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.
Drama in einem Aufzug nach Oscar Wildes gleichnamiger Dichtung
Piano reduction
Item no.: 747444
10 Skandinavische Chorstücke für 1-2 hohe Stimmen (Deutsch und Originalsprache)
for: Hohe Singstimme (1-2)
Sammelband
Item no.: 631892
Fantasie
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 760599
"Di rigori armato il seno"
for: hoher Tenor und Klavier
Music score
Item no.: 760552
Tanzwalzer
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 760458
for: 2 guitars
Ensemble score
Item no.: 326984
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1365581
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1365154
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1363321
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1362214
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1523951
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373997
for: Choral Pax
Sheet music
Item no.: 1382186
for: Piano
Item no.: 1358449
No. 1 A Welcome Vision (high D major)
for: Singstimme und Orchester oder Klavier
Piano reduction
Item no.: 796581
ALB
for: Piano
Item no.: 185006
No. 2 The Poet's Eventide Walk (Db major)
for: Singstimme und Orchester oder Klavier
Piano reduction
Item no.: 732689
Nr. 5 Schlechtes Wetter (hoch F-Dur)
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 747433
"Ist ein Traum, kann nicht wirklich sein"
for: hoher Sopran, Mezzosopran und Klavier
Music score
Item no.: 760571
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1523950
Walzer
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 732684
(Neue Bearbeitung von 1934)
Lyric book
Item no.: 1341113
The Threepenny Opera
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1529574
On the Town
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1529571
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1360406
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1365161
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1365153
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1362615
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1362137
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1360716
No. 2 A Vision of Glory (low E major)
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 760570
No. 5 Bad Weather
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 760640
Salome
for: Viola
Music score
Item no.: 760605
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373998
for: Choral
Item no.: 1375636
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1364370
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1363319
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1363119
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1363108
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1365425
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1365423
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1360717
The Threepenny Opera
for: Piano/Vocal/Chords
Item no.: 1529543
Cover Girl
for: Lead Sheet
Item no.: 1526428
No. 3 Ivy (Eb major)
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 796586
for: Lead Sheet
Item no.: 1526917
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1384090
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1385640