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.
Version In C Minor
for: Flute, piano
Music score, Playback-CD
Item no.: 1299586
for: Double bass, piano
Item no.: 306008
for: Piano
Item no.: 305465
for: Piano
Item no.: 298235
Piano reduction
Item no.: 306794
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Item no.: 283414
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ; orchestra ad lib.
Set of parts
Item no.: 227204
for: 3 KLAR (FL OB FAG/2 KLAR SAX)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 291223
for: Flute, violin, viola, cello (flute quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 283292
for: Guitar
Item no.: 242811
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 283260
for: INST Klavier (Orgel/HA)
Item no.: 455480
for: für Soli, gemischten Chor (SATB), großes Orchester und Fernorchester
Studienpartitur
Item no.: 602708
for: Mixed choir, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 224330
for: Voice
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 882653
for: Voice, piano
Choir score
Item no.: 888870
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 880811
for: Voice, piano
Choir score
Item no.: 321663
for: Women's choir (SSA), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 321657
for: Flute, Oboe, Violin and Piano
Book
Item no.: 871234
for: Voice (low), piano
Book
Item no.: 870242
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 577818
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 577454
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 576188
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 902972
for: Women's choir (SSA), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 877944
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 866001
for: Voice (medium), piano
Music score
Item no.: 909980
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 909738
for: Voice (medium), piano
Music score
Item no.: 908241
for: Voice and Flute
Book
Item no.: 907779
for: Voice (medium), piano
Music score
Item no.: 905316
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 903284
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 902202
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 901224
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 900787
for: Voice (low), piano
Book
Item no.: 899989
for: Voice (low), piano
Book
Item no.: 897760
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 896807
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 896481
for: Voice (low), piano
Book
Item no.: 896459
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 893360
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 891864
for: Voice (low), piano
Book
Item no.: 890875
for: Voice (medium), piano
Music score
Item no.: 884330
for: Voice (low), piano
Book
Item no.: 879647
for: Voice (low), piano
Book
Item no.: 877714
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 877233