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: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 889600
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1530605
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 821008
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 822147
Six Triolets (Ou Leurs Multiples) Soit De Femmes (Ou
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 882139
(1950) - Partitura
Score
Item no.: 262658
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 853733
for: Piano 4 hands
Score
Item no.: 880424
Kantate
for: Voice, piano
Score
Item no.: 853740
Walzer
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 921240
Klassik
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 875962
for: Piano 4 hands
Score
Item no.: 853145
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 821014
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 882033
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 411122
for: Trumpet, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1590956
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 411367
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Buch
Item no.: 1138932
Marsch
Oversized, spiral-bound score
Sousa Centennial
for: Concert band
Score (spiral binding)
Item no.: 1010793
Sudien und Übungen
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 862482
for String Orchestra Score
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 923181
March
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1063672
for: Cello
Music score
Item no.: 1174074
Solo-Konzert
for: Violin
Sheet music
Item no.: 1530523
Klassik
Choir score
Item no.: 837968
Waltz
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1067962
Gegenwartsmusik
for: Cello or 2 Celli and Piano
Score
Item no.: 1353297
for: Women's choir (SSA), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1211519
Saxophone Quintet
for: Saxophonquintett
Score, Parts
Item no.: 828974
Klassik
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 838978
Score and Parts
for: Piano Trio
Score, Parts
Item no.: 965056
Oboe and String Ensemble
for: Oboe and String Ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 829017
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 863486
Schule
for: Organ
Score
Item no.: 1194289
for: Bläserquintett
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1197163
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1005374
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1007269
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1350469
for: Tenor Voice and String Orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1215294
for: Brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1143668
set of string parts
for: Symphonic orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 1212329
Blasorchester
Einzelstimme
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 885654
Klassik
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 1110514
Gegenwartsmusik
Score
Item no.: 833107
for: Piano 4 hands
Score
Item no.: 851928
for: Clarinet Sextet
Buch
Item no.: 1141699
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 821984