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: Violin, piano
Score
Item no.: 240798
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 239317
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 239248
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1356312
Lyric book
Item no.: 772447
for: Viola, piano
Book
Item no.: 964175
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 964151
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 964146
for: 2 pianos
Music score
Item no.: 780519
Spanish Dance op.366/ 4
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 556672
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 860004
for: SATB and Orchestra
Score
Item no.: 858726
for: Flute, Oboe and Piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 858616
for: Violin, viola, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 656255
for: Women's choir (SSA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 320460
for: Voice, piano
Book
Item no.: 966113
for: Salon orchestra
Piano part for conductor, Parts
Item no.: 1105701
for: Klarinettenchor
Score
Item no.: 924999
for: Brass band
Score
Item no.: 887728
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 925442
for: Bassoon, orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 926565
for: Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon
Score
Item no.: 925635
for: 4 clarinets
Score
Item no.: 923623
for: 5 brass winds
Score
Item no.: 928268
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 926817
for: Mixed Clarinet Quartet
Score
Item no.: 924600
for: Oboe
Music score
Item no.: 923834
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 1548677
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 258006
for: Cello, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 257948
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 257533
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 260143
for: Solfege
Buch
Item no.: 256974
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 822252
for: Violin and 11 Instruments
Score
Item no.: 262746
for: Voice, piano
Score, CD
Item no.: 188837
for: Solo S + SATB
Choir score
Item no.: 902175
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 897133
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 897079
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 318246
for: 4 saxophones (SATBar)
Book
Item no.: 317952
for: Women's choir (SSA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 850280
for: Male choir (TBarB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 850263
for: Mixed Ensemble
Score
Item no.: 330033
for: Mixed choir (6 voices) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 853440
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