, piano
Score
Item no.: 239030
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 663491
for: Voice, organ manuals [piano]
Score
Item no.: 395531
pour trompette en ut et percussion
for: Trumpet, percussion
Score, part
Item no.: 373644
for: Harmonium
Music score
Item no.: 613226
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 560315
for: Flute, Clarinet and Harp
Score, Parts
Item no.: 336905
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 663503
for: Accordion orchestra
Score
Item no.: 213885
First edition
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 750229
Edition Schott
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 749711
op. 3/4
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 749037
Edition Schott
for: Treble recorder, harpsichord [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 749666
for flute, violoncello and piano
for: Flute, cello, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 726721
Orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakow
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 755958
First edition
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 760976
for flute solo
for: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 755540
op. 11
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 722409
nach Gedichten von Sappho
for: mittlere Frauenstimme, Viola und Klavier
Set of parts
Item no.: 729290
Edition Schott
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 736962
Edition Schott
for: Bassoon, cello
Ensemble score
Item no.: 736665
(Hommage à Sor)
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 736493
for: Voice (high), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 3264
for: Voice (high), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 3245
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, Solo part (pdf download)
Item no.: 3126
for: Violine und Violoncello
Book
Item no.: 410959
aus "Suite española Nr. 3" G major
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 732655
for 10 brass instruments
for: 4 trumpets, horn, 4 trombones, tuba
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1022339
(1911)
for: Flute, piano
Music score
Item no.: 724627
for: 2 violins
Item no.: 272644
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 691605
for: Chamber orchestra
Score
Item no.: 151273
Berceuse
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 727854
for: Double bass, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 685510
Study score
Item no.: 328462
for: Voice (medium), 2 violins, viola, cello
Set of parts
Item no.: 257774
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 581217
for: Voice (medium), piano
Music score
Item no.: 280173
for: Voice, piano
Score
Item no.: 616503
for: SA a Cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 819191