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.
2016
for: 3 to 5 Harps
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1591667
Leuckart-Reprint
for: Organ
Single part Organ
Item no.: 408796
Nun schlägt die Stunde Mitternacht - Das Jahr geht hin - Der eine kommt, der andere geht - Du, Gott, bist das Leben
Edition Schultheiss
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 474512
for: Clarinet, piano
Item no.: 293752
for: 4 GIT / PART ST
Score, Parts
Item no.: 293385
– Graduated prices on request –
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1043591
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 433958
for: Piano
Item no.: 276568
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 294050
for: Mandolin orchestra
Single part Mandolin 1
Item no.: 373682
for: Guitar
Item no.: 372873
Reprint
Repertoire Explorer
for: String orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 393081
for: VC HA
Score, Parts
Item no.: 333370
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 584581
Classics for Children Series
for: Choir (2 voices), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1125967
for: Singstimme, Orgel / Harmonium
Item no.: 279087
Unter Suedlicher Sonne 6
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 363445
for: Choir and String Ensemble
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1175541
for: Male choir (TTBB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 373593
Preciosa
Single part Violin obligato
Item no.: 268917
for: Violin, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 420166
for: Organ
Item no.: 104923
for: Organ
Item no.: 348420
for: 4 recorders (SATB quartet)
Item no.: 361938
Kantate auf ein Gedicht von Martin Kurt
Kritische Gesamtausgabe der Werke von Leos Janácek B/3
for: Soli, Männerchor, Orchester
Study score
Item no.: 470757
for: Piano
Single edition
Item no.: 405454
for: Solo and Men's Choir
Buch
Item no.: 482754
for: Clarinet, 2 violins, viola, cello
Score, Parts
Item no.: 489506
for: Brass ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1591072
für hohe Stimme und Klavier
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 380272
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 959758
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 552989
for: Piano
Item no.: 114057
for: Trumpet
Study score
Item no.: 114390
for: Brass band
Set of parts
Item no.: 1144168
for: Trumpet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1137661
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 253295
Buch
Item no.: 251766
Buch
Item no.: 251627
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 251489
for: Male choir (TTBB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 550326
Oboe and Clarinet Ensemble
for: Oboe and Clarinet Ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 830327
for: Woodwind ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 830195
for: Horn, piano
Item no.: 377168