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.
for: Cello, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1640335
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1106275
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1009104
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 791244
for: 3 Trumpets, Trombones and Percussion
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1590957
Herr! Schicke was du willt
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1043611
aus der Bühnenmusik zu Kuolema
Urtext nach der Gesamtausgabe
for: Viola
Viola (orchestral part)
Item no.: 1668203
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1201535
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 1193322
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1195003
für Oboe und Orchester
Solostimme für Oboe
for: Oboe, orchestra
Single part Oboe
Item no.: 677588
Gradus ad Symphoniam
for: school orchestra
Single part Violin 2
Item no.: 760776
from "Five Bagatelles"
for: Flute, piano
Music score
Item no.: 791203
Gradus ad Symphoniam
for: school orchestra
Single part Violin 3
Item no.: 760775
for: Kammerensemble (gemischt)
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 1202037
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1202358
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1201173
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1530252
Harmonia-Mixed Choir
for: Mixed choir (SATB); piano ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 905826
for: Salon orchestra
Buch
Item no.: 1590008
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1145290
for: Voice
Buch
Item no.: 1171927
for: Percussion and Piano
Buch
Item no.: 1141155
Klassik
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 1111239
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 770725
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1140676
for: Male choir
OTHER
Item no.: 1341406
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Single edition
Item no.: 1081298
Amstel Concert Band
for: Concert band
Set of parts
Item no.: 1208692
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Buch
Item no.: 1138750
for: Salon Orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1171267
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 1172102
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 1172821
Klassik
for: 4 Mixed Voices and Organ
Book
Item no.: 1194614
Klassik
for: Soprano, SSA and Organ
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1118605
Condensed Score
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1077361
for: Chamber ensemble
Buch
Item no.: 1174537
Flex 7 Concert
for: Flexible wind ensemble (7 voices)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1113046
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1140557
for: Woodwind ensemble
Score
Item no.: 977676
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 959504
Ouvertüre
for: Concert band
Conductors part, set of parts
Item no.: 1629205
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1530306
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1539643
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1193668