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
Music score
Item no.: 886465
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 885204
for: Choir
Score
Item no.: 884850
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 884469
for: Partitura E Parti
Score
Item no.: 884272
for: Children's Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 883830
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 821652
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 821597
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 821481
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 821446
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 821428
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 821401
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 821341
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 821331
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 821255
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 821212
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 821207
for: Children's Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 892546
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 892520
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 891854
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 891107
for: Flute, piano
Score
Item no.: 888649
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 887506
for: Piano 4 hands
Score
Item no.: 886929
for: Oboe
Score
Item no.: 412420
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 412324
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 412309
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 412225
for: Percussion instruments
Score
Item no.: 412191
for: Percussion instruments
Score
Item no.: 412189
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 412007
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 411976
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 873434
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 873364
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 873097
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 872268
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 871799
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 865489
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 864661
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 883378
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 883023
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 882483
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 882152
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 881458
for: Soprano Voice, Piano Accompaniment
Score
Item no.: 879481
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 877996
for: Vocal and Strings
Score
Item no.: 876973
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 876799