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.
arranged for piano
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 686961
for: 2 bassoons [cellos], piano
Piano score, Solo parts
Item no.: 684748
De Mecanisme Flute (Lehrmaterial) (Teaching material)
for: Flute
Music lesson book
Item no.: 100761
for: Organ
Item no.: 293200
für Steichquartett
Thema und 14 Variationen über die Melodie von Mildred J. Hill
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 108677
for mixed chorus and harp
score (= vocal score)
for: Mixed choir (SATB), harp [piano]
Piano score
Item no.: 198585
for: Viola [violin], piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 690325
for: Flute, piano
Item no.: 113707
für Violine, Violoncello und Klavier
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 108938
pour une voix ou choeur a l'unisson et orgue ou harmonium
for: Voice [choir], organ [harmonium]
Score
Item no.: 107559
for speaker and solo violin
for: Violin, narrator
Music score
Item no.: 646956
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 279909
for solos, choir, orchestra and organ
reduction for song and organ by the author
for: 2 soloists (mezzo, baritone), mixed choir (SATB), organ
Organ reduction
Item no.: 147125
An Improvisation for Organ
Saint Cecilia Series
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 395019
sur des thèmes grégoriens
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Score
Item no.: 484907
for 16 Wind instruments
for: Wind ensembles
Set of parts
Item no.: 766663
Nr. 1-12
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 108805
Volume 1: Femmes de Légende
Edition in eleven volumes
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 369081
47 leichte Etüden in der 1. Lage
Erweiterbar mit Ergänzungsstimme Violine 2
for: 1–2 violins
Music score
Item no.: 397249
Henle Urtext Editions
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1017726
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 198011
for Viola (Violin) and Cello
Oxford Chamber Music
for: Viola [violin], cello
Ensemble score
Item no.: 141412
pour grande orgue
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 100747
– Alla Händel –
Ein Siegesgesang aus Portraits op. 101
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 550877
für Flöte und Klavier
for: Flute, piano
Item no.: 269076
Nr. 3, aus "Schlichte Weisen", op. 76
for: Voice (high), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1769
Nr. 13-24
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 108847
en forme de messe basse
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 107217
Revidierte Fassung (1903-1904, rev. 1905)
for: Violin, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 178093
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 108784
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 108944
2. Lage und Einführung in die 3. Lage
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 397233
für Violine, Violoncello und Klavier
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 367112
In Spitzwegs Art
for: 2 violins, viola (trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 112575
for violin, clarinet and piano
corrected edition
for: Violin, clarinet, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 187818
für Violine, Violoncello und Klavier
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Piano score, Solo parts
Item no.: 108866
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 108824
Strategies and structures in new music from 1900-present
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 1011915
Hugo Wolf Gesamtausgabe (Complete edition)
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 417819
Vocal Collection
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 578080
G-Dur op. 27/4
for: Voice (high), violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 697326
for: Voice (medium), viola, piano
Score, part
Item no.: 340875
Changes of position and preparatory scale studies
Sevcik Violin Studies
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 199371
for: Flute, cello, piano
Item no.: 269082
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: Viola, piano
Item no.: 467802
for: Trumpet, organ
Item no.: 605496
revised version 2014
for: Violin, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 395378
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 108913
Le Sacre du Printemps
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 245469
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 205443