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.
March
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1064793
March
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1066461
March
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1066070
March
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1065619
March
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1064712
March
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1063672
for: Concert Band and Vocal Soloist
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1064861
for: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 947349
for: Woodwind ensemble
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 841833
for: Woodwind ensemble
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 841999
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 937428
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 843634
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 940429
for: Marching band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 945666
Single part Clarinet
Item no.: 945253
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 245929
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 941415
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 940946
Choralkantate
for: Violin
Single part Violin
Item no.: 237855
for: Symphonic orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 690939
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 287738
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1201174
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 1105716
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Choir score
Item no.: 1148087
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1147959
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 1147932
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1147879
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1147446
for: Choral
Piano reduction
Item no.: 834606
for: Choir
Piano reduction
Item no.: 840323
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 839827
for: Chamber ensemble
Score
Item no.: 839593
for: Chamber ensemble
Score
Item no.: 835831
for: Mixed choir, organ
Score
Item no.: 1160660
for: Harp
Music score
Item no.: 858214
for: Chamber ensemble
Buch und Instrument
Item no.: 857732
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 834774
Choir score
Item no.: 838519
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1067533
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 838978
for: Tuba
Music score
Item no.: 835929
Choir score
Item no.: 838410
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 835097
for: Violin, piano
Score
Item no.: 241023
for: Voice, piano
Book
Item no.: 993500
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 992950
for: Mezzo Soprano
Book
Item no.: 992713