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: Organ [harmonium]
Music score
Item no.: 207644
for: Cello, piano
Music score, solo part
Item no.: 153720
Book
Item no.: 313817
for: Piano, orchestra
Book
Item no.: 244318
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 685536
for: Violin, piano
Score
Item no.: 298262
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 358899
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 246259
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 430703
for: Piano
Piano score, online audio (playback)
Item no.: 135677
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 577982
The Boosey & Hawkes Bartók Edition
Stylish arrangements of selected highlights from the leading 20th century composer
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 659755
for: Voice, piano
Single edition
Item no.: 344778
for: Trombone, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 100995
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 663730
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 636617
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 124303
for: Piano
Item no.: 135273
for: Violin, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 197777
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Organ score
Item no.: 243354
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 310691
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 247962
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 395214
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 179295
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 630350
for: Piano
Item no.: 197032
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 155828
for: Flötenquartett
Score, Parts
Item no.: 100960
for: Voice, piano
Single edition
Item no.: 128152
Band 5 (mit kritischem Bericht) (with critical report)
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score (with critical report)
Item no.: 304275
for: Piano 4 hands
Score
Item no.: 217824
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 279897
for: Piano
Item no.: 294241
for: 2 guitars
Item no.: 181722
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 853599
for: 2 violins, piano
Piano score, Solo parts
Item no.: 218490
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 246697
for: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 388782
for: Solfege
Buch
Item no.: 245398
for: Clarinet (B-flat), piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 292358
for: Violin, orchestra
Klavierauszug, Stimme
Item no.: 558193
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 162229
for: Piano
Item no.: 310713
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197635
for: Piano
Single edition
Item no.: 225171
for: Violine oder Viola
Item no.: 127536
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 124386
for: 2 violins
Ensemble score
Item no.: 626127