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: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 150318
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 154257
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 458598
16 great Classics
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 620918
for brass quintet
for: 2 trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba (quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 256117
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 493747
for: Flötenquartett
Score, Parts
Item no.: 238447
for: Flute, harp
Score
Item no.: 238348
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction (Hardcover)
Item no.: 246019
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 156766
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 100861
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 180239
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 258816
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 861065
Songbook
Item no.: 183950
for: Violin, piano
Score
Item no.: 169317
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 186078
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1001583
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1005940
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 777841
for: 2 mixed choirs (SATB, SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 273015
for: Piano, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 109211
for: Harp
Item no.: 327852
for: 2 harps
2 Performance scores
Item no.: 655568
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 120632
for: 2 violins, viola (trio)
Set of parts
Item no.: 224134
for: Piano, Voice and Flute
Score, Parts
Item no.: 346249
for: Oboe, clarinet, bassoon
Score, Parts
Item no.: 655430
for: Trumpet, piano, string orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 224597
for: Narrator, guitar
Score
Item no.: 197329
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 228059
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 267372
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 271828
for: Voice (baritone), piano
Book
Item no.: 268023
for: Chamber ensemble
Buch
Item no.: 212150
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 101226
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 388531
for: Piano, orchestra
Book
Item no.: 186169
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Score
Item no.: 257983
for: Mixed choir (STBar), organ
Score
Item no.: 257650
for: Violin, viola, cello (string trio)
Set of parts
Item no.: 412953
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 375665
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 871850
Cantiones profanae (1936) – Reduced version for two pianos and percussion (1956)
Score (= Piano part)
for: 3 soloists (SABar), mixed choir (SATB), children's choir, 2 pianos, percussion
Score
Item no.: 351730
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 316023
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 134126
for: Vocal and Piano Reduction
Piano reduction
Item no.: 388407
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