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: Guitar
Item no.: 393923
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 355786
for: Voice (medium), piano
Item no.: 356808
for: Gitarre und Streichquartett
Study score
Item no.: 351460
for: String orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 351446
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 351436
for: 2 pianos
Item no.: 351240
for: counter Tenor and Mixed Choir a Cappella, Percussion ad lib.
Piano reduction
Item no.: 198649
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Set of parts
Item no.: 1545429
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 891816
op. 21/3
for: Flöte und Klavier, Basso ad lib.
Music score
Item no.: 725162
op. 165/2
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 724628
Edition Schott
for: Bassoon, piano
Music score
Item no.: 723040
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 486253
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 446624
for: Männerchor (TTBB) und Klavier 4-händig
Choir score
Item no.: 446325
Cantiones profanae (1936)
Reduced version for two pianos and percussion (1956)
for: 3 soloists (SABar), mixed choir (SATB), children's choir, orchestra
Choir score
Item no.: 445025
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 296152
Lyric book
Item no.: 199246
for: Violin
Item no.: 1546408
for: Concert band
Conductors score reduction
Item no.: 1546306
for: Violin
Item no.: 1546212
aus der Oper "Gianni Schicchi"
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1566024
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 1545534
for: Concert band
Set of parts
Item no.: 1545474
for: Piano 4 hands
Item no.: 1545258
for: tiefe Männerstimme und Klavier
Item no.: 1545871
for: 4 voices (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1545774
for: 5 wind instruments
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1582570
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1566296
op. 28/8
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1566154
for: Symphonic orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 340984
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1017486
for: Choir
Choir score
Item no.: 298977
for: Voice (low), piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 246099
for: String orchestra
Stimmen-Set (Streicher 3/3/2/2/1)
Item no.: 129125
for: Soloists [AB], Mixed Choir and Orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 198638
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 645144
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 604074
for: String orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 769060
Simrock Original Edition
for: Trumpet
Music score
Item no.: 357619
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 187324
for: Voice (low), piano
Music score
Item no.: 158142
Score, part
Item no.: 614852
for: Piano
Item no.: 469387
for: Viola, cello
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 305856
for: Violin
Item no.: 301718
for: Piano
Item no.: 282860
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