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.
("O be joyful in the Lord")
from: The Morning and Evening Service, op. 10
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Score
Item no.: 5654
Ab
for: Voice, guitar
Melody/Lyrics/Chords
Item no.: 1051290
F
for: Voice, piano
Piano/Vocal
Item no.: 1026082
for: Voice (high), piano
Piano/Vocal
Item no.: 1029386
from Cavalleria rusticana
for: Cello, piano
Music score
Item no.: 740146
Edition Schott
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 734382
Original-Damen-Kouplet im Gavottentempo
Leipzig, ca. 1900
for: Voice (medium), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 5397
for violin and orchestra
for: Violin, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 736875
Sing- und Spielmusik für Liebhaber und Musikfreunde
for: mittlere Singstimme (od. 1stg. Chor) und 3 Instrumentalisten (Streicher od. Bläser)
Score
Item no.: 746654
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 792117
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 736149
Nº 4, from: Dix Pièces pour Orgue ou Harmonium
Paris, 1899
for: Organ [harmonium]
Sheet music
Item no.: 6480
Edition Schott
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 735914
Canzona napolitana
bearbeitet für B-Instrument und Klavier
for: Trumpet (B-flat) [clarinet/tenor saxophone], piano
Score, part (pdf download)
Item no.: 2622
III. movement from the sextet for woodwind instruments and piano
for: Flute, piano
Music score
Item no.: 760650
for violin and orchestra
for: Violin, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 756440
aus der Musik zu Shakespeares "Viel Lärmen um nichts"
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 731411
nach Worten von Franz Kafka
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 727017
op. 44
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, Solo part (pdf download)
Item no.: 2559
Edition Schott
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 735828
from "Carmina Burana"
for: Piano
Single edition
Item no.: 736042
pour petit orchestre
for: Chamber orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 748243
for flute, string trio and harp
for: Flute, violin, viola, cello, harp
Set of parts
Item no.: 726725
Edition Schott
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 749999
Edition Schott
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 750301
For both hands
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 749790
20 Piano Works
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 743310
for high voice and piano
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 734616
aus "Auf verwachsenem Pfade" (Nr. 7)
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 3943
im Stil von Antonio Vivaldi, op. 15
für Violine und Klavier
for: Violin, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 3406
für 2 Trompeten und Klavier
for: 2 trumpets (B-flat), piano
Score, part (pdf download)
Item no.: 2678
from: Hölderlin-Lieder
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 750958
Handkerchief Dance
for: Piano
Noten vereinfachte Version
Item no.: 748743
Serenade des Harlekin aus der Oper "Pagliacci"
for: Voice (tenor), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 2060
Transcription
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 750203
for violin, violoncello and piano
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Music score
Item no.: 729579
from Espana
for: Cello, piano
Music score
Item no.: 727715
Kreisler Transcripts
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 735842
from "West Side Story"
for: Flute, piano
Music score
Item no.: 730661
from: Tosca
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 759660
Edition Schott
for: 2 pianos 8 hands
Music score
Item no.: 735576
Excerpts
for: Piano 4 hands
Music score
Item no.: 724776
Bb
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1048174
Edition Schott
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 734120
15 Stücke
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 738493
aus dem Klavierzyklus "Bilder einer Ausstellung"
bearbeitet für Orgel
for: Organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 2293
for English horn, violin, viola and violoncello
for: Cor anglais, violin, viola, cello
Set of parts
Item no.: 748490
Edition Schott
for: Clarinet, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 749512