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: Bb Tuba
Book
Item no.: 247724
for: Bassoon, piano
Book
Item no.: 173560
for: Mixed choir (SSATBB) [6 voices] a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 335309
An Opera in three Acts and a Prologue
Hawkes Pocket Scores HPS 749
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Study score (Hardcover)
Item no.: 365371
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 255808
for: Voice, horn, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 198569
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 388445
klavarskribo notation
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1087903
klavarskribo notation
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1088172
Altdeutscher Liederreim
for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 681341
for: Trumpet (B-flat) [cornet], piano
Score, part
Item no.: 960666
for Oboe and String Orchestra
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 667016
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1202504
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 269647
Klassik
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 281565
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Item no.: 365427
for: Treble recorder
Item no.: 104884
for: Organ manuals [harmonium]
Music score
Item no.: 491146
und Klavier für Orchester
Studienpartitur
for: Trombone, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 363378
Music For Winds
for: Trombone, piano
Item no.: 301773
for: 3 bassoons, double bassoon
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 1016997
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Clarinet (B-flat), horn (F), 3 violins, viola
Study score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 771109
Harmoniumwerke 7
for: Harmonium [organ manuals]
Music score
Item no.: 490496
for: Harmonium
Music score
Item no.: 492158
for: Harp
Music score
Item no.: 1139552
Ein Lieder-Cyklus op. 186
for: Voice (baritone), guitar [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 197371
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 358671
Hinshaw Sacred
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 903606
for: Tenor saxophone (B-flat), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1290516
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 303001
Klassik
for: 3 Flutes or 3 Violins
Book
Item no.: 281569
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 204651
for: Piano
Ensemble score
Item no.: 877975
Firenze
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 990468
for: 2 accordions (duet)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 244038
Klassik
for: Children's choir, piano
Buch
Item no.: 269732
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 358685
op. 87
for: Cello solo, string orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 495812
Neu-Russische Meister
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 357187
for: Mixed choir; piano ad lib.
Item no.: 552186
Ausgabe für tiefere Stimme in 4 Bänden
for: Voice (low), piano
Item no.: 565588
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 464419
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 112794
for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 172403
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 158595
for: Violin, viola, cello, piano
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 586486
for: Mouth organ, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 556038
Klarinette, Trompete & Klavier
for: Clarinet, trumpet, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 601138