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: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 905639
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197686
for: Soli [ABarB], Narrator, Children's Choir and Instruments
Study score
Item no.: 198732
for: für Gesang und Klavier
Item no.: 223900
for: Violin, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 628342
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 224358
New Edition
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 658360
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 261625
for: Cello
Music score
Item no.: 224310
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 176403
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 100555
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 124489
for: Oboe, piano
Item no.: 121665
for: Symphonic orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 613536
from "Trois femmes de légende pour orchestre"
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 469866
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 108847
for: Horn, piano
Score
Item no.: 412886
transcribed for Flute and Guitar
for: Flute, guitar
Ensemble score
Item no.: 280053
for: Cello
Music score
Item no.: 621140
for: Piano, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 176791
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 397239
for: Viola, piano
Book
Item no.: 471776
for: Klarinette, Waldhorn, Violoncello und kleine Trommel
Score, Parts
Item no.: 228761
for: Clarinet (A)
Music score
Item no.: 354305
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 108802
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 107224
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 401579
Music Drama in One Act op. 54after Oscar Wilde's Poem of the Same Name
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 214248
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 206040
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 776178
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197656
for: Violin; piano ad lib.
Piano score, solo part, playback-CD
Item no.: 576423
for: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 100863
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 108944
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 128164
Score
Item no.: 478814
for: Trumpet (C), piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 107225
for: Alto saxophone (E-flat)
Music score, online audio
Item no.: 602699
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 206033
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 316934
for: Organ
Music score (spiral binding)
Item no.: 101217
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 101123
for: Viola, piano
Book
Item no.: 131695
for: Organ
Item no.: 262233
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 250054
for: Piano 4 hands
Music score
Item no.: 554940
for: Horn
Music score
Item no.: 229352
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 361417