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.
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1356339
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 822309
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Single edition
Item no.: 1081705
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Score
Item no.: 821134
Chor und Keyboard
for: Chor und Keyboard
Item no.: 885163
Klassik
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 851398
Geistliche Musik
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1100733
for: Violin, piano
Book
Item no.: 1005606
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 820965
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 776810
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 875859
Klassik
for: Violin and 2 Pianos
Book
Item no.: 984306
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 923080
Amstel Concert Band
for: Fanfare
Score
Item no.: 1208854
for: Choir and Concert Band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1039578
for: Concert band
Set of parts
Item no.: 1211836
Prelude & Siciliano
BOVACO Classic CB
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1018121
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 1530248
Adapted for School Bands - Conductor's Score
for: Concert band
Direktion
Item no.: 1619673
March
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1069866
Klassik
for: Choir
Score
Item no.: 853855
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1177074
Sousa Legacy
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1061269
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1105974
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 863413
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 820985
TV, Film, Musical und Show
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1007013
Blasorchester
Partitur und Stimmen
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 901022
Klassik
for: Viola, piano
Book
Item no.: 1103948
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Score
Item no.: 851990
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 1171997
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1138617
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1138878
Klassik
Choir score
Item no.: 839089
for: Brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1143177
Selection
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1009728
for: Tenor saxophone (B-flat)
Music score, Playback-CD
Item no.: 1019353
Harmonia-Men's Choir
for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 931589
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 821079
Oper/Operette
for: Libretto
Score
Item no.: 822236
for: Opera
Lyrics
Item no.: 1106181
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Score
Item no.: 852318
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 878686
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 1172118
Dance Hilarious
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1069172
Choir score
Item no.: 1177152
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 837561