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: Piano
Score
Item no.: 993033
for: Choir
Score
Item no.: 854326
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 853655
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 853559
for: Vocal and Ochestra
Score
Item no.: 853536
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 853306
for: Quintet and Piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 853052
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 852864
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 851317
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 852165
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 853887
for: Voice, piano
Score
Item no.: 852237
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 923779
for: Flute Quintet
Score, Parts
Item no.: 926366
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 927724
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 927516
for: Orchestra and Narrator
Score
Item no.: 318894
for: Brass
Set of parts
Item no.: 1002564
for: Orchestra and Soprano Voice
Score
Item no.: 318206
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1006150
for: Cello
Book
Item no.: 1005988
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1005843
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 1007797
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1007547
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1007163
for: Cornet, brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 878696
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 890699
for: 4 clarinets
Score
Item no.: 928383
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 905503
for: String orchestra
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 902360
for: Symphonic orchestra
Cello (orchestral part)
Item no.: 180091
for: Quintet
Set of parts
Item no.: 257947
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1530645
for: String orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1530644
for: Mixed choir (SAB), piano
Buch
Item no.: 840913
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet); vocals ad lib.
Single part Cello
Item no.: 690747
for: Voice (low), piano
Music score
Item no.: 1018450
for: Horn
Music score
Item no.: 216953
for: Piano 4 hands
Score
Item no.: 324410
for: Bass Voice, SATB and Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 184643
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 325023
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 840933
Suite 1
EOS – Eulenburg Orchestral Series
for: Symphonic orchestra
Single part (Harpsichord solo)
Item no.: 1658749
for: Brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1204853
op.81
for: Clarinet, string orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 683408
Heft 12: Serenade op. 85 (Juon)
for: Youth string orchestra
Cello (orchestral part)
Item no.: 1676799
for: Percussion and Piano
Buch
Item no.: 833918
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1212621