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: 2 trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba (quintet)
Score
Item no.: 819739
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 819643
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 819609
for: 3 Oboes And Tamborin
Book
Item no.: 267030
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 266938
for: Oboe, piano
Score
Item no.: 266785
for: Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon
Score
Item no.: 266784
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 821164
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 821158
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 820911
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 820826
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 820816
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 563382
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 551491
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 485155
for: Piano 4 hands
Score
Item no.: 478795
for: Soprano, Alto
Book
Item no.: 820113
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 244522
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 209978
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 476953
for: Flöte, Klarinette, Violoncello
3 Performance scores
Item no.: 310588
for: 2 VL VA VC (KB) KLAV
Item no.: 291691
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 262331
for: Flute, 2 Violins, Viola and Cello
Score, Parts
Item no.: 144054
for: 2 violins
Ensemble score
Item no.: 140299
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 887711
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 876673
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 885762
for: Voice (baritone), piano
Score
Item no.: 884774
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 883383
for: Piano 4 hands
Piano reduction
Item no.: 873208
for: Musikerziehung
Buch
Item no.: 871179
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 868678
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 864707
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 864480
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 864443
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 109169
for: Flute, oboe, piano
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 339005
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 199421
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 168474
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 862710
in eight pieces for guitar
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 677320
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 647614
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 277739
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 242867
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 218145
for: Cello, piano
Score
Item no.: 474666