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.
Reduced Version
for: 2 solo voices (MezBar), mixed choir (SATB), string orchestra, organ; trumpet, harp, kettle drums ad lib.
Choir score
Item no.: 174025
for: Bass trombone, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1272482
Reprint
Repertoire Explorer
for: Flute, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 1343710
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197618
Sonate für Violine und Klavier Es-Dur op. 18 (1887)
Eingerichtet für Flöte und Klavier von Emmanuel Pahud
for: Flute, piano
Music score
Item no.: 169640
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 108824
10 virtuose Stücke
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 656967
Des heures de la cathedrale de Soissons
for: Organ
Item no.: 293200
In Spitzwegs Art
for: 2 violins, viola (trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 112575
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 198011
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 101277
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Stimmen-Set
Item no.: 120780
Nocturne
for: Flute, Percussion and Piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 340419
Suite for orchestra (1919) arranged for 2 pianos by Achilleas Wastor (2015)
for: 2 pianos
Noten 2 Exemplare zur Aufführung nötig
Item no.: 760180
Romantische Operette in drei Akten
Piano reduction
Item no.: 128169
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 617092
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 144917
en forme de messe basse
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 107217
for violin and piano
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 664328
Nr. 3, aus "Schlichte Weisen", op. 76
for: Voice (low), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1771
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 283724
Woodwind
for: Flute, piano
Music score, online audio
Item no.: 614927
"When at night I go to sleep" from "Hansel and Gretel"
for: Sopran, Mezzo-Sopran und Klavier
Music score
Item no.: 738103
Klassik
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 177132
for viola and piano
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 163194
Maria sitzt am Rosenhag
Lied
for: Voice (medium), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 3277
Score
Item no.: 430029
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 108932
Romantische Operette in drei Akten
Klavierauszug mit Text
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 128212
Reduzierte Fassung
for: 2 solo voices (MezBar), mixed choir (SATB), string orchestra, organ; trumpet, harp, kettle drums ad lib.
Set of parts
Item no.: 301278
En La Mineur Dans Le Caractère Populaire Roumain
for: Piano and Violin
Book
Item no.: 136092
Heft 1 (Nr. 1-6)
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 360533
op. 8
for: Cello
Item no.: 124388
A
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1046592
for: Trumpet, piano
Item no.: 275246
Volume 1: Femmes de Légende
Edition in eleven volumes
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 369081
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 197961
Russische Musik der Moderne
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 108816
for: Piano, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon and French Horn
Score, Parts
Item no.: 325716
G-Dur op. 27/4
for: Voice (high), violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 697326
F
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Piano/Voice/Guitar
Item no.: 1034152
ABRSM Easier Piano Pieces 35
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 330404
Complete Edition (Parts I-IV)
Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics
for: Violin
Music score
Item no.: 607291
Strategies and structures in new music from 1900-present
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 1011915
333 Reading Exercises
Revised English Edition takem from 1966 Hungarian Edition
for: Voice [choir]
Music lesson book
Item no.: 475518
Vocal Collection
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 578080
Five songs
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 292406
for: Voice (medium), viola, piano
Score, part
Item no.: 340875