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: Cello or 2 Celli and Piano
Score
Item no.: 411794
for: Piano 4 hands
Score
Item no.: 411751
for: Piano 4 hands
Score
Item no.: 411750
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 411678
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 411670
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 411653
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 411453
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 411383
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 411380
for: Guitar or Lute
Score
Item no.: 394104
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 411279
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 411169
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 411043
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 408378
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 412439
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 412260
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 412019
for: Clarinet (B-flat) [trumpet], accordion
Single part(n)
Item no.: 396580
for: Violin
Sheet music
Item no.: 264205
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 264198
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 264165
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 275231
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 274405
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 263086
for: Violin, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 263081
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 262928
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 262889
for: Violin, String Ensemble and BC
Score
Item no.: 262580
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 262402
for: Vocal and Piano Reduction
Piano reduction
Item no.: 260737
for: Voice, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 260693
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 326693
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 1105869
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 1105813
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1105692
for: Male choir, orchestra
Choir score
Item no.: 645588
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1148788
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1148526
for: Voice
Music score
Item no.: 1149062
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 1148968
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1147841
for: Women's choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1147793
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1148293
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1148276
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1147966
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1147962
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 1147927
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 561523