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: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1148118
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1148109
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1148105
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1147961
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1147954
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1147950
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1105664
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1147881
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 1163174
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1148643
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1148520
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 262486
for: Vocal and Piano Reduction
Piano reduction
Item no.: 260666
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 262968
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 262761
for: Voice, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 262662
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 262659
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 258262
for: Male choir
Score
Item no.: 258172
for: Choir
Score
Item no.: 258164
for: Chamber orchestra
Score
Item no.: 257992
for: Cello or 2 Celli and Piano
Score
Item no.: 257923
for: Choir
Score
Item no.: 258941
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 258894
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 258882
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 258689
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 891107
for: Children's Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 883830
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 883378
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 883023
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 882483
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 882152
for: Choir a Cappella
Score
Item no.: 881458
for: Flute, piano
Score
Item no.: 888649
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 887506
for: Piano 4 hands
Score
Item no.: 886929
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 886774
for: Libretto
Lyrics
Item no.: 886700
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 886465
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 885204
for: Choir
Score
Item no.: 884850
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 884469
for: Partitura E Parti
Score
Item no.: 884272
for: Soprano Voice, Piano Accompaniment
Score
Item no.: 879481
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 877996
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 922689
for: Choir
Score
Item no.: 921978
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