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
Music score
Item no.: 359016
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 129800
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 129787
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 129780
for: Piano
Item no.: 287992
for: Violin
Item no.: 353807
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 353753
for: gemischter Chor (STBar) und Instrumente
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 293582
for: gemischter Chor (STBar) und Instrumente
Choir score
Item no.: 293107
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 288506
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 355122
for: Voice (tenor/soprano), piano
Item no.: 351870
for: Tenor-Solo, gemischter Chor (SATB) und Orchester
Piano reduction
Item no.: 351852
for: Männerchor (TTBB), Solo (T) und kleines Orchester
Piano reduction
Item no.: 351780
for: Alt und Kammerorchester
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 351599
for: Voice (high), piano
Item no.: 352622
for: mittlere Männerstimme und Klavier
Item no.: 352399
for: Violine, Bass-Violine (Violoncello) und Klavier
Set of parts
Item no.: 413316
for: Männerchor (TTBB), KCH (SMezSA) und Blasorchester
Piano reduction
Item no.: 351342
for: Symphonic orchestra
Single part Violin 2
Item no.: 171585
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1546127
for: Kinder- oder Jugendchor, 2 Flöten, Streichorchester und Klavier, Schlagzeug ad libitum
Single part Violin 1
Item no.: 1545991
for: Unison Voices and Organ
Piano reduction
Item no.: 866663
for: FAG (SAX) KLAV
Single part(n)
Item no.: 102723
from the Symphony No. 5
for: Harp, strings
Violin 1 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 624141
for: Trumpet
Item no.: 158146
for: Cello, piano
Score, part
Item no.: 305961
for: Piano
Item no.: 305462
for: Voice, piano
Single edition
Item no.: 306732
for: FL OB BASS-KLAR FAG 2 VL VA VC 4MS
Stimmen-Set
Item no.: 306599
Piano reduction
Item no.: 307727
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 310044
(Set)
for: Symphonic orchestra
Item no.: 307997
for: Violin, guitar
Item no.: 308979
for: String orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 310121
for: Clarinet, horn, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass
Study score
Item no.: 310054
for: Concert band
Item no.: 304464
for: Flute, viola, guitar
Study score
Item no.: 292112
for: Small wind band
Single part Flugelhorn 2 (B-flat)
Item no.: 165602
for: Organ
Single part Organ
Item no.: 551877
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 1105863
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 1105727
for: Double bass, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 581334
for: String orchestra; percussion ad lib.
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 369196
for: Voice, piano
Set of parts
Item no.: 1148901
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1148616