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: Cello
Item no.: 357263
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 942286
Operette in drei Akten
Klavierauszug mit Text
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 128162
for: Tuba, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1615182
aus der Suite a-Moll
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 200080
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 197931
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1380898
for: Clarinet, alto saxophone, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1270878
C-Dur
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 358752
Volume 10: Danses B
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 624703
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 654875
Musikalische Komödie in fünf Bilder
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 128232
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 688940
for flute and piano
for: Flute, piano
Music score
Item no.: 178192
Complete Works for Piano solo (1937 - 1939) Volume 1
Zaderatsky Complete Works for Piano solo. Practical Urtext Editions
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 676424
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 337775
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 175095
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 477522
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 773200
for: Organ, Brass Ensemble, Percussion
Score, Parts
Item no.: 916260
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 932012
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1540594
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 101223
for: Piano
Item no.: 287946
for: Women's choir (SSAA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1105686
for 16 Wind instruments
for: Wind ensemble
Study score
Item no.: 766659
First edition
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 494410
for: für Streichquartett
Taschenpartitur
Item no.: 333900
for: Flöte, Viola und Kontrabass
Taschenpartitur
Item no.: 161857
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 666735
for: Tenor solo, Frauenstimmen (SSSAAA), Orgel und Harfe
Partitur
Item no.: 361577
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 157934
op. 10/7 and 17
for: Piano 4 hands
Music score
Item no.: 754041
for: Cello, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 561926
from: Carmina Burana
for: Piano 4 hands
Music score
Item no.: 1341023
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 395580
for: Flute, piano
Item no.: 404175
for: Horn (F), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 594361
for: Harp, cello [Violin]
Music score
Item no.: 769355
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1077818
Score
Item no.: 605690
for: 9 Klarinetten oder Klarinetten Chor
Score
Item no.: 638245
for 2 flutes, 2 oboes 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons and 2 horns
for: 2 Flöten, 2 Oboen 2 Klarinetten, 2 Fagotte und 2 Hörner
Score
Item no.: 758416
for: Clarinet, 2 violins, viola, cello
Score
Item no.: 1351424
for: Soprano and Guitar
Book
Item no.: 324224
for: Mixed Choir, Children's Choir and Orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 389920