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: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 687722
for: Violin, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 628334
for: Flute, piano
Item no.: 297040
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 138711
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197668
for: Piano
Item no.: 197088
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 433048
for: Piano
Item no.: 268394
for: Piano
Item no.: 287905
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 324439
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 324421
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Piano reduction
Item no.: 837913
for: für Orchester
Taschenpartitur
Item no.: 294653
for: für Orchester
Partitur
Item no.: 272457
Lyric book
Item no.: 224154
for: für Gesang und Orgel
Item no.: 144880
for: Flöte, Viola, Cello, Klavier
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 115480
für 12 Violoncelli
for: 12 cellos
Score, Parts
Item no.: 673271
for: Flexible wind band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 761971
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Score
Item no.: 891834
for: Women's choir (SSA), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 321657
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 316435
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Score
Item no.: 881443
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 838196
for: Violin, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 325006
for: Piano 4 hands
Book
Item no.: 324463
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 324252
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 901960
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 873423
for: Piano, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 324064
for: Violin, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 128642
for: Piano
Item no.: 357258
for: Guitar
Item no.: 113004
for: Voice, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 300730
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 324600
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 324422
for: Piano
Item no.: 288096
Joint publishing venture with Editio Musica Budapest Zeneműkiadó
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 1558558
for: Tuba und doppeltes Bläser-Quintett
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 353018
for: Treble recorder, piano
Item no.: 420808
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1012735
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 124480
for: Clarinet, piano
Item no.: 106347
for: Viola, piano
Item no.: 106346
for: Mixed choir (SSAATTBB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 850413
for: Flute, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 393409
for: Gemischter Chor Orgel ORCH
Study score
Item no.: 392292
for: Guitar
Item no.: 368184