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: Voice (high), piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1633293
Poèmes
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1643325
for: Voice (mezzo-soprano), organ
Score
Item no.: 1593255
Goodmusic Concert Classics
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 951560
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1689145
Opera in three acts
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score (Hardcover, Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1689143
12 easy pieces
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 379278
for: Mixed choir (SAM), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 1687838
for: Mixed choir (SAM), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1687839
I.–V. Lage
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1687887
Three Pieces Op. 95, Ten Pieces, Op.97
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1684576
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1684593
aus der Bühnenmusik zu Kuolema
Urtext nach der Gesamtausgabe
for: Symphonic orchestra
Viola (orchestral part)
Item no.: 1011758
Notes d'interprétation de Bruno Jouard
for: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 1684419
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1646590
14 Lieder auf das Gedicht von Heinrich Heine
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1684489
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1684436
for: Violin, piano
Score, part
Item no.: 1684415
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1645846
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1646592
New Urtext Edition with comparison of sources and reproduction of fragments from the autograph manuscript
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1681650
Harlequin's Round Dance
for: Voice (tenor), orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1681466
A Chinese Fable in 2 Acts after Carlo Gozzi
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1681457
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1681120
Tondichtung für großes Orchester nach N. Lenau
for: Symphonic orchestra
Double bass (orchestral part)
Item no.: 1680942
Der 1. Mai
for: Choir, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1680952
Tondichtung für großes Orchester nach N. Lenau
for: Symphonic orchestra
Violin 2 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 1680939
Tone Poem for Large Orchestra after N. Lenau
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1021506
Tondichtung für großes Orchester nach N. Lenau
for: Symphonic orchestra
Viola (orchestral part)
Item no.: 1680940
N°2 de la "Suite populaire brésilienne"
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1678436
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1678211
Arranged by George Strivens
for: Voice (soprano), violin, horn (F) [cello], piano
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 1678225
édition bon(n)orgue Vol. 33
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1678180
édition bon(n)orgue Vol. 97
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1678165
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1678148
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1677491
pour clarinette en si bémol et piano
for: Clarinet (B-flat), piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1676927
for Piano solo
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 1677418
for: Piano
Music score (Hardcover, Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1646587
arranged for Cello Ensemble by Michele Galvagno
for: Cello ensemble (4 voices)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1677419
original orchestration
for: Orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1677420
The Bohuslav Martinu Complete Edition I/1/8
for: Solo voices, orchestra
Score (Hardcover, Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1676699
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1646591
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1646588
I.-V./VI. Lage
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1673777
(Staffelpreise möglich)
for: Women's choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1676677
I.-IV./V. Lage
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1673778
op. 146
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1673800
Alphonse Leduc Collection Performing Editions
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1672898
1. Fassung
H 276 I
for: Violin, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 1672940