A Brief History of Classical Era Music

A quick history of classical era music and the composers who wrote during the time.

The Origins of Classical Era Music

Classical Era music is rooted in the traditions of the Western world, specifically Europe. This type of music dates back to the late 18th century and early 19th century. The Classical Era is known for its virtuous, elegant, and intellectual composition. Famous composers from this era include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Schubert.

The Baroque Era

The Baroque era was a time of great creativity in music, especially in the development of grandiose works for solo voice, orchestra and keyboard. The period saw the rise of opera and the birth of classical instrumental music, as well as advances in theory and composition.

Some of the most important composers of the Baroque era include Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Vivaldi, Corelli and Scarlatti. The Baroque style is characterized by its ornate melodies, complex harmonies and use of counterpoint.

The Baroque era began around 1600 and ended around 1750.

The Classical Era

The Classical music era is conventionally said to cover the years 1750 to 1830. This period follows the Baroque Era and the Rococo period, and precedes the Romantic Era.

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.

Characteristics of Classical Era Music:
-Composers sought to emulate Greek notions of beauty, proportion and balance.
-This was also the time of Enlightenment thought, so reason and objectivity were highly valued.
-Music from this era has a lighter, more delicate texture than Baroque music.
-Harmonic simplicity was favored over chromatic (many notes in close succession).
-The theme and variations form was widely used.

The Major Composers of the Classical Era

The Classical era was a period of music history that lasted from 1750 to 1820. The major composers of this era were Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. This was a time when music became more expressive and emotional.

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany, in 1685. He was a renowned German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist of the Baroque Era. He is known for his masterful and complex fugues, such as The Art of Fugue and The Well-Tempered Clavier. Bach’s work had a profound influence on the development of Western classical music.

Bach’s earliest music education came from his father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, who was a court trumpeter for the Duke of Eisenach. His father taught him to play the violin and transverse flute. Sebastian Bach also received vocal training from Georg Gudmunt polyphonic vocal techniques. By the age of 10, Sebastian was already an accomplished musician and had composed several small pieces.

In 1700, Bach enrolled at St Michael’s School in Luneburg. There he studied music theory with Georg Boehm, organ with Friedrich Wender, and counterpoint with Johann Kuhnau. After graduating in 1703, he became a court musician for Prince Johann Ernst in Weimar. There he met and married his first wife Maria Barbara Bach in 1707. The couple had seven children together; four of them (Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, and Johann Christian Bach) would go on to become successful musicians in their own right.

In 1708, Sebastian Bach was appointed Konzertmeister (concertmaster) at the Weimar court. In this position, he was responsible for leading the musical ensembles and composing instrumental works for the court; he also gave weekly keyboard lessons to the Prince’s son Wilhelm Friedemann. During his time in Weimar Sebastian wrote some of his most famous works including his first orchestral suite (Overture in C Major) and Brandenburg Concerto No 5 (in D Major).

In 1717 Sebastian left Weimar to take up the post of musical director at Anhalt-Cöthen. PrinceLeopold was an enthusiastic amateur musician and patron of the arts; under his patronage Sebastian composed some of his most celebrated sacred cantatas as well as instrumental pieces such as The Well-Tempered Clavier (Book 1) and Violin Concerto in A minor. Unfortunately Prince Leopold died suddenly in 1728; following his death Sebastian lost favor at Court and lost his position as musical director.

Sebastian then took up a new post as cantor at St Thomas Church in Leipzig where he would remain for the rest of his life. As cantor it was Sebastian’s job to oversee all aspects of the church’s musical life including composing new works each week for services as well as training and conducting choirs He also gave weekly lectures on music theory as well as teaching private pupils; among his most famous students were Gottfried Silbermann (a noted German builder of organs)and Friedrich Smend (a later Goldschmidt conductor).

During his time at St Thomas Church Sebastian wrote some 200 motets (sacred choral works), more than 100 Cantatas (one new work for each Sunday service), 4 Passions( settings for Good Friday), liturgical works such as Kyrie Eleisonand Gloriain Excelsis Deo ,and a number of large scale secular vocal works such Oratorios(such as BWV 21 Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe) . He also completed a number iconic instrumental pieces such as Toccata & Fuguein D minor(BWV 565),Brandenburg Concertos(BWV 1046-1051), English Suites(BWV 806-811), French Suites(BWV 812-817), cello Suites(BWV 1007-1012) ,Partitasfor solo violin(BWV 1002-1004) or keyboard (BWV 825-830), Goldberg Variations(BWV 988). Manyof these pieces are still performed regularly today 300 years after they were written!

Sebastian died suddenly on July 28th 1750 aged only 65 while working on what would become oneof is final masterpieces: The Art of Fugueor Die Kunst der Fugeas it is known in German . This collectionof 14 fuguesand 4 canonsexplores the possibilitiesof contrapuntalwriting; it is consideredto be oneof the greatest achievementsof Western music .

