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: Soprano saxophone, piano
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Item no.: 1571909
for: Euphonium, piano
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Item no.: 1571768
for: Oboe, piano
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Item no.: 1601972
for: Clarinet, piano
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Item no.: 1601971
for: Descant (soprano) recorder, piano
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Item no.: 1601968
for: Cornet (E-flat), piano
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Item no.: 1601956
for: Trombone, piano
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Item no.: 1601954
for: Tuba, piano
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Item no.: 1601951
for: Trombone, piano
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Item no.: 1601777
for: Tuba (B-flat), piano
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Item no.: 1601771
for: Soprano saxophone, piano [organ]
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Item no.: 1636103
for: Tenor saxophone, piano [organ]
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Item no.: 1636102
for: 2 pianos
Score
Item no.: 1696783
for: Viola, piano
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Item no.: 1597051
for: Double bass, piano
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Item no.: 1597049
for: Flexible ensemble (5 voices)
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Item no.: 1596682
for: Brass quintet
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Item no.: 1596676
for: 5 tubas
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Item no.: 1596668
for: 4 trumpets [4 cornets]
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Item no.: 1596664
for: Tuba (B-flat), piano
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Item no.: 1613659
for: Cornet (E-flat), piano
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Item no.: 1613642
for: Tuba (B-flat), piano
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Item no.: 1569363
for: 5 trombones
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Item no.: 1567351
for: 4 flutes (quartet)
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Item no.: 1567332
for: 4 tubas
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1567328
for: Violin, piano
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Item no.: 1568668
for: Baritone saxophone, piano
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Item no.: 1568660
for: Bass clarinet
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Item no.: 1567573
for: Baritone saxophone, piano
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Item no.: 1567570
for: Piccolo, piano
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Item no.: 1567531
for: Flute, piano
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Item no.: 1567530
for: Bassoon, piano
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Item no.: 1567529
for: Oboe, piano
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Item no.: 1600643
for: Cornet (E-flat), piano
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Item no.: 1600629
for: Cello, piano
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Item no.: 1600594
for: Tuba (E-flat), piano
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Item no.: 1600580
for: Horn (F), piano
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Item no.: 1600571
for: Trombone, piano
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Item no.: 1600570
for: Baritone saxophone, piano
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for: Bass trombone, piano
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Item no.: 1600555
for: Piccolo trumpet, piano
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Item no.: 1600548
for: Cello, piano
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Item no.: 1600432
for: Viola, piano
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Item no.: 1600426
for: Clarinet, piano
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Item no.: 1600424
for: Horn (F), piano
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Item no.: 1600423
for: Oboe, piano
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Item no.: 1576652
for: Clarinet, piano
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Item no.: 1576651
for: Descant (soprano) recorder, piano
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Item no.: 1576648