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: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 262607
Score
Item no.: 262441
for: Cello or 2 Celli and Piano
Score
Item no.: 411454
for: Voice, guitar
Book
Item no.: 461324
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 224676
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 617471
for: 2 or more Violoncelli
Score, Parts
Item no.: 411791
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 107231
for: Violin, piano
Score
Item no.: 410998
for: Chamber orchestra
Score
Item no.: 862093
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Item no.: 189430
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Item no.: 185688
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 395552
for: Clarinet (B-flat), piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 279992
for: 2 voices, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1543507
for: Harfe
Score
Item no.: 443085
for: Mixed Ensemble
Set of parts
Item no.: 139051
for flute, viola and piano
for: Flute, viola, piano
Piano score, Solo parts
Item no.: 283693
for: Harp or Harps
Score
Item no.: 862769
for: Salon orchestra
Piano part for conductor, Parts
Item no.: 273940
for: Organ, piano
Ensemble score
Item no.: 180226
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 210695
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Piano reduction
Item no.: 323074
Edition Schott
for: Cello, piano
Music score
Item no.: 746883
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 228789
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 208806
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 395240
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 316511
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 188971
for: Alto saxophone, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 341841
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 266022
for: Piano
Item no.: 128167
for: Guitar
Score
Item no.: 197332
for: Flute, bassoon
Ensemble score
Item no.: 101124
for: Viola, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 634608
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 897356
for: Clarinet, violin, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 279856
for: Cello, piano
Music score
Item no.: 769112
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 586680
for: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 643648
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 101228
for: 2 violins, viola, cello, piano (piano quintet)
Score
Item no.: 120733
for: Violin, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 123664
for: Clarinet, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1103004
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 662097
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 177433
for: Trumpet [oboe/flute], organ
Score
Item no.: 281557
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