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: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1317795
for: Harp
Instrumental Solo
Item no.: 1053177
D
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1046767
B
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1049148
Bb
for: Cello
Instrumental Solo
Item no.: 1051714
for: Flute
Instrumental Solo
Item no.: 1051884
Opus 17
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1198437
In C
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1212423
in Bb
for: Mixed choir (SATB); piano ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 1154049
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1148109
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1145409
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1143600
Klassik
for: Voice a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 1657383
for: Concert band
Conductors part, set of parts
Item no.: 1640670
Klassik
for: 2 Violins, 2 Altos, 2 Violoncellos
Set of parts
Item no.: 993529
Klassik
for: Piano Duet and 8 Instruments
Study score
Item no.: 992788
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 819913
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1026972
for: Soloist (soprano), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 931505
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 998194
Partitur (2 Bände)
for: BUEHNENWERKE + SZENISCHE WERKE OPER
Item no.: 1344066
Reprint
Repertoire Explorer
for: Flute, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1013692
für Violine und Klavier
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 1343864
Klassik
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 323718
for: Concert band
Score (spiral binding)
Item no.: 1562914
for: 2 trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba (quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1037854
for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1079641
for: Mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1019567
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Book
Item no.: 185898
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 315337
Ballett
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 268007
for: Bassoon, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1139276
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1198544
theme from first movement
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Music score
Item no.: 792088
C
for: Voice (high), piano
Piano/Vocal
Item no.: 1029391
for: Voice (low), piano
Piano/Vocal
Item no.: 1027366
Ars Musica Wilhelmshaven
for: Trumpet
Item no.: 1669643
Lyric book
Item no.: 1689326
Klassik
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1541312
for: Piano
Easy Piano
Item no.: 1479496
F
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1048057
for: Cello
Instrumental Solo
Item no.: 1050755
F
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1050327
Edition Schott
for: Piano 4 hands
Music score
Item no.: 730634
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1109986
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1105855
March
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1062844
for: Accordion orchestra
Single part Accordion 1
Item no.: 1669669