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: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 760596
for: Double bass
Music score
Item no.: 182056
for: 2 saxophones
Ensemble score
Item no.: 658069
arranged for double bass and piano
for: Double bass, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 635954
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 654834
Notentext der Gesamtausgabe / Music Text of the Complete Edition JSW VIII/1 (Urtextausgabe) (Urtext)
for: Voice (soprano), orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 193400
for: Voice (medium), guitar
Music score
Item no.: 144456
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 140833
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 109023
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 477241
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 288927
for: Viola d'amore, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 353247
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 903247
for: Voice, recorder, percussion
Vocal score, ensemble scores
Item no.: 288537
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 605919
for: Piano
Item no.: 579851
for: Flute, guitar
2 Performance scores
Item no.: 113823
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 168976
for: Piano
Item no.: 113316
for: Piano
Item no.: 124396
for: Piano, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 358928
Nine pieces for string quartet
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 358770
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 358667
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 170190
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 358987
for: BL QUINTETT KLAV
Set of parts
Item no.: 352342
for: Bassoon, piano
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 392653
for: Violin, string orchestra
Score, solo part
Item no.: 362338
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 288286
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 494820
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393730
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393720
for: 2 recorders (SA)
Item no.: 420913
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 302859
for: Cello, harp
Item no.: 382772
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 133235
for oboe and small orchestra
for: 2 oboes, cor anglais
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1018071
for: Guitar
Music score, Playback-CD
Item no.: 681944
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 106731
48 Early Works
Guitar Works (Faksimile) (Facsimile)
for: Classical guitar
Music score (reprint)
Item no.: 132142
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 483969
for: Organ manuals [harmonium]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 466839
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 140267
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 456951
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 306280
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1556059
arranged
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 694811
There is a separate Stretta website for the country Worldwide. If your order is to be delivered to this country, you can switch, so that delivery times and shipping conditions are displayed correctly. Your shopping cart and your customer account will remain the same.
switch to Stretta Music Worldwidestay on Stretta Music Finland