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.
Klassik
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 1111219
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 1172068
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 883279
for: Percussion and Piano
Buch
Item no.: 833918
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1212621
Klassik
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1539613
for piano quartet
for: 2 violins, cello, piano
Set of parts
Item no.: 1538778
for: Concert Band and Vocal Soloist
Score
Item no.: 1069546
Klassik
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 836435
for: Mixed Choir [SSATBB] A Capella
Choir score
Item no.: 964388
Beethoven, L. Van-- Opus 15-- Concerto In C Major
for: Piano
Solostimme
Item no.: 1626585
for: Opera
Book
Item no.: 1106193
(March)
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 902340
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 835385
for: Voice, piano
Book
Item no.: 965929
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1062935
Walzer op. 69
for: Concert band
Conductors part
Item no.: 1629182
Oversized, spiral-bound score
Sousa Legacy
for: Concert band
Score (spiral binding)
Item no.: 1016453
for: Voice and Piano or Guitar
Book
Item no.: 1211573
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 858186
Klassik
for: Woodwind ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1178354
Gegenwartsmusik
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 821981
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 871444
for: Male choir (TTBB) a cappella
Chorstimme Bass I/II
Item no.: 735329
Klassik
for: Violine und Violoncello
Book
Item no.: 1194923
BOVACO Classic CB
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1020054
for: Cello
Music score
Item no.: 1324350
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 1634401
Klassik
for: Voice (baritone), piano
Buch
Item no.: 860679
Klassik
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1194888
Klassik
for: Chamber ensemble
Buch
Item no.: 835923
for: 5 Harps
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1137072
Flute and Clarinet Quartet
for: Flute, 4 clarinets (B-flat)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1011740
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1140381
Waltz
for: Trumpet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1012268
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1212390
Blasorchester
Einzelstimme
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 876826
for: 2 violins
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1341344
The Evening concert - No. 2
for: Flute, string orchestra
Einzelstimme tiefe Streicherstimme
Item no.: 731171
for: Trombone, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 145369
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 859029
for: Voice, piano
Book
Item no.: 1102919
for: Opera
Buch
Item no.: 1136926
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1060326
for: Handbells [3-5]
Single edition
Item no.: 1115389
Harmonia-Mixed Choir
for: SATB, SSA, TTBB, Vocal [Child]
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 908951