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: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1690715
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1646591
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1689145
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Piano score, Solo parts
Item no.: 1690197
Ein musikalisches Märchen
Violoncello 1 liegt zusätzlich im Violinschlüssel bei !
for: 3 cellos
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1690335
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
2 CDs (without sheet music)
Item no.: 1666899
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1681120
piano performance score and parts
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1696769
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1672836
light & flexi +
Marschmusik light
Item no.: 1669119
original orchestration
for: Orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1677420
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1669234
Der 1. Mai
for: Choir, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1680952
Sz 102
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 1690688
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1689966
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1677491
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1646588
Arranged by George Strivens
for: Voice (soprano), violin, horn (F) [cello], piano
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 1678225
Opera in two acts (final version) / in one act (original version)
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1615908
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1689957
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1689964
Leningrad
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1680966
Babi Yar
for: Soloist (bass), male choir (TTBB), orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1681473
for: Piano
Music score (Hardcover, Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1646587
for: Violin, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1690964
A Chinese Fable in 2 Acts after Carlo Gozzi
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1681457
Collection Zahir
for: 4 saxophones (SATBar)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1697360
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1690286
Goodmusic Concert Classics
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 951560
Tone Poem for Large Orchestra after N. Lenau
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1021506
for: Piano, orchestra
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1665540
full score (complete edition / selected edition)
for: Voice, piano
Score (Hardcover)
Item no.: 1667651
The Bohuslav Martinu Complete Edition I/1/8
for: Solo voices, orchestra
Score (Hardcover, Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1676699
Opera in three acts
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score (Hardcover, Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1689143