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.
Eulenburg Miniature Scores
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 391712
for: 2 accordions (duet)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 244038
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393723
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 299132
from "Pulcinella"
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 198012
The definitive version of Sibelius' Third
JSW – Complete Works – Series I (Orchestral works) 4
edited by the National Library of Finland and the Sibelius Society of Finland
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score (Hardcover, Urtext edition)
Item no.: 561474
for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 172403
for: Voice (low), piano
Item no.: 565588
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 282888
for: Violin, viola, cello (string trio)
Study score
Item no.: 186183
57 Easy Concert Pieces from 5 Centuries
for: Piano
Music score (anthology), Playback-CD
Item no.: 658179
for: Cor anglais, piano
Item no.: 288596
for: Violin, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 287918
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 602661
for: Voice, flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano
Study score
Item no.: 585639
for: Voice (soprano), orchestra; children's choir ad lib.
Study score
Item no.: 207938
for: Piano
Music score, online audio
Item no.: 1541582
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 910281
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 571468
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 158595
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 129301
Studies in Counterpoint, Tonal Organisation & Piano Playing (Urtextausgabe) (Urtext)
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 125094
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 337198
for: 13 Blasinstrumente
Set of parts
Item no.: 113166
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 326059
for: Piano
Item no.: 112894
for: 4 soloists (SATB), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra, organ
Piano reduction
Item no.: 112820
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 112794
for: 2 violins, viola (trio)
Study score
Item no.: 124662
Tableaux d'une Exposition
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 659188
for: Alt- oder Tenor-Blockflöte
Item no.: 293427
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, piano
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 404359
for: Double bass, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 404148
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 417828
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 286032
for: Double bass
Music score
Item no.: 285057
for: Violin, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 141523
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 312323
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1017705
for: Trombone [baritone horn], piano
Item no.: 349558
for: Cello, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 474595
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 696701
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 305786
Piano reduction
Item no.: 306792
for: Flute, organ
Organ score, solo part
Item no.: 667206
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 100763
for: Voice (baritone), guitar [piano]
Music score
Item no.: 197371
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 411419
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