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
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for: 2 pianos
Music score
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for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
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Serenade for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon
"At spille i skoven"
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 325723
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
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for: Violin, piano
Book
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Notenhandschrift im Faksimile; Auszug aus der ersten Seite der Choralfantasie für Orgel
for: POSTKARTE ORG
Postcard
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for: Alto saxophone, piano
Music score, Playback-CD
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for: Bassoon, piano
Ensemble score, solo part
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for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
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for: Concert band
Score
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for: Organ
Music score
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for: Piano
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Music score
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for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 324436
for: für Bläserquintett
Score
Item no.: 113271
for bassoon and string quintet or string orchestra
for: Bassoon, string quintet [string orchestra]
Score
Item no.: 746744
for: Bassoon, piano
Score
Item no.: 695716
for 13 wind instruments
for: Wind ensemble
Score
Item no.: 694891
for: Voice, violin, piano
Score
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for: Violin, orchestra
Score
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for: Violin, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
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for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 2365
for: Flexible ensemble (6 voices), piano [harp]
Score, parts (pdf download)
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for: Violin, strings; basso continuo ad lib.
Score, parts (pdf download)
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for: Clarinet, piano
Sheet music
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for: Clarinet, viola, piano
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for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
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for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
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for: 2 violins, cello
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 4148
for: Piano
Sheet music
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for: Trumpet (B-flat) [clarinet], piano
Sheet music
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for: Voice (low), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1649
for: Organ
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Score, Parts
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of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber for Orchestra (1943)
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 740128
Tone Poem
Urtext based on the Complete Edition “Jean Sibelius Works” (JSW)
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 224073
for: Harpsichord, strings
Score (spiral binding)
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for: Voice, piano
Music score
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for: Piano
Music score
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for: Piano Trio
Book
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for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
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for: Flute, guitar
Book
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for: Flute, Violin and Piano
Book
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for: Flute
Music score
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for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Score, Set of parts
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