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: Male choir (TTBB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 836047
for: Piano, String Ensemble and Timpani
Score
Item no.: 840253
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 831973
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 239726
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1007944
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 993353
for: Oboe, piano
Book
Item no.: 993300
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 993292
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 993151
for: Medium Voice and Ensemble
Book
Item no.: 992709
for: Baritono Solo, Choir and Orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1548111
for: Bassoon and Various Instruments
Score
Item no.: 388766
for: Libretto
Lyrics
Item no.: 1356424
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1356353
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1356344
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1356339
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1356310
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 1353362
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 264201
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1530549
for: Voice, piano
OTHER
Item no.: 1207125
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 259857
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 259793
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 259313
for: Viola or 2 Viole and Piano
Score
Item no.: 259068
for: 2 pianos
Score
Item no.: 258871
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 258649
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 258531
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 258375
for: Band Music
Score
Item no.: 258240
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 777693
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 776810
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 257911
for: Choir
Score
Item no.: 207370
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyric book
Item no.: 776645
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyric book
Item no.: 778408
for: Voice (tenor), piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 776855
for: 2 Pianos and Orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1542606
for: Voice, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 776967
for: Violin, piano
Book
Item no.: 1005606
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1007686
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1006256
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1007255
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1007013
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 1006779
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1005615
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 1005779