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: String orchestra
Single part Violin 2
Item no.: 784685
Spiel für Kinder nach einem Text von Robert Seitz
for: Kinderchor (SMez), Melodie-Instrumente und Schlagwerk
Treble recorder (single part)
Item no.: 748318
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet) [string orchestra]
Violin 1 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 1646497
aus Mikrokosmos
for: String orchestra
Single part Cello
Item no.: 1018292
for: Klavier und Streichorchester mit Flöte oder Violine
Single part Viola
Item no.: 783823
"Was mag doch diese Welt". Kantate
for: Jugendchor (Mez/SMezA) mit Streichorchester und Orgel (Klavier) oder Blasorchester oder mit Klavier 2- oder 4-händig
Single part Violin 1
Item no.: 792438
Tondichtung für großes Orchester nach N. Lenau
for: Symphonic orchestra
Cello (orchestral part)
Item no.: 1680941
Preciosa
Single part Trumpet 3
Item no.: 208122
für vier Posaunen oder andere tiefe Blechblasinstrumente
Reihe D: Solistische Werke für Bläser
for: Brass winds (4 parts)
Part 1 in C
Item no.: 228529
Single part
Item no.: 161844
for: Accordion orchestra
Single part Accordion 3
Item no.: 189363
Violin 1 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 177747
for: Symphonic orchestra
Viola (orchestral part)
Item no.: 430095
Le Moulin de la forét noire
for: Accordion orchestra
Single part Accordion 4
Item no.: 219096
for: Accordion orchestra
Single part Accordion 3, 4
Item no.: 218762
for: Violin
Violin 2 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 293241
for: Accordion orchestra
Single part Accordion 2
Item no.: 142783
Percussion (orchestral part)
Item no.: 126924
Single part
Item no.: 126922
for: Accordion orchestra
Single part Accordion 3
Item no.: 243823
Spielmusik für drei Violinen - Violine 3
zur solistischen oder chorischen Verwendung im Unterricht unter Berücksichtigung verschiedener Lehrmethoden
for: 3 violins
Single part Violin 3
Item no.: 127579
for: Gemischter Chor (SATB), Violine, Orgel
Single part Violin
Item no.: 634861
"The harp that once thro' Tarra's halls"
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano [harp, string orchestra]
Cello (orchestral part)
Item no.: 375979
Nr. 3 Willkommen und Abschied "Es schlug mein Herz"
for: Voice, piano
Single part(n)
Item no.: 100657
Nr. 4 Morgenrot (tief As-Dur)
for: Voice (low), piano
Single part(n)
Item no.: 100489
Lied (Giuditta, Chor) (Nr. 16)
aus "Giuditta"
for: Accordion
Single part(n)
Item no.: 583368
Sing- und Spielmusik für die Jugend
for: Mixed choir [children's choir] (3 voices), string quartet
Single part Violin 1
Item no.: 103186
Kleine Choralkantate
Single part Double bass
Item no.: 472551
for: Accordion orchestra
Single part Accordion 1
Item no.: 348013
für vier Posaunen oder andere tiefe Blechblasinstrumente
Schweizer Notierung
Reihe D: Solistische Werke für Bläser
for: Brass winds (4 parts)
Part 2 B-flat
Item no.: 346489
für Bariton, gemischten Chor und Orchester
Ein kirchenmusikalisches Frühwerk des berühmten Opernkomponisten.
for: Soloist (baritone), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Cello (orchestral part)
Item no.: 677348
Single part Zither 1
Item no.: 371212
Schulwerk für Instrumental-Zusammenspiel
for: 2 violins, viola [violin, 2 violas], cello, double bass (string quintet)
Single part Cello
Item no.: 784664
pour basson et quintette ou orchestre à cordes
for: Bassoon, string quintet [string orchestra]
Single part Double bass
Item no.: 784448
for: Viola
Single part Viola
Item no.: 1640294
Sonate über den Passionschoral
for: Cello
Cello (orchestral part)
Item no.: 231531
Marschop. 10
for: Concert band
Single part Trumpet 2 (B-flat)
Item no.: 1546025
Marschop. 10
for: Mandolin orchestra
Single part bass
Item no.: 1545944
Single part Flute 1
Item no.: 491462
F-Dur SC 51
for: Symphonic orchestra
Cello, double bass (orchestral part)
Item no.: 1559437
für Solo-Violine, Klavier und Streichorchester
for: Symphonic orchestra
Cello (orchestral part)
Item no.: 384342
Pauken und Schlagzeug ad lib.
for: Symphonic orchestra
Viola (orchestral part)
Item no.: 384122
Single part Bass instrument 1
Item no.: 386762
Single part Tenor Saxophone 1
Item no.: 432398
for: Flexible wind band
Single part Flugelhorn 2
Item no.: 331848
Single part Flugelhorn 2
Item no.: 330177
Tondichtung
Urtext nach der Gesamtausgabe „Jean Sibelius Werke“ (JSW)
for: Symphonic orchestra
Cello (orchestral part)
Item no.: 694150
for: Flexible wind band
Single part Trombone 1
Item no.: 188388