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: Clarinet, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 590134
for: Horn (F), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 594361
for: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 388782
for: Piano
Item no.: 617084
Tondichtung für Orchester
Neuausgabe der Originalfassung
Gershwin Orchestra Urtext
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 659940
for: Trumpet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 288583
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 430703
for: Piano
Ensemble score
Item no.: 874811
for: Violin, piano
Ensemble score, solo part
Item no.: 114182
for: Accordion
Music score
Item no.: 108808
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 327479
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197635
for: Violin, piano
Score
Item no.: 298262
from Suite No. 2 for Jazz Orchestra
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 170842
for: Guitar
Item no.: 393763
for: Voice, piano
Single edition
Item no.: 344778
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 630350
for: Piano
Piano score, online audio (playback)
Item no.: 135677
for: Symphonic orchestra
Buch
Item no.: 358159
for: 2 violins, viola (trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 140337
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 338676
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1383277
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1380898
Livre 14 de Cycle de Pâques – Domenica in Quinquagesima op. 56
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 560281
for: Clarinet
Music score
Item no.: 194681
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 659278
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1653159
for: Cello, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1544110
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1201514
for: VA ORG (CEMB)
Item no.: 420141
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 463101
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 270708
for: MAND HA (KLAV)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 418357
for: Flute, string orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 688001
for: Orchester, Klavier, Singstimme
Music score
Item no.: 1203329
Hollywood
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 990467
1909-1912
Kritische und kommentierte Edition. Aus den Beständen der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek Wien
Book (Hardcover)
Item no.: 773069
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 559580
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 160806
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 495707
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 290408
for: Klaviertrio
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 1343536
for: Blockflöte
Score
Item no.: 838763
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1005554
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 927628
for: Voice, piano
Score
Item no.: 778884
for: Voice (medium), piano
Item no.: 120477
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Songbook PVG (Piano/Vocal/Guitar)
Item no.: 1209893
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