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: Piano 4 hands
Music score
Item no.: 554940
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 336570
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197656
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Music score, Playback-CD
Item no.: 658909
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 316934
for: Alto saxophone (E-flat)
Music score, online audio
Item no.: 602699
for: Symphonic orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 613536
for: Violin, viola, cello (string trio)
Set of parts
Item no.: 223172
for: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 100863
for: Cello
Music score
Item no.: 621140
for: für Bläserquintett
Score
Item no.: 113271
for: Violin, cello
Ensemble score
Item no.: 124466
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 905639
for: 4 soloists (SATB), mixed choir (SATB), orchestra, organ
Score
Item no.: 272879
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 779304
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 128164
Piano reduction
Item no.: 128160
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 207354
for: Bassoon, piano
Ensemble score, solo part
Item no.: 375538
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 261625
for: Guitar
Item no.: 187926
for: Bassoon, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 190936
for: Women's Choir
Score
Item no.: 495166
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Score
Item no.: 207365
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 303672
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 420772
transcribed for Flute and Guitar
for: Flute, guitar
Ensemble score
Item no.: 280053
for: Violin, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 395378
in twenty-six pieces for guitar
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 620473
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 314905
for: Tuba, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 613401
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 279886
for: Voice (low), piano
Item no.: 565587
for: Viola, piano
Book
Item no.: 131695
Arrangement for Piano
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 663229
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393700
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 113756
13 choral preludes op. 79b - 4 choral preludes without opus number
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 731360
for: Organ
Music score (spiral binding)
Item no.: 101217
for three violins
for: 3 violins
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1109083
for: Piano 4 hands
Music score
Item no.: 480266
for: Horn, piano
Score, part
Item no.: 186097
for: Horn
Music score
Item no.: 229352
for: 2 violins, viola, cello, piano (piano quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 296795
for: Viola
Music score
Item no.: 108885
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 324979
for: Bläserquintett
Set of parts
Item no.: 322923
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