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
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for: Piano, orchestra
Book
Item no.: 197743
for brass quintet
for: 2 trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba (quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 256117
for: Chamber orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 392431
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 197781
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 186078
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 171825
from Suite No. 2 for Jazz Orchestra
for: 2 violins [Melody instrument in B-flat, violin], cello, piano
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 218591
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 108874
for: 3 cellos
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 1319
Eight piano duets from the beloved musical
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 473767
for: Piano
Item no.: 617080
for: Wind ensemble
Study score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 696038
for: Guitar
Item no.: 355794
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 354276
for: Harp
Item no.: 302292
for flute and piano
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 404161
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir book
Item no.: 641954
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 351256
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 113255
for: Voice (low), piano
Item no.: 106742
for: Piano
Item no.: 106199
for: Piano
Item no.: 479760
for: Flute
Music score
Item no.: 404227
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
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for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 391665
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
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for: Piano, orchestra
Book
Item no.: 186169
for: Voice, piano
Book
Item no.: 143569
for: Clarinet, cello, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 606436
for: Harp
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for: 2 mixed choirs (SATB, SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 273015
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
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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: Oboe, clarinet, bassoon
Score, Parts
Item no.: 655430
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 458598
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
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for: Violin, cello
Music score
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Klassik
for: 4 Mixed Voices
Book
Item no.: 1194339
The Music of Sir Arnold Bax
Centenary Edition
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
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für Oboe, Trompete, Violine, Kontrabass, Klavier und Streichorchester
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 487606
Streichquartett
Leuckart-Reprint
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 247278
for: Organ
Item no.: 262233
The Music of Sir Arnold Bax
Centenary Edition
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 770693
for: Harpsichord, strings
Score (spiral binding)
Item no.: 661722
for: Symphonic orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 613536
for: Mixed choir (SATB), orchestra [organ]
Choir score
Item no.: 465718
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