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.
sur des thèmes grégoriens
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Score
Item no.: 484907
für Violine, Violoncello und Klavier
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 367112
for solos, choir, orchestra and organ
reduction for song and organ by the author
for: 2 soloists (mezzo, baritone), mixed choir (SATB), organ
Organ reduction
Item no.: 147125
for violin, clarinet and piano
corrected edition
for: Violin, clarinet, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 187818
Des heures de la cathedrale de Soissons
for: Organ
Item no.: 293200
In Spitzwegs Art
for: 2 violins, viola (trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 112575
für Steichquartett
Thema und 14 Variationen über die Melodie von Mildred J. Hill
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 108677
for: Flute, piano
Item no.: 113707
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 279909
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 108824
Russische Musik der Moderne
Revidierte Neuauflage 1998
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 108789
en forme de messe basse
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 107217
per viola solo
for: Viola
Music score
Item no.: 626236
Revidierte Fassung (1903-1904, rev. 1905)
for: Violin, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 178093
Volume 1: Femmes de Légende
Edition in eleven volumes
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 369081
Including first publication of two further settings
for: Voice (mezzo-soprano), piano
Score
Item no.: 198547
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 769371
for: Bassoon, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 656107
The Masterworks Library
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 205614
Henle Urtext Editions
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1017726
für Violine und Violoncello
for: Violin, cello
2 Performance scores
Item no.: 124404
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 198011
Nr. 1-12
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 108805
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1582647
Flute (Technik) (Technique)
for: Flute
Item no.: 215358
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 108816
Durand-Salabert-Eschig-Signature Series
for: Piano
Bücher-Set
Item no.: 851262
G-Dur op. 27/4
for: Voice (high), violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 697326
De Mecanisme Flute (Lehrmaterial) (Teaching material)
for: Flute
Music lesson book
Item no.: 100761
Strategies and structures in new music from 1900-present
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 1011915
Vocal Collection
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 578080
for: Voice (medium), viola, piano
Score, part
Item no.: 340875
Five songs
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 292406
Sevcik Cello Studies
for: Cello
Music lesson book
Item no.: 199409
for: Voice (high), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 198575
Pièces en trio
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 478792
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 426091
for two pianos
for: 2 pianos
Piano reduction
Item no.: 197736
for: Violin, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 197844
for: Cello, piano
Score, part
Item no.: 172416
Solo-Konzert
for: 2 pianos
Book
Item no.: 462004
pour piano
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 665443
Edition Schott
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 288600
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 490034
Doppelgriff-Vorstudien. Unterrichtswerk für Viola
Sevcik Violin Studies (Technik) (Technique)
for: Viola
Music score
Item no.: 199915
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: 2 voices (SB), string orchestra, latin percussion
Study score
Item no.: 108834
cantate pour double choeur mixte a cappella
for: 2 mixed choirs (SATB, SATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 245932
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 378564