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
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1545637
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 160858
for: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 404291
for: Piano
Item no.: 357258
for: Flöte und 2 Violinen
Set of parts
Item no.: 1539087
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 356964
for: Piano
Item no.: 268394
for: Piano
Item no.: 268393
for: Piano
Item no.: 217867
for: Chamber orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 549412
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 357564
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 295489
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 404476
for: 2 Horns and Piano
Book
Item no.: 166939
for: 2 Violoncelli and Piano
Book
Item no.: 163683
for: Trombone/Tuba and Piano
Book
Item no.: 158812
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 294406
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 198612
for: Timpani, piano
Ensemble score
Item no.: 198533
for: 2 flutes (duet)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 616384
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 289962
for: Opera
Score
Item no.: 277885
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 198719
for: Women's choir (SSA), piano
Score
Item no.: 909803
for: Mixed choir (SATB); piano ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 908878
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 893654
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 891569
for: 3 soloists (STB), boys’ choir, mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Choir score (children's choir)
Item no.: 695871
for: Women's choir (SA), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 476985
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 374632
for: Voice (medium), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 372370
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyric book
Item no.: 199269
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 905984
for: Symphonic Band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 904486
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 904482
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 900564
for: Symphonic Band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 899105
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyrics
Item no.: 896727
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 888720
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 483983
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 366654
for: Clarinet, String Quartet and Piano
Study score
Item no.: 342586
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 911132
for: Symphonic Band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 900202
for: Symphonic Band
Score
Item no.: 893608
for: Clarinet, string orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 493562
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 490314
for: 3 solo voices (STB), orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 365192
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