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: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 767279
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Item no.: 104470
for: Classical guitar
Book
Item no.: 491572
for: Violinduo
Buch
Item no.: 585504
for: Mixed Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 389604
for: Violin, viola, cello (string trio)
Item no.: 284807
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, piano
Item no.: 284780
for: Organ
Music score (hardcover)
Item no.: 284729
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 583394
for: Harp
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 683323
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 258088
for: Cello, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 257948
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 257802
for: Clarinet, piano
Music score, solo part
Item no.: 324063
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Book
Item no.: 873815
for: Male choir, piano
Score
Item no.: 212148
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 154800
for: Violin, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 325006
for: Flöte, Viola und Kontrabass
Set of parts
Item no.: 149504
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 471329
for: Violin, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 353527
for: Piano 4-Hands
Buch
Item no.: 1643211
for: Harp or Harps
Score
Item no.: 865748
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 456628
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1208880
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 395541
for: Organ
Score
Item no.: 240070
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 240796
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 240791
for: Clarinet
Score
Item no.: 238939
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 100932
for: Harp
Music score
Item no.: 100865
Three Pieces Op. 95, Ten Pieces, Op.97
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1684576
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 490493
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 2080
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1711577
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score (with critical report)
Item no.: 696977
for: Voice (medium), piano
Item no.: 644743
for: Organ or Harmonium
Score
Item no.: 411688
for: Women's choir (SMezA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 822729
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 255515
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 254954
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 245965
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 266349
for: 3 recorders (SAT)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 413642
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 1008878
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 412366
for: Women's choir [children's choir] (3 voices)
Choir score
Item no.: 1162451
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