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: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 380236
for: String orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 379995
for: Male choir, piano
Item no.: 314177
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 314172
for: 2 voices, organ
Item no.: 313686
for: Violin, viola, cello (string trio)
Set of parts
Item no.: 313112
Harp Solo
for: Harp and Piano
Book
Item no.: 315725
for: Oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon
Partitur, Stimmen
Item no.: 621270
Item no.: 620346
Salon-Orchester
for: Salon orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 277734
für Sopran und Klavier
for: Voice, piano
Music score, solo part
Item no.: 655192
Walzer und Tanzmelodien von Strauß, Millöcker, Suppé, Zeller u.a
Single part Violin 1
Item no.: 1667845
Selected Works 4
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 817557
Entpricht der ersten Saxophonstimme
for: Small wind band
Single part Alto saxophone 1
Item no.: 223265
for: Small wind band
Single part Trumpet 3/4 (B-flat)
Item no.: 223259
for: Small wind band
Clarinet 1 in B flat (orchestral part)
Item no.: 165605
Entspricht der 2. Saxophonstimme
for: Small wind band
Single part Tenor Saxophone 1 (B-flat)
Item no.: 348879
for: Small wind band
Single part Horn 1, 2 (E-flat)
Item no.: 348876
for: Small wind band
Single part Baritone horn (C low)
Item no.: 769460
for: Small wind band
Single part Horn 1/2 (F)
Item no.: 469600
for: KLAR-B 1
Clarinet 1 in B flat (orchestral part)
Item no.: 132423
Klassik
for: Symphonic orchestra
Book
Item no.: 1103924
Klassik
for: Cello, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1103677
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1103668
for: Descant recorder, flute
Ensemble score, solo part
Item no.: 797215
L'Organo italiano nell'ottocento 310
for: Voice, organ
Music score
Item no.: 1557405
for: Gemischter Chor (3-4)
Choir score
Item no.: 191418
Choir part Bass
Item no.: 136099
Violine (Lehrmaterial) (Teaching material)
for: Violin
Item no.: 132438
Klassik
for: Voice (tenor), piano
Buch
Item no.: 1193675
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 366511
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1194021
for: Symphonic orchestra
Item no.: 1026819
for: SAX ENSEMBLE SCHLAGZ
Set of parts
Item no.: 185606
op.47
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 683693
Klassik
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1110423
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 834623
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1203584
for: Viola
Music score
Item no.: 162908
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 376557
for: Mandolin orchestra
Double bass (orchestral part)
Item no.: 374155
for: Voice (medium), piano
Item no.: 337058
Klassik
for: Voice
Book
Item no.: 972020
for: TTBB and Organ
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1142622
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 953906
Klassik
for: Voice (soprano), piano
Book
Item no.: 620643