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.
Oper in 4 Akten (9 Bildern) – Urfassung 1932
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 175781
for flute, viola and piano
for: Flute, viola, piano
Piano score, Solo parts
Item no.: 283693
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 617092
A Collection of 14 Songs
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 144917
"When at night I go to sleep" from "Hansel and Gretel"
for: Sopran, Mezzo-Sopran und Klavier
Music score
Item no.: 738103
Volume 7: Pièces pittoresques et poétiques
C: 1910–1932
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 431102
Nr. 3, aus "Schlichte Weisen", op. 76
for: Voice (low), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1771
Signature Series
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 690286
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 283724
(Suite Nr. 2 for Jazz Orchestra)
Zen-On Score
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 465880
für Violine, Violoncello und Klavier
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 108938
for: Organ
Item no.: 157499
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 334392
Romantische Operette in drei Akten
Klavierauszug mit Text
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 128212
Score
Item no.: 430029
En La Mineur Dans Le Caractère Populaire Roumain
for: Piano and Violin
Book
Item no.: 136092
for: Recorder, piano
Book
Item no.: 493227
for 16 Wind instruments
for: Wind ensemble
Conductor score
Item no.: 766662
op. 8
for: Cello
Item no.: 124388
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1203416
Heft 1 (Nr. 1-6)
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 360533
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 197961
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 108784
for: Piano, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon and French Horn
Score, Parts
Item no.: 325716
for obtaining a sure piano technique
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197483
Complete Edition (Parts I-IV)
Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 607291
Edited from the sources
Wiener Urtext Edition
for: Piano
Music lesson book (urtext edition)
Item no.: 660044
The Walsh Collection
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 336984
Weberns Interpretationsvorstellungen erläutert an Hand des Faksimiles seines Arbeitsexemplars (Facsimile)
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 113421
Edited from the sources
Wiener Urtext Edition
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 659960
Changes of position and preparatory scale studies
Sevcik Violin Studies
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 199371
Piano Solo Book
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 659419
for: Voice (medium), piano
Music score
Item no.: 124342
for: Voice, violin
Music score
Item no.: 484702
Petite cantate de chambre pour 6 voix mixtes ou chœur a cappella
for: Mixed choir (SSATBB) [6 voices] a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 335309
per canto e pianoforte
for: Voice (high), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 4070
A Collection of new Dance-rhythms
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 759181
Russian Dance
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 724088
Vocal Collection
for: Voice (low), piano
Music score
Item no.: 375750
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 478794
for: Flute [violin], piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 281559
Sinfonische Dichtung
Eulenburg Studienpartituren
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 391713
for bassoon and piano
for: Bassoon, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 412131
for alto saxophone and string orchestra
Piano score and solo part
for: Alto saxophone, string orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 168298
for: Organ
Item no.: 225260
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Score
Item no.: 107558
for Clarinet and Orchestra
Arrangement for Clarinet and Piano
for: Clarinet (a), piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 433880
op. 14
for: Piano
Item no.: 356956