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
Solostimme
Item no.: 1618365
for: 5 Flöten
Score, Parts
Item no.: 471146
for: Flute, piano
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 145632
for: Concert band
Score (spiral binding)
Item no.: 1626670
for: Trumpet (C/B-flat), piano
Item no.: 431604
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 138387
Facsimile of the autograph
for: Piano
Music score (reprint, hardcover)
Item no.: 636539
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 262531
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, set of parts (strings)
Item no.: 224309
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 388947
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 262714
for: Women's choir [children's choir], piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1120937
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1015698
for: Fanfare
Conductors part (B-flat), set of parts
Item no.: 1014635
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Book
Item no.: 882911
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 322084
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Vocal score, Choir score
Item no.: 321605
for: Violin, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 318240
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 317157
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 318013
for: Soprano Baritone Voice SATB Orchestra
Score
Item no.: 321242
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 318217
for: 2 trumpets (B-flat), horn (F), trombone, tuba
Set of parts
Item no.: 292873
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 321959
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 316747
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 322087
for: Voice (low), piano
Book
Item no.: 316941
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 289954
for: Wind and Stringensemble
Score
Item no.: 300777
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 214247
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 318728
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Book
Item no.: 176904
for: Flexible big band (6 wind instruments, rhythm-group); more winds ad lib.
Score, Parts
Item no.: 655607
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 977469
for: Chamber Group, High Voice, Flute, Guitar, Harp
Score
Item no.: 280174
for: SATB, Percussion[Quartet], Piano Chamber[Quartet]
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 211630
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 316837
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 314184
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score (anthology)
Item no.: 224120
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 315655
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 474484
Edition Schott
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 738982
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 291121
for: 2 guitars
Score
Item no.: 247794
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 244673
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 193150
for: Voice, piano
Piano score
Item no.: 131879
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 104459