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
Score
Item no.: 852578
for: Voice, piano
Score
Item no.: 852501
for: Choir
Score
Item no.: 852380
for: Voice, piano
Score
Item no.: 852318
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 852268
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 853582
for: Voice, piano
Score
Item no.: 853385
for: 4 recorders (SATB); guitar ad lib.
Single part Bass recorder
Item no.: 680410
for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Choir part Tenor 2
Item no.: 330275
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir part Soprano
Item no.: 223120
for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Choir part Bass 1
Item no.: 218466
for: Women's choir (SSAA), piano
Music score (piano accompaniment)
Item no.: 217024
for: Organ or Harmonium
Score
Item no.: 349268
for: 2 solo voices (MezBar), mixed choir (SATB), string orchestra, organ; trumpet, harp, kettle drums ad lib.
Violin 2 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 345452
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 339054
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 868541
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 868375
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 867998
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 866177
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 865020
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 864818
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 863341
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 275230
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 862575
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 862431
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 857499
for: Children's choir
Buch
Item no.: 1583107
for: Wind ensemble (10 instruments)
Study score
Item no.: 630030
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 609903
for: Chamber orchestra
Score
Item no.: 563723
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 377335
for: Accordion orchestra
Single part Accordion 1
Item no.: 1669669
for: Salon orchestra
Piano part for conductor, Parts
Item no.: 1696566
Violine und Klavier. Danses macabres
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 172217
Ein deutsches Sanctus
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 169961
for: Guitar
Item no.: 427923
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1530250
for: 3 Equal Voices
Buch
Item no.: 1141061
Preciosa
for: Salon orchestra
Additional parts
Item no.: 208913
Buch
Item no.: 249398
for: Organ
Item no.: 228038
for: Organ
Item no.: 209342
for: Harmonium [organ manuals]
Item no.: 209843
for: String orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 245485
for: 2 trumpets
Stimmen-Set
Item no.: 180263
for: Mixed choir (SATB), orchestra [piano]
Choir part Soprano
Item no.: 308386