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: Classical guitar
Music score
Item no.: 324285
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 324243
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Score
Item no.: 658900
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 128616
for: Piano
Item no.: 355004
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 190641
in Eb major
for 13 wind instruments
for: Wind ensemble
Study score
Item no.: 608415
Arranged by George Strivens
for: Voice (soprano), violin, horn (F) [cello], piano
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 1678225
for: Piano, orchestra
Book
Item no.: 278879
Klassik
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 459436
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Lyric book
Item no.: 1160741
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 553351
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 293944
for: Guitar, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 393812
for: 4 recorders (SATB quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 355694
op. 52/1–3
for: Organ
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1616000
Neuausgabe nach dem Text der kritischen Gesamtausgabe von "Arnold Schönberg – Sämtliche Werke"
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 693902
for: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 928382
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 487936
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 333235
for: Accordion
Single edition
Item no.: 293250
30 Little Piano Pieces for Young People
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 254904
for: 2 pianos
Ensemble score
Item no.: 273780
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197453
for: 2. Oboe
Stimme
Item no.: 870399
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 882456
for: Descant recorder
Stimme
Item no.: 877551
for: Bariton solo, Gemischter Chor (SSATB)
Choir score
Item no.: 869882
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 869259
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 115397
for: Mixed choir (SAB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 115394
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 115204
for: Women's choir (SSA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 115037
for: Opera
Set of parts
Item no.: 938714
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 274173
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 179103
for: für Klavier zu 4 Händen
Ensemble score
Item no.: 576331
for: 2 violins, viola, 2 cellos (quintet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 358753
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 892029
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 352135
for: Voice (soprano), orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 147699
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 257693
for: Voice (tenor), mixed choir (SATB), harp, organ
Score
Item no.: 167725
for: Organ
Organ score
Item no.: 466588
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 409377
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1300
for: Piano
Item no.: 1618127
Heitere Mythologie in drei Akten op. 83
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 107031
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.