Classical Music

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Classical Music

Classical music is a style of music that was developed in the 1700’s. It was composed mainly for concerts opera, ballet, and religious services. Classical music has three main and important types of instrumental music. They are solo, chamber, and orchestral music. Solo music is for a single instrument. Small, short, solo music pieces became popular in the 1800's.Chamber music is composed for a small group of musicians. Finally there is orchestra music which of course was created for groups of bigger musicians and chamber orchestras.

Classical music has many forms. Composers that write the music give their pieces of music form by using basic procedures of repetition and by distinguishing their rhythm. The six most important forms of Classical music are Variation, Sonata, Rondo, Sectional Form, Free form and fugue.

Historians do not know much about music in the earliest of civilizations. But ancient pieces of artwork show instruments and musicians. Even so, it isn’t possible to know how their music sounded like. Classical music is usually divided into six historical periods. They are the Medieval Period, The Renaissance Period, The Baroque Period, The Classical Period, The Romantic Period, and The Contemporary Period.

The Medieval Period stretched from 400 AD all the way to the 1400’s. Most of the music that was composed in The Medieval Period was mainly for church services and religious purposes. In The Medieval Period they also composed secular music, which was non religious. The music was monophonic which means music which has one musical line without accompaniment. Polyphonic music did not exist or wasn’t notated until the 11th century. Polyphony means music in which there are two or more lines. Some important composers of medieval music are: Pope Gregory, Saint Augustine, Boethius, Hildegard von Bingen, Perotin, Guillaume de Machaut, John Dunstable, and Guillaume Dufay. The secular music in the Medieval Period was popularized by troubadours, who performed for royalty.

The Renaissance Period began in the early 1400’s and lasted through the 1500’s. Most composers in the Renaissance Period began their careers as singers in chapel and cathedral choirs. There they studied music and composition while they gained general education as well. Composers created new types of instrumental music from vocal forms. S ome important composers of the Renaissance are: Palestrina, Monteverdi, Gesualdo, Johannes Ockeghem, Josquin Desprez, Andrea Gabrielli, and Orlande de Lassus.

The Baroque Period starts in the early 1600’s and continues until the 1750’s. During the Baroque Period new types of instrumental works were developed, especially in Italy. These works included the Sonata, Concerto, fugue, and suite. During the Baroque Period new types of vocal

music were created, such as monody, canata, opera, and oratorio. Some important composers in the Baroque Period are: Johann Sebastian Bach, Claudio Monteverdi, Heinrich Schutz, Archangelo Corelli, Henry Purcell, Francois Couperin, and Antonio Vivaldi. In the Baroque Period the music consisted of: Strings, Double Reeds, Flutes, Harpsichord, Horn, Percussion, Timpani, Trumpet, String Bass, and Clarinets.

The Classical Period started in the mid 1700’s. It was a new musical style that was developed. The style of music was elegant and graceful. The style lasted until the 1800’s. Many composers in the Classical Period wrote music pieces for the piano since it the piano was invented in the early 1700’s. Some important composers in the Classical Period were: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Johann Christian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Christoph Willibald Gluck, and Franz Josef Haydn.

The Romantic Era was an expansion of the Classical Period. The music in the Romantic Era was more strong, expressive and diverse. This became known as the Romantic Era. The Romantic Era went from the 1800’s to the 1900’s .Ludwig Van Beethoven’s later work shows his from the directness of the Classical style to the emotional style of the Romantic. Romantic Era composers made short works for small groups to perform and for soloists and large works for orchestras and choirs. Some important composers in the Classical Period are: Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Wagner, Franz Schubert, Hector Berlioz, Frederic Chopin, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Giuseppe Verdi, Johannes Brahms, Modest Mussorgsky, Peter Tchaikovsky, Antonin Dvorák, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Gabriel Fauré, Sir Edward William Elgar, Giacomo Puccini, and Gustav Mahler.

Last but not least the Contemporary Period goes from the 1900’s to the present day. The composers in the early Contemporary Period developed many new styles of music. A French composer by the name of Claude Debussy developed a new style of music that came to be impressionism. This style prolonged the limits of tonality, which means centering the harmony on a single pitch. Other styles such as Neoclassicism, Atonal music, Experimental music, and Third-stream music were also developed in this time. Music in the Contemporary Period was a blend of the new styles and the old. Some important composers in the Contemporary Period are: David Ott ,Ottorino Respighi ,Berese ,Anton Bruckner ,Barter ,John Williams ,Leos Janácek, Claude Debussy ,Richard Strauss ,Morgen - R. Strauss ,Carl Nielsen ,Jan Sibelius, Arnold Schoenberg ,Ralph Vaughan Williams ,Maurice Ravel ,Béla Bartók ,Igor Stravinsky ,Anton von Webern, Alban Berg ,Sergei Prokofiev ,Paul Hindemith ,George Gershwin, Kurt Weill ,Aaron Copland ,Dmitri Shostakovich ,Olivier Messiaen ,John Cage ,Benjamin Britten ,Pierre Boulez ,Luciano Berio ,Philip Glass.

Classical music is only one type of music there are in this world! It existed from AD 400 to the present day. Classical music is composed for operas, ballets, concerts and religious services. What kind of music do you like?

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References

Turner, Barrie Carson, Famous Childhoods Ludwig Van Beethoven, Chrysalis Education, 2003.

Turner, Barrie Carson, Famous Childhoods Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Chrysalis Education, 2003.

Turner, Barrie Carson, Famous Childhoods Johann Sebastian Bach, Chrysalis Education, 2003.

Ardley, Neil, Eyewitness Music, Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2004.

Weeks, Marcus, Mozart The Boy Who Changed The World With His Music, National Geographic, 2007.

Vernon, Roland, Introducing Beethoven, Chelsea House Publishers, 1994.

Vernon, Roland, Introducing Bach, Chelsea House Publishers, 1995.

Vernon, Roland, Introducing Vivaldi, Chelsea House Publishers, 1996.

Vernon, Roland, Introducing Mozart, Chelsea House Publishers, 1996.

World Book Encyclopedia – Ci to Cz – Volume 4, World Book Inc, 2007

Dearling, Robert, Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments –Woodwind & Brass Instruments, Carlton Books Limited, 2001.

Dearling, Robert, Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments – Stringed Instruments, Carlton Books Limited, 2001.

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