Classical Music of the Period

Looking to explore the classical music of a particular period? Our blog has you covered, with articles on everything from the Medieval era to the Romantic period. Learn about the great composers and works of each era, and get recommendations for further listening.

The Classical Period

The Classical period was an era of classical music between 1730 and 1820. The Classical period falls between the Baroque and the Romantic periods. Classical music has a lighter, clearer texture than Baroque music and is less complex. It is mainly homophonic, using a clear melody line over a subordinate chordal accompaniment, but counterpoint was by no means forgotten, especially later in the period.

The major changes that occurred in instrumental design during the Classical period were related to advances in manufacturing technology and changing economic conditions. During the early part of the period, orchestras were small (about 20 players), and most sections tended to be doubled (e.g., pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns). Woodwind instruments were made of wood and covered with leather or fish bladder; brass instruments were made of metal and covered with leather; percussion instruments were made of wood, metal, or ivory; and strings were composed of gut (catgut) or horsehair.

The Major Composers of the Classical Period

The Classical period of western music history extends from 1740 to 1810. The most important composers of the Classical period are Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. They established the principal genres of classical music, including symphony, concerto, and sonata. All three composers were born within a few years of each other and died within a few years of each other.

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations as well as for vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Bach’s abilities as an organist were highly respected during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognized as a great composer until a revival of interest and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century.

Bach was born in Eisenach, in the duchy of Saxe-Eisenach, into a musical family. He was testament to the importance placed on music within the Lutheran Church at the time; his uncles were all professional musicians, several of his cousins were well-known musicians, while his father and two brothers were cord-winding specialists who manufactured instruments for local use. Despite their profession, none of Bach’s immediate family seem to have had any significant musical ability or training. His father taught him to play violin and harpsichord but appears to have refused to allow him any further musical education beyond basic instruction on those two instruments

George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel (1685 – 1759) was a German, later British baroque composer who spent the bulk of his career in London, becoming well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. Handel received important training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712; he became a naturalised British subject after acquiring a English opera company.

He was strongly influenced both by the great composers of the Italian Baroque and the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition. Within fifteen years, Handel had started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera. This coincided with George I’s interest in Italian opera as well.

Handel’s music was well-known to such later composers as Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, and his work enjoyed a revival in the first half of the nineteenth century. Handel heard tuning systems other than just Equal temperament during his stays in Italy, which may have influenced some of his later instrumental works.

Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Vivaldi was one of the most important composers of the Baroque period. He was born in Venice, Italy in 1678 and died in Vienna, Austria in 1741. Vivaldi is best known for his operas and concertos, but he also composed numerous other works including sacred music, solo vocal music, chamber music and sinfonias.

Vivaldi was a very prolific composer, writing over 500 concertos, 50 sonatas, 46 cantatas, 20 operas, as well as other miscellaneous pieces. Many of his works were written for specific performers and he often reused melodies and themes in different works. His best-known work is The Four Seasons, a set of four violin concerti each representing a different season of the year. He also wrote several other well-known concerti such as The Four Seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.

Vivaldi was a very popular composer during his lifetime and his music was performed all over Europe. However, after his death his popularity waned and it wasn’t until the 20th century that his music started to be performed and recorded again. Today he is considered one of the greatest composers of the Baroque period and his music is enjoyed by people all over the world.

The Characteristics of Classical Music

Classical music is art music produced or rooted in the traditions of Western culture, including both liturgical and secular music. While a more precise term is also used to refer to the period from 1750 to 1820, this article will use the broader term “classical music” to refer to all Western art music from the Medieval era to the 2000s.

The Orchestra

An orchestra is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families, including bowed string instruments such as the violin, viola and cello, as well as brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments, each grouped in sections. Other instruments such as the piano and harpsichord may sometimes appear in a fifth keyboard section or may stand alone, as may the concert harp and electric and electronic instruments. The orchestra, depending on the size, contains almost all of the standard instruments in each section.

In the history of the orchestra, its instrumentation has been expanded over time; often new forms of orchestration (e.g., the symphonic band) have been modeled after it. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ὀρχήστρα (orchestra), the name for the area in front of a stage in ancient Greek theatre reserved for the Greek chorus. A full-size orchestra may sometimes be called a “symphony orchestra” or simply a “symphony”. Smaller-sized orchestras are chamber orchestras usually consisting of between fifty and eighty musicians.

The String Quartet

A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – two violin players, a viola player and a cellist – or a musical composition written to be performed by such a group. The string quartet is one of the most prominent chamber ensembles in classical music, with most major composers, from the mid 18th century onwards, writing string quartets.

The initial four instruments have remained fairly constant in the string quartet genre, with only minor changes in instrumentation (such as the move from gut strings to steel strings in the late 19th century). The classical period saw a considerable expansion in the size and scope of the string quartet as a musical genre, with an increasing number of composers writing for this ensemble.

The string quartet was created in Italy in the 1750s by four major Italian composers of the time: Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Antonio Vivaldi, Carlo Francesco Durante and Giuseppe Tartini. The first Academies for Opera were also established in Italy during this period, which helped to spread the popularity of opera – and consequently opera-influenced chamber music – throughout Europe.

Thestring quartet reached its peak of popularity during the classical period, with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn writing some of their most famous works for this format. Beethoven also wrote several important string quartets, including his groundbreaking Opus 131 which features 7 movements played without pause. Other important classical-era composers who wrote for the string quartet include Luigi Boccherini, Johann Sebastian Bach (his Brandenburg Concertos feature multiple soloists including violinists), Franz Schubert and Franz Anton Hoffmeister.

The Concerto

The concerto is a musical genre that arose in the Baroque era. It is most oftenassociated with virtuoso soloists performing with an orchestra. The concerto form evolved from the Renaissance motet and madrigal, and reached its culmination in the work of Johann Sebastian Bach, who wrote a number of works for multiple soloists, including his brandenburg concertos.

The concerto grosso is a type of Baroque concerto in which the orchestra is divided into sections, or “choirs”, each of which plays a different part. The term can also refer to a specific work in this genre by Antonio Vivaldi, known as “The Four Seasons”.

The piano concerto is a type of concerto for solo piano and orchestra. It arose in the Classical era, and Mozart’s works in this genre are some of the most famous ever written.

The violin concerto is another popular type of concerto, featuring a solo violinist accompanied by an orchestra. Notable works in this genre include Bach’s “Violin Concerto in A Minor” and Beethoven’s “Violin Concerto in D Major”.

The Legacy of the Classical Period

The legacy of the Classical period has been immensely influential in the development of Western music as a whole. The period saw the rise of some of the most well-known and influential composers of all time, such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Johann Sebastian Bach. The music of the Classical period is characterized by its clarity, balance, and simplicity.

The Impact of the Classical Period on Music Today

The Classical period of music history corresponds to the period between the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century. Around this time, Western music began to diverge into distinct styles, and composers such as Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven helped to solidify these genres.

While the Classical period is often considered to be one of the most influential in western music, it is also notable for itsinstrumentation and form. Many of the instruments we know and love today were first used during this time, including the piano, clarinet and violin. The popularity of the sonata form also boomed during the Classical era – a development which would have a profound impact on all subsequent genres of classical music.

In short, the Classical period was a hugely important time for western music, and its legacy can still be heard in composers working today.