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: Tuba, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1219079
for: Trumpet [cornet], piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1636653
for: Brass band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1315958
Bass Trombone Solo
for: Bass Trombone & Brass Band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1315945
for: Horn (F), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1309496
for: Flexible ensemble (4 voices)
Sheet music
Item no.: 1630703
for: Balalaika, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1696777
for: Bass clarinet
Sheet music
Item no.: 1605665
for: Treble recorder, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1605662
for: Horn (E-flat), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1605652
for: Horn (E-flat), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1290514
for: Alto trombone, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1290513
for: Trombone, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1290512
for: Alto saxophone, organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 1290404
for: Tenor saxophone, organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 1290403
for: Horn (F), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1290402
for: Flexible ensemble (5 voices)
Sheet music
Item no.: 1276750
for: 4 woodwinds (quartet)
Sheet music
Item no.: 1276734
Klassik
for: Brass Quintet & Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1276471
Op. 128
for: 2 clarinets, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1279623
for: 4 trumpets [5 cornets]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1277291
for: String orchestra
Sheet music
Item no.: 1277287
Klassik
for: Horn (E-flat), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1276329
Klassik
for: Tuba (E-flat), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1276322
Solo for Cornet or Euphonium
for: Cornet [euphonium], brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1316302
for: Brass band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1316293
for: Brass Ensemble (10 Players)
Sheet music
Item no.: 1271876
for: Bass trombone, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1309991
for: Tuba, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1309989
for: Trumpet [cornet], piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1309958
for: Bassoon, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1309948
for: Bassoon, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1309777
for: Horn (F), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1309774
for: Trumpet [cornet], piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1309754
for: Trombone, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1309751
for: Bass trombone, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1309750
for: Euphonium, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1309749
for: Treble recorder, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1309739
for: Bass trombone, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1309697
for: Tenor recorder, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1309688
for: Tenor recorder, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1309668
for: Tuba (E-flat), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1309656
for: Viola, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1309652
for: Violin, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1310433
for: Alto Saxophone, Trumpet & Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1270858
Großstädtisch Op. 438
for: Concert band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1288468
Op. 525
for: Concert band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1288433
for: Flute, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1290113