History (Classical)
History of Music 14C-20C – Classical period
Classical (c.1750 – c.1830)
Only about 80 years long but inspired by the ancient Greco/Roman culture this majestic period was responsible for the Symphony (an epic orchestral piece of several movements) the Concerto (featuring one instrument with orchestra) Sonata form was also developed and refined. The perfection, order and symmetry of high baroque led to new heights of structure and expression.
Mozart and Haydn were enormously significant with Beethoven making further dynamic strides towards the Romantic period which soon followed. Those 3 composers may have watered seeds sown by J.S. Bach’s sons C.P.E Bach, W.F. Bach, J. C. Bach and Boccherini, Gluck and others during the period described as ‘Rococo’. The ‘Rococo’ was really a late Baroque period which led to the classical era. The main ‘classical’ composers are listed in the box below.
Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Schubert;
Luigi Boccherini, Muzio Clementi, Antonio Soler, Antonio Salieri, François Joseph Gossec, Johann Stamitz, Carl Friedrich Abel, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and Christoph Willibald Gluck.Beethoven and Schubert are regarded either as Romantic composers or as transitional composers from the classical to the Romantic period.
Vienna was the musical centre of Europe and the best composers naturally gravitated towards the Austrian capital. If you have seen the film ‘Amadeus’ then you will be aware of the great rivalries composers had at that time, particularly between Mozart and Salieri.
Musical Forms that took their shape during this time were the minuet and trio, rondo. sonata. sonatina, theme & variations etc. Symphonies and Concertos used some of the new forms within the different movements – most commonly sonata, minuet and trio, scherzo. Also composers preferred to name their works Symphony No. 3, Sonata in C, rather than grander descriptive titles.
The classical Symphony superseded the Baroque concerto grosso and used a full orchestra. Sonata form came to dominate the symphony, concerto and sonata. The concerto would feature a single instrument (although Mozart wrote a concerto for flute and harp) and be accompanied by a full orchestra. The Sonata (meaning ‘to sound’) was written for solo piano or a single instrument accompanied by piano.
