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: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1062852
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1062764
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1066276
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1065447
for: Concert Band and Vocal Soloist
Score
Item no.: 1069546
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 938477
for: 2 voices, organ
Score
Item no.: 1202252
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Score
Item no.: 1201015
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1193716
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1061826
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1061517
for: Concert band
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Item no.: 1061343
for: Concert band
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Item no.: 1060692
for: Concert band
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Item no.: 1060533
for: Concert band
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Item no.: 1060326
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1060040
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1059943
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 837557
for: Chamber ensemble
Set of parts
Item no.: 836763
Choir score
Item no.: 838781
for: Flute, Clarinet, Cello and Harp
Score, Parts
Item no.: 837714
for: Mixed choir (SABar), piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 838166
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 769098
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 858186
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 859029
for: Choir
Piano reduction
Item no.: 837844
for: Chamber ensemble
Buch
Item no.: 836713
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 324594
for: Trumpet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 494270
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 389777
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 278870
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 797029
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1000840
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 244159
for: Piano 4 hands
Book
Item no.: 276210
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 324552
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 927797
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 927417
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1006622
for: Wind Band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1005399
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1006375
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 1007517
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 1005947
for: Voice (baritone), piano
Buch
Item no.: 860679
for: Piano Quartet
Score, Parts
Item no.: 315771
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1007193
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1006945
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