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: Symphonic orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 899846
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 899159
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 895162
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 137004
for: gemischter Chor (SAATB) mit Bariton solo
Choir score
Item no.: 131653
for: Guitar
Item no.: 368184
for: Klavier, Violine und Violoncello
Score, Parts
Item no.: 135276
for: Violin, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 1544654
for: Violin, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 147924
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 657300
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 167768
for: Organ
Item no.: 155350
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 144625
on a Theme by J. S. Bach
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 247911
Score (hardcover, with musicological analysis)
Item no.: 1714723
for: Orchestra
Score (hardcover, with musicological analysis)
Item no.: 1545758
for: für Fagott
Item no.: 166652
for: Brass ensemble (10 parts), timpani, latin percussion
Score, Parts
Item no.: 143357
for: für Klavier
Item no.: 113932
for: für Sopran-, Alt- und Tenor-Solo, gemischten Chor (SATB) und großes Orchester
Partitur
Item no.: 342795
Lyric book
Item no.: 215307
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 179805
for: für Streichtrio
Score, Parts
Item no.: 161860
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 155499
for: für Orchester für 2 Klaviere
Item no.: 112008
for: für Bläserquintett
Score
Item no.: 113631
for: Organ
Item no.: 113559
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Score
Item no.: 113444
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score (with critical report)
Item no.: 696977
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score (with critical report)
Item no.: 696976
for: für Orchester
Taschenpartitur
Item no.: 294653
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 174970
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 144704
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 133225
with marked and unmarked string parts
for: Viola, orchestra
Piano score, solo part (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 268717
for: Marching band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 185453
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 138474
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1556667
for: für Streichorchester
Score
Item no.: 1135058
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 213827
for: Voice (high), piano
Item no.: 154545
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1545637
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 160858
for: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 404291
for: Piano
Item no.: 357258
for: Flöte und 2 Violinen
Set of parts
Item no.: 1539087
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 356964
for: Piano
Item no.: 268394