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: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 275349
Nr. 2 der "Quatre pièces pour orgue"
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 275230
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
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 241011
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
Suite 1
EOS – Eulenburg Orchestral Series
for: Symphonic orchestra
Violin 2 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 608090
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 609903
for: Mixed choir (SSAATTBB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 607233
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 285103
for: Organ
Music score (hardcover)
Item no.: 284727
for: Piano
Item no.: 486789
for: 3 saxophones (ATBar)
Item no.: 187810
for: Accordion orchestra
Single part Accordion 4
Item no.: 188438
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Vocal score
Item no.: 131427
for: Harmonium [organ manuals]
Item no.: 494934
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 553410
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 114124
(Oversize)
for: Piano, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 585223
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 583701
Studienpartitur
for: Violin, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 583667
for: FL STR QUARTETT KLAV
Score
Item no.: 586439
for: Accordion orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 581085
for: Violin, piano
Score, Solo part(s), CD
Item no.: 432732
Ten pieces for Intermediate Flautists, with Piano accompaniment.
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 395435
for: Voice, guitar
Music score
Item no.: 394198
Vocal Solo
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 395259