Early 20th Century Sheet Music

The late 19th century saw the final expansion of post-romantic languages, with composers such as Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler pushing the boundaries of the functional tonality. Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel were at the same time developing what most authors call the impressionist style, which was to become one of the transitional movements into the music of the 20th century. The reaction to the exhaustion of the tonal system was a generalized break with it, which was carried in diverse ways by different composers at the beginning of the new century. Arnold Schoenberg developed atonality, and later he created the twelve tone system, though this may be considered as a continuation of the post-romantic spirit rather than a complete break with it. Other movements arose, such as futurism, expressionism, neoclassicism, experimentalism, etc. Some of the notable names of the early 20th century are: Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, Alban Ber, Igor Stravinsky, Jean Sibelius, Charles Ives, Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Isaac Albeniz, Filippo Marinetti, Bela Bartok, Leos Janacek.