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.
Im Kahlenbergerdorfel (Score And Parts)
for: Ensemble
Book
Item no.: 1213434
Nineteen Very Easy Duets for Small Pianists
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 932266
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1077874
op. 117/1
for: Viola, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1209043
for: Brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1145255
For: Concert Band or Woodwind Choir
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1552042
for: Women's choir (SSA), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1097218
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyric book
Item no.: 1115070
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 1118722
Selection
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1067933
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1213506
for: 2 violins
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1324353
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1145399
for: 2 guitars
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1008424
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1076618
for: Voice, piano
Book
Item no.: 966031
4-5 Oct.
for: Choir
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 919208
Six Dance marches
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 748045
Klassik
for: Voice (soprano), chamber ensemble
Score
Item no.: 1193857
Festlicher Gesang
for: gemischter Chor (SMezATTBB)
Choir score
Item no.: 742537
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1212946
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1111257
Heruvimskaya pesn'
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1092970
for: 4 guitars (quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 1583468
for: Voice, String Quartet and Piano
Buch
Item no.: 1139917
Klassik
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1213846
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1077116
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1547272
Geistliche Musik
for: Mixed choir (SATB); piano ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 1664263
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Single edition
Item no.: 1081300
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1077939
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 963811
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1213756
for: Alto saxophone, concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1198182
Geistliche Musik
for: Women's choir (SSA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1077436
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1213514
Concealment
for: Mixed choir (SATB); piano ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 1040720
for: Concert Band and Vocal Soloist
Score
Item no.: 1062335
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1212627
op.46
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 683622
Klassik
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 1110297
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1078332
for: Bläserquartett
Buch
Item no.: 1173771
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1062177
Violoncelle Seul - Lm044
for: Cello
Music score
Item no.: 1178424
Geistliche Musik
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1162653