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: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1361610
for: Jazz ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1378514
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1383605
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1365581
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1365154
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1363321
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1362214
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1523951
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373997
for: Choral Pax
Sheet music
Item no.: 1382186
for: Piano
Item no.: 1358449
for: 2 guitars
Ensemble score
Item no.: 326984
for: Hohe Singstimme (1-2)
Sammelband
Item no.: 631892
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1523950
The Threepenny Opera
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1529574
On the Town
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1529571
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1360406
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1365161
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1365153
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1362615
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1362137
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1360716
for: Piano
Item no.: 185006
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373998
for: Choral
Item no.: 1375636
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1364370
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1363319
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1363119
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1363108
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1365425
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1365423
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1360717
The Threepenny Opera
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1529543
Cover Girl
for: Lead Sheet
Item no.: 1526428
for: Lead Sheet
Item no.: 1526917
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1384090
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1385640
for: Clarinet
Sheet music
Item no.: 1384666
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1363295
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1365979
for: Solo & Small Ensemble
Item no.: 1363904
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1365160
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1360718
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1360617
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1363069
for Violin with Accompaniment of the Piano
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1646585
Study score
Item no.: 133927
No. 4 The Waterlily (F sharp minor)
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 759353
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