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.
Sudien und Übungen
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 941186
Schule
for: Concert band
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 940161
Sudien und Übungen
Single part Violin
Item no.: 898855
for: Woodwind ensemble
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 842789
Klavier
Solostimme
for: Piano
Solostimme
Item no.: 877133
for: Piano
Item no.: 486400
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1102976
Klassik
for: Guitar, Viola, Violin
Book
Item no.: 1102552
for: Soprano, Tenor Voice and Piano
Score
Item no.: 977189
Gegenwartsmusik
Score
Item no.: 833218
Gegenwartsmusik
for: Chamber ensemble
Score
Item no.: 833169
Gegenwartsmusik
Score
Item no.: 833032
Gegenwartsmusik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 832997
per violino solo
for: Violin
Sheet music
Item no.: 578058
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 832981
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 255581
(Bass clef)
for: Baritone horn (B-flat)
Music score
Item no.: 131595
Klassik
for: Oboe and String Orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1178264
Hautbois, Clarinette Sib, Basson
for: Chamber ensemble
Set of parts
Item no.: 266800
Klassik
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 266620
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 239368
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 239329
for: Percussion
Item no.: 261942
Harmonia-Mixed Choir
for: Mixed choir (SATB); piano ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 911959
Lieder
for: Voice, piano
Single edition
Item no.: 306714
Folk
for: Mixed choir (SATB); piano ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 915684
Klassik
for: Chamber ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 839247
TV, Film, Musical und Show
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1176922
for: Blockflötenquartett
Score
Item no.: 910943
for: Brass band
Score
Item no.: 1204858
for: Brass band
Score
Item no.: 1204829
Klassik
for: Organ
Score
Item no.: 100776
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1178056
Klassik
for: Opera
Piano reduction
Item no.: 992998
Recent Researches In The Music Of The 19th + Early 20th Centuries~20
for: Organ
Item no.: 564656
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 324551
Klassik
for: 2 violins
Ensemble score
Item no.: 836119
Klassik
for: Chamber ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 839343
Klassik
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 324273
Granados Danza Espanola (Unión Musicale)
for: Harp
Music score
Item no.: 324160
Klassik
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1109805
Klassik
for: SSAT
Choir score
Item no.: 834800
op. 64
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Set of parts
Item no.: 683922
for: Choir
Choir part Tenor
Item no.: 386025
D-Dur
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 411291
for: Organ
Ensemble score
Item no.: 868910
Oper in einem Akt (Libretto)
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyric book
Item no.: 1160741