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
Music score
Item no.: 172955
for: Horn (F), piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1659620
for: Voice (medium), piano
Music score
Item no.: 213011
for: Violin, viola, cello, piano
Set of parts
Item no.: 109321
for: Flute Duo
Score
Item no.: 107257
for: 3 Blockflöten (SSA/SAA)
Score
Item no.: 106472
for: Voice (medium), piano
Item no.: 106341
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 412743
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 403579
Lyric book
Item no.: 154754
for: gemischter Chor (SATB) mit Kinderchor und Soli (SBar) und Orchester
Piano reduction
Item no.: 351731
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 138275
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 193327
for: Piano
Item no.: 188645
for: String instrument
Score
Item no.: 314922
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197499
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 178559
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1556667
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part, playback-CD
Item no.: 770845
for: Organ or Harmonium
Score
Item no.: 411692
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 191756
9 Pieces
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 287910
for: Violin
Item no.: 353605
for: Flute, piano
Ensemble score
Item no.: 367004
for: Violin, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1148167
for: Trumpet, piano
Item no.: 159129
for: Choir
Set of parts
Item no.: 1150571
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 256400
for: Children's choir (SSA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 851075
for: Women's choir (2 voices) [male choir]
Choir score
Item no.: 850367
for: Guitar, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 353330
for: 2 pianos
Ensemble score
Item no.: 403692
for: Women's choir [male choir] (3 voices)
Choir score
Item no.: 850848
for: Women's choir (SMezA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 850833
for: Choir
Set of parts
Item no.: 1160075
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1711979
for: Solo voices, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 100687
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1543915
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 1713610
for: Clarinet, violin, viola, cello, double bass, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1552228
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 662963
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 1690688
for: Tenor saxophone, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1248859
for: 2 flutes, piano
Music score
Item no.: 129678
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 136001
Cycle De Paques-Dominica 4 Post Pascha-Orgue
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1682002
Out of the Depths
The Vaclav Nelhybel Edition
for: Trumpet, concert band
Score, Piano reduction, Solo parts
Item no.: 1688449
Konzertmarsch von J. P. Sousa in einer Bearbeitung von S. Goldhammer
for: Concert band
Conductors part, set of parts
Item no.: 1688021