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791), baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era.

Born in Salzburg, Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed his first concerto at the age of five and his first symphony at the age of eight. At 17, Mozart was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court but grew restless and travelled in search of a better position. While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his early death at the age of 35.

The circumstances of his early death have been much mythologized. After a short illness, he was bled to death by his physician Johann Thomas Thorwarth; however biographer Alfred Einstein wrote that this incident is “wholly unauthenticated” and that other sources suggest that Mozart died because he had refused to take on liquid food or medicine when he was unable to swallow solids.

Mozart’s abilities were so widely recognized during his lifetime that contemporaries often referred to him as “the divine Mozart” or “the prodigy”. He is said to have benefitted greatly from having an understanding father as tutor and role model; however contemporary accounts claim that Leopold’s tough discipline harshly curtailed young Wolfgang’s creativity and emotional expression.

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven (bon Bonn, 1770 – bed Vienna, 1827) was a German composer and pianist, who is arguably the defining figure in the history of Western music.

Beethoven’s monumental status in music was cemented in his own lifetime. Born in late-18th century Bonn, he moved to Vienna as a young man and quickly gained a reputation as an accomplished pianist and an inventive, if erratic, composer. In his twenties, he grit his teeth and persisted through hearing loss, continuing to compose masterful works even as he was robbed of the ability to perform or hear them. These works – which included his nine symphonies, five piano concerti, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets and one opera – redefined the boundaries of tonality and genre, and remain some of the most beloved pieces in the western musical canon.

The Characteristics of Classical Era Music

The Classical era is a period of music history that lasted from the late 18th century to the early 19th century. This era is known for its symphonies, operas, and concertos. The music of this era was highly emotional and frequently explored the theme of heroism.

The Use of Form

During the Classical period, composers began to experiment with different ways of organizing their music. This resulted in the development of new musical forms, such as the sonata and the symphony.

Classical composers also made use of existing forms, such as the minuet and the rondo. They often used these forms as building blocks for larger works, such as sonatas and symphonies.

The use of form was one of the main distinguishing features of Classical Era music. By using various musical forms, composers were able to create works that were both structurally sound and aesthetically pleasing.

The Use of Melody

The classical era was a time of great change in music. One of the biggest changes was the move away from using melody to create pieces of music. Instead, composers began to focus on creating pieces that were based around harmony and counterpoint. This shift meant that classical pieces tended to be more complex than those from earlier periods, and they often had a greater sense of structure.

The Use of Harmony

The use of harmony in classical era music was much more limited than it is in modern music. In the classical era, composers generally wrote pieces for a small number of instruments, without the use of accompaniment by a full orchestra or choir. This meant that they needed to be very careful in their use of harmony, as too many different notes played at once would sound chaotic and confusing. Instead, they tended to focus on writing melodies that could be easily played by a small group of instruments.

One of the most important aspects of classical era harmony was the use of counterpoint. This is when two or more melodies are played at the same time, often in different register (e.g. one higher and one lower). This created a much richer sound than simply playing one melody on its own, and also helped to create a sense of balance and Structure within a piece of music.

Classical era composers also made heavy use of tonality, which is when a piece is written in a particular key (e.g. C major or F minor). This helped to create a sense of unity within a piece, as all the notes would work together to create a specific tonal center. By contrast, atonal music is when there is no tonal center, and the notes are used more freely without following any specific key. This was later popularized by composers such as Arnold Schoenberg in the 20th century.

The Legacy of Classical Era Music

The Classical era was a period of music history that lasted from the late 18th century to the early 19th century. The era was marked by the rise of the symphony and opera. Classical era composers such as Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven are some of the most famous names in music history. The Classical era was a time of great change in music.

The Impact on Modern Music

The Classical era was a period of great change and development in music. The music of the era is characterised by its balance, clarity and simplicity, with the intention of achieving beauty and emotional expression. These ideas were first put forward by the philosophers Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Denis Diderot in the mid-1700s, and they had a profound impact on the course of music history.

One of the most important things to come out of the Classical era was what is now known as functional tonality. This is the idea that all music is based around a central tonic note, or key, with other notes being used to create tension and resolution. This system was first proposed by Johann Sebastian Bach in his treatise The Well-Tempered Clavier, and it went on to become the basis for all Western classical music.

Another significant development during the Classical era was the rise of public concert halls. These were places where people could go to hear music performed by professional musicians. The most famous concert hall of the time was built in London in 1791, and it quickly became popular with both performers and audiences.

The Classical era was also a time of great change for musical instruments. New technologies allowed for more efficient production of guitars, violins and other stringed instruments, while pianos and other keyboard instruments began to replace older harpsichord models. All of these changes helped to make music more accessible to a wider range of people.

Today, we can still hear echoes of the Classical era in modern music. Many composers have been inspired by the works of Bach, Haydn and Mozart, and continue to explore the possibilities of tonality and chord progressions first explored during this period.