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
Music score
Item no.: 1211809
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1060040
Geistliche Musik
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Choir score
Item no.: 1110479
for: Violin, piano
Score
Item no.: 821096
aus "4 Romanzen"
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1204687
for Piano
for: Piano
Solostimme
Item no.: 1625083
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 1172825
Oper/Operette
for: Libretto
Lyrics
Item no.: 1356376
Klassik
for: Flute ensemble
Set of parts
Item no.: 820278
Klassik
for: Children's Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 881123
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 870532
For Flute Alone
for: Flute
Solostimme
Item no.: 1626478
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 829666
for: TBarB
Score
Item no.: 906723
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 1173591
for: Voice (medium), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1120951
Harmonia-Mixed Choir
for: Mixed choir (SATB); piano ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 916318
Trompete
Einzelstimme
for: Trumpet
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 882260
for: Voice
Choir score
Item no.: 1172152
Klassik
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 852830
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 892649
Book
Item no.: 1212005
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 1005947
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1007676
Study Score
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 895749
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1170664
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1062809
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 963608
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1211764
Hawkes Pocket Scores HPS 628
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1211753
Fl-Sx-Hp-Celesta-voix feminines (1921)
for: Choir and Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 821182
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1061826
for: Choir (3 voices), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1097389
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1643310
for: Voice, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 900091
Gegenwartsmusik
for: Saxophone
Music score
Item no.: 833257
Conductor Score
Direktion
Item no.: 1619350
for: Salon Orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1171292
March
Sousa Centennial
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1062852
Klassik
for: Women's Choir [SSA] and Piano
Choir score
Item no.: 983096
Originale Unterhaltungsmusik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1590440
Daehn Publications
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1060533
Choir score
Item no.: 1176578
Three Russian Songs for chorus and orchestra Op. 41
Choir/Voice & Orchestra
Item no.: 1344151
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 889845
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1006971
Klassik
for: 11 Part Ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 964168