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: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 858955
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 858924
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 607974
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Buch
Item no.: 315080
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 314980
for: Symphonic orchestra
Buch
Item no.: 314915
for: Symphonic orchestra
Buch
Item no.: 314911
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 1542876
for: Voice (low), piano
Item no.: 106748
for: Guitar
Score
Item no.: 467810
for: Men's Voices
Choir score
Item no.: 488592
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 291251
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyric book
Item no.: 199240
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 894630
for: Women's choir (SSA) [mixed choir (SATB)]
Choir score
Item no.: 289380
for: Oboe and String Quartet
Set of parts
Item no.: 886918
(Reprint)
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 622524
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 409406
for: Flute and Chamber Orchestra
Score
Item no.: 428912
for Trombone and Piano
for: Trombone, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 684155
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 129947
for: 3 flutes, alto flute (quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 130249
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 120813
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 120729
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 120717
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 120711
Piano reduction
Item no.: 120475
for: Piano
Item no.: 120890
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 324357
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 257844
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 136459
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 315003
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 175682
for: Violin, viola, cello (string trio)
Set of parts
Item no.: 683407
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 638346
for: 3 recorders (SSA)
Score
Item no.: 106475
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part, playback-CD
Item no.: 134209
for: Melody instrument (C/B-flat/E-flat)
Music score, Playback-CD
Item no.: 157098
for: Organ
Music score (hardcover)
Item no.: 285046
for: Piano
Item no.: 284598
for: Clarinet, piano
Item no.: 284564
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 284377
for: Piano
Item no.: 284366
Hanns Eisler Complete Edition (HEGA) V/3 Critical Report
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Book (critical commentary)
Item no.: 773328
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, piano
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 298538
for: Voice (high), piano
Item no.: 286743
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 341553
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