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.
Book
Item no.: 895336
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 894487
for: Alto Bass Voice SATB Piano Accompaniment
Book
Item no.: 903860
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 896965
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 879386
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Book
Item no.: 909654
for: Cello, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 908361
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 871897
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 870176
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 899701
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 907560
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 907008
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 906073
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 905648
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 905342
for: Voice (low), piano
Book
Item no.: 904799
for: Voice (low), piano
Book
Item no.: 904001
for: Male choir, piano
Choir score
Item no.: 903488
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 897781
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 896112
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 892140
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 887312
for: Voice (low), piano
Book
Item no.: 886231
for: Voice (low), piano
Book
Item no.: 878924
for: Voice (low), piano
Book
Item no.: 876033
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 324856
for: Brass band
Score
Item no.: 975592
for: Harp
Music score
Item no.: 324163
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 832759
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 688674
for: Youth string orchestra
Score
Item no.: 688136
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 482843
Score, Parts
Item no.: 609892
for: Voice
Buch
Item no.: 430274
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 892750
for: Piano, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 613411
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score (Hardcover)
Item no.: 769711
for: Women's choir (SS), piano
Book
Item no.: 903033
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 864697
for: SATB Harp
Choir score
Item no.: 647121
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 901403
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 897011
for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 899557
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 869706
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 902349
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 866714