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: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 290759
Glocken Verlag
for: Violin, piano
Single part(n)
Item no.: 562757
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 290583
for: Soprano saxophone, piano
Item no.: 290446
for: Mandolin orchestra
Score
Item no.: 290423
Quatuor A Strings
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 266604
for: Flöte Klarinette, Fagott, ORCH
Score
Item no.: 261664
for: 4 Klarinetten
Score, Parts
Item no.: 261386
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 275349
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 289112
for: 4 saxophones (SATBar)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 268628
Zwei Klaviere 4hd
for: 2 pianos
Item no.: 268621
for: Organ
Item no.: 314362
Pour Trombone Et Piano
for: Trombone, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 313986
for: Cello
Item no.: 313137
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 563572
Buch
Item no.: 248958
Buch
Item no.: 252635
for: Opera
Buch
Item no.: 250311
Buch
Item no.: 250293
for: TRP-B 3
Item no.: 297064
for: Guitar [lute]
Item no.: 296926
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Score
Item no.: 308614
Steirisches Volkslied
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Score
Item no.: 308571
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Score
Item no.: 308566
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Score
Item no.: 308499
Walzer mit Orchester oder Klavier
for: Choir
Choir part Tenor 1
Item no.: 308448
Walzer
for: Choir
Choir part Tenor 1
Item no.: 308446
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 822086
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 866177
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 852785
for: Mixed choir (SSAATTBB) a cappella
Item no.: 312600
14 Full Band Compositions and Arrangements
correlated to "Yamaha Band Student 1"
for: Winds class [youth concert band]
Single part Trombone/Baritone horn/Euphonium/Bassoon
Item no.: 336656
Studien für 1. Posaune, 2. Posaune, 3. Posaune, Tenortuba, Basstuba, 1. Tuba, 2. Tuba
for: Trombone [tuba]
Single part(n)
Item no.: 378754
Bd 004: Symphonie Nr. 4 c-moll
Schostakowitsch - Neue Gesamtausgabe 004 (Complete edition)
for: Symphonic orchestra
Item no.: 458985
for: Organ
Item no.: 104912
Bd 065: Der helle Bach. Klavierauszug
Schostakowitsch - Neue Gesamtausgabe 065 (Complete edition)
Item no.: 557290
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1111148
Hautbois Seul - Lm048
for: Oboe
Music score
Item no.: 1178378
for: 2 violins, viola, cello
Sheet music
Item no.: 1640321
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1144222
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1147948