Characteristics Of Classical Music

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was unlike most other composers of his time. “He wrote music for the glory of God, and to satisfy his own burning curiosity, not for future fame.” During the 1700s, people knew him as a talented musician, not as a composer, as we do today. He never left his country to pursue bigger and better things. Bach was content as long as he could play music. Traditions were very important to him. He wanted to carry on the musical tradition of his family, and never opted to change the traditional ways of composing, as did most composers. Bach’s work is vast and unique.

The Classical period of music has also been called the “Rococo” period. The Classical time period was between the 18th and 19th centuries. Spanning the years of 1750-1820. The transition from the Baroque period to the Classical took the music from polyphonic to homophonic where even though it seems like that would make the music less complex we look at a whole different type of complexity. The music typically contained two different melodies and a contrast in sections. This made the chords in the music much more defined and the tonal part of the music became more defined. The Classical period had a significant influence on several aspects of music. Chamber music had a sonata form. This means it had an exposition, a transition, and a recapitulation. Composition in the Classical time was mainly dominated by eclecticism which made the music more diverse. Concerto was driven at first by the Italians. They started the idea of the solo concerto. Orchestration was mainly developed during this musical time period. This is partly due to some of the most talented musicians that lived during this time. They did a lot of work in making the orchestra mainly string instruments. Some of these being the violin, viola, cello, and the contrabass, just to name a few. All of these things had a great influence in the way the music made the transition from the Baroque period to the Classical period.

In music during the Baroque era, there were two composers that well represented the style of its time, George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach (Kamien 102). Bach was such an important aspect to the Baroque era that when he died in 1750 it marked the end of the Baroque era pushing the era into the Classical period (Kamien 102). Other famous

Vivaldi and Bach have a relationship that surpasses their skills. In this, surprisingly, Vivaldi was the teacher, and Bach the student. Bach really appreciated Vivaldi because he transcribed several of his concertos. Vivaldi introduced a rhythmic liveliness and harmonic clarity that captivated Bach. He added to the blend of French dance genres, ornamentation, and German counterpoint in his inscriptions of Baroque style.

The Baroque Era and the Classical Era are two critical time periods in observing music. Some of the most famous composers have written pieces that are popular in the world today. The two periods share many similar characteristics, however new genres and forms developed throughout each period because of new ideas and knowledge spreading. My personal favorite is the Baroque period because of the abundance of new musical knowledge that was introduced, particularly in Vivaldi’s famous piece La Primavera, Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra, Op. 8, No. 1, I.

He was of significance to his pupils and contempory musical connoisseurs in a way that set the foundation for the rest of Western Art music to follow. For many Bach is like coming home, in fact, “…in old Bach there is always something astonishing, and, what is the main thing, there is always something to be learned from

The Baroque and Classical periods are where we see the emergence of renowned composers like Handel, Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart and Beethoven. The music from these famous composers are some of the world’s most recognizable and beautiful classics of all time. Music of these eras are still being used in many of today’s movies and commercials. Musical characteristics developed from these eras are still used and heard presently in popular music.

Some of the most well known composers came to be in the in the classical music period. Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the composers, along with other greats of the time like Haydn and Mozart, which helped to create a new type of music. This new music had full rich sounds created by the new construction of the symphony orchestra.

For example, This will destroy you song represents terraced dynamic in the way that the distinction between the solo and full band plays. However, modern day music also adds more to this, the computerized effects such as, distortion and reverbs. The addition of computerized instrument, gives modern day music advantages Bach could have never been able to incorporate. Although, I believe if given the chance to use these new instruments, Bach certainly would have because he was known for staying up to date on all current styles (Whitehouse 84).

Bach's music was brought back to life. Certainly, Archie Shepp is right, when he says that we could no longer capture the spirit from 50 years ago, but why it is necessary? For Shepp, this is probably because he was born in this time. It must be already odd if you hear the music of your days almost half a century later reinterpreted and newly arranged. This music is definitely different, but still long away from being dead.

The Baroque Period (1600-1750) was mainly a period of newly discovered ideas. From major new innovations in science, to vivid changes in geography, people were exploring more of the world around them. The music of the baroque period was just as extreme as the new changes. Newly recognized composers such as Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, and Monteverdi were writing entirely new musical ideas and giving a chance for new voices to be heard that were normally not thought of sounds. Their musical legacy is still recognized today, and is a treasured discovery of outstanding compositions being reiterated with every performance of them.

Before looking more closely at the composers’ works, they must be placed in their proper historical contexts. Bach was a great composer of the

The baroque period of music commenced in the year 1600 and ended around 1750 (Fuller – “Baroque”). Its texture was mainly polyphonic (Fuller – “Classical”). Polyphonic means that two or more different melodies are played simultaneously (McComb). This provides an energetic rhythm, long melodies, and many ornaments. The most famous composers of this time period were Vivaldi, Corelli, Monteverdi, Purcell, Handel, J.S. Bach, and Couperin. Many new styles of music were introduced, such as operas, sonatas, oratorios, suites, fugues, and concertos. Orchestras began to develop, but it was not until the classical period when orchestral music was perfected (Fuller – “Baroque”).

The classical music period extends from 1740 to 1810, which includes the music of Haydn, Mozart, and the first period of Beethoven. The classical period of music combined harmony, melody, rhythm, and orchestration more effectively than earlier periods of music. With the natural evolution of music slowly changing with the culture, the baroque era had ended. That era had left a structure, articulation and periodic phrasing of music which would shape classical music.

1. Briefly describe the status of music in relation to the other arts in the nineteenth century.