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: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1201871
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 1120945
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1043513
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1202348
Gestatteter Nachdruck
for: 2 voices (SA), piano
Score
Item no.: 687601
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 578845
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1201601
for: Violin, orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 1201526
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1201174
for: Violin, piano
Book
Item no.: 1007152
Klassik
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Book
Item no.: 1006027
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 1006251
Score
Item no.: 1005701
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1006094
Folk aus England
for: Piano 4 hands
Book
Item no.: 1005312
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 1007881
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1005374
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1007431
for: Flute, piano
Book
Item no.: 1007119
BOVACO Vocal Solo
for: Voice, concert band
Piano score (conductor)
Item no.: 1010982
for: 4 saxophones (SATBar)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1020117
from the Merry Widow
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1011109
Klassik
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 269614
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 419694
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 269781
Gegenwartsmusik
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 1530510
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1530605
Gegenwartsmusik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1530572
Gegenwartsmusik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1530526
Solo-Konzert
for: Violin
Sheet music
Item no.: 1530523
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 239607
Klassik
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 992570
for: Voice, piano
Book
Item no.: 993500
for: Voice, piano
Score
Item no.: 992711
Klassik
for: Violin, piano
Book
Item no.: 300025
Klassik
for: Voice (tenor), piano
Score
Item no.: 992817
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 262931
Iii Per Violoncello E Orch. - Iv Per Piano E Orch.
for: Cello, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 262873
Per Orchestra - Partitura
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 262430
Klassik
for: Latin percussion
Score
Item no.: 818770
Klassik
for: Medium Voices
Book
Item no.: 267189
Revu par Yvonne Desportes
for: Solfege
Buch
Item no.: 264175
Il Est Minuit
for: Men's Voices
Choir score
Item no.: 818153
for: Voice, piano [guitar/keyboard]
Music score
Item no.: 770698
Klassik
for: Harp, orchestra
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 266565
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 239334
for: Double bass
Music score
Item no.: 818798
Klassik
for: 4 Mixed Voices and Piano
Book
Item no.: 820097