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: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 869351
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 861744
Klassik
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Book
Item no.: 883780
for: Piano
Music score, CD
Item no.: 905730
for: Piano 4 hands
Book
Item no.: 899275
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 898533
Klassik
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 893900
for: Voice (medium), piano
Music score
Item no.: 889839
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 888140
Klassik
for: Mezzo-Soprano SATB Chamber Group
Score
Item no.: 893481
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1098279
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 891375
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Piano reduction
Item no.: 836644
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1643711
for: Chamber orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 864418
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1213938
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1213880
Suite
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 460179
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1670148
op. 12
for: Piano
Item no.: 1610844
for: Voice (low), piano
Book
Item no.: 908491
Lullaby from Songs of Erin in G
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 908349
March
for: Symphonic orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 899888
Lyrisches Drama in einem Akt
for: Opera
Study score
Item no.: 1211595
for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Score
Item no.: 908132
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 1338334
for: Gemischter Chor (SATB), [Orgel]
Score
Item no.: 1337852
for: Gemischter Chor (SATB), Orgel, Gb
Score
Item no.: 1340432
aus: Zwanzig Responsorien
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 1340222
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1098511
Beginning Band
for: Youth concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 695025
For Organ
for: Organ
Solostimme
Item no.: 1626501
Sudien und Übungen
for: Violin
Item no.: 898179
"Frühling kommt angezogen" Idylle
for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Choir part Bass 1
Item no.: 782650
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197468
für Männerchor TTBB
for: Male choir (TTBB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 1677417
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Book
Item no.: 1203647
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 169771
Suite for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet in B flat, Horn & Bassoon
for: Chamber ensemble
Set of parts
Item no.: 148328
for: Viola, piano
Book
Item no.: 141794
Thanksgiving Song from "The Tender Land"
for: Mixed choir (SATBB), concert band
Choir score
Item no.: 896174
for: 3 violins
Ensemble score
Item no.: 754309
Single part Flugelhorn 2
Item no.: 1670961
for: Voice and Saxophone Quartet
Score
Item no.: 977204
Klaviertrios Nr. 7-9
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 1690873
Waltz
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 905908
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1184885
Marsch
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1184588