Classical Era Music

Plato once said, “Music Gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” Music has touched the human soul since the dawn of time. In the Bible times, music was directly related to the worship of God. For example, David the Psalms talks about dancing and music to praise God with the “lute, and cymbal”. Music, like much of everything else, has been affected due to the fall. Music was still mostly used for worship and praise of God until the early 1800’s. Between the 16th and 18th Century the classical genera of music evolved greatly. Bach, Mozart, and Vivaldi all wrote music within the classical genera, but within different eras of classical music.

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.

The abundance of harmonies never loses the thread to his audience. Furthermore, the opening of the slow movement inspires the imagination and attention of its listeners. All these elements make this piece one of the most successful concertos in the musical history.

The first movement began with a very strong texture as the music reflected a very powerful theme. It began with the heavy instrumentation from the strings including cellos, violins, and basses. The tempo was also relatively fast and generally upbeat. About a minute and half in there was a very noticeable solo by the violins which was a bit softer in terms of the texture. The melody seemed to be very upbeat and cheerful. Lasting the form of the movement was very well structured and the instruments backed each other up smoothly.

The term Baroque has been widely acknowledged as a period in Western European Art Music lasting for 150 years from early 17th to mid-18th century. The word itself is originated from barroco in Portuguese meaning “oddly shaped pearl”, which best describes the visual and details of the buildings existed during that period. Its flamboyant and ornate details of the building is what causes ornamentations and harpsichords to become an essential element of Baroque music. Bach, ornamentation, and harpsichord are few of the most recognisable elements of Western Art music during the Baroque period. Nonetheless, we all came to a second realisation that the Baroque era lasted for more than 150 years, meaning that it has its own remarkable history and

In the piece the performing force were for sure the clarinet, played by Rich Moore, and piano, played by Philip Spencer. In the beginning it sounded very elegant and peaceful. It gave the feeling of being submerged in nature on a sunny and warm day. The mood of this was definitely happy and joyful. Further along the viola, played by Jackie Moore, make an appearance and it seems to be in conflict with the clarinet. It felt like a fight between good, portrayed by the clarinet, and bad portrayed by the viola. This completely changed the mood from joyful to suspenseful and dangerous. The piano, during this part, felt like the narrator of the “battle”. The tone color changed a bit from the beginning from warm and smooth to warm still but added a bit of coldness with the viola added. Throughout the rest of the piece it was a lot of back and forth, but it seemed to come to an end when both the viola and clarinet come to a happy ending. The texture of the composition was, for the most part, entirely was polyphonic with at times homophonic, an example was in the beginning with the piano and clarinet. Since this was composed in 1786, in the classical era, the rhythm had sudden changes and gradual increases and decreases in energy especially during the “battle” between the viola and

The first movement is in sonata form and contains the elements: exposition, development, recapitulation and coda. The tempo of the symphony is allegro con brio. The movement is marked with contrast. The dynamics vary the note motive and also has a dramatic change. The majority of the movement is played either forte or fortissimo, with several piano and pianissimo phrases providing contrast. I think the rhythm is regular, 2/4 meter. The main melody is supported by accompaniment, and I think the symphony is homophonic.

“He (Beethoven) was a pivotal figure in the transition from 18th century musical classicism to 19th century romanticism, and his influence on subsequent generations of composers was profound” Kerman and Tyson. Beethoven’s sixth symphony (also known as the pastoral symphony) has qualities of both the classical and romantic periods and illustrates Beethoven’s revolutionary ideas as well as highlights his classical influences. The programmatic nature of the piece is the dominant romantic feature although the use of brass and percussion as well as the dramatic dynamic changes are also characteristics from this era. However there are many classical influences in Beethoven’s work such as the balanced phrasing, the

The first movement is played Allegro in Sonata form. The mood of this movement was bright and cheerful. I liked how the orchestra accompanied the violin. In the second movement it was played Adagio. Because the movement was slower, the mood was a little more tranquil. I liked this movement, because you could hear the violin solo playing an octave higher than the orchestra. The third movement which was the finale, was played Rondeau Allegro. In this movement, I really enjoyed the playfulness of this movement. The violin solo was quite impressive. Overall, this entire piece was quite enjoyable, I really liked the playing back and forth with the solo and orchestra. The orchestra played in tune and everyone was definitely playing in rhythm and were well prepared. I

It contains melody in the beginning with its four note motif. As for the rhythm, the first movement is organized into distinct time units. The beat of the first movement is easy to listen to and recognizable. The harmony of this piece is in the C minor scale. It begins in C minor, then transitions into E♭major, and ends with C minor. Throughout the course of the first movement, there is a variety of timbre when the various instruments change from the beginning to the end. As for the texture of this piece, it is considered to be homophonic. It contains a melody plus chordal accompaniment. Lastly, the form of this piece is that it is a symphony in sonata

After the traditional setting in Symphony #1, Beethoven varied his treatment of the 3rd movement as a traditional “Minuet” form while substituting a “Scherzo” for the penultimate movements of Symphonies 2, 3, and 5. Beethoven is credited for inventing this movement of the symphonic form and it is his original treatments of the “scherzo” that define its characteristics of tempo, length, and style. Adding new flair and style, the scherzo is almost twice as fast as the dance based “minuet” form of the classical and baroque period. Beethoven did not abandon the Minuet, as it reappears in later symphonies, but the implementation of this new symphonic movement gives credence to the notion that Beethoven had mastered the traditional form, and felt free to alter the compositional structure to give the greatest effect to the work as a whole. By the completion of his 7th Symphony, Beethoven had developed the scherzo into a serious movement of the classical symphonic form.

Most everyone will agree that music is enjoyed by everyone. However, not everyone likes the same types of music. The good thing is, music has the ability to provide a vast variety of sounds that everyone can appreciate in some form or fashion. I attended the Festival Fanfare Classical Music Concert on June 14, 2016, in Hattiesburg, MS. This was the first time that I ever attended a classical music event. Not knowing if I particularly liked classical music, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed listening to the three instruments being played: the trumpet, the piano, and the organ.

On Friday 13th April, 2017, the Yale School of Music performed a symphony concert named ‘Beethoven Winds’ at the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall. They played four pieces by Beethoven using aerophones which are wind instruments like the Oboe, English horn, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn. They are all classical style pieces which were written during the Romantic Period. These musical pieces were played by the faculty and alumni of the Yale School of Music. The Yale School of Music is an Ivy League, elite school which was established in 1894 in New Haven, Connecticut and has been instrumental in training many musicians and composers. The school’s chamber music is a renowned and acclaimed program and their graduates have created many chamber ensembles.

The 1st movement is in sonata form. The slow introduction to this symphony is unusual in that it begins in the subdominant key - E minor, solemnly introduced by the bassoons. It modulates into B minor and the tempo increases for the principal subject. This theme is elaborated and developed, and a march-like motif forms a bridge passage leading to a climax. The strings then introduce an amorous, song-like second subject in D major. The development section enters with a bang. This section brings no startling thematic growth or transformation, but is

One of the main causes that help in the development of the arts, was the rough period of war in Europe. Janacek work on the sonata for nearly eight years revising it several times, and he finally completed it in 1922. He also combined ancient and loved folk music with modern composition techniques. Janacek composed the Violin Sonata as a reaction to the war. His early composition, which were mostly choral works, display various influences from composers such as Wagner and Beethoven. This is short and concentrated work and is based on short motives, rapid changes of tempo, and intense emotional expression. The presentation has four parts or movements such as, Con Moto, which is passionate and lyrical, and begins with an exciting violin solo, followed by a tense lyrical melody accompanied by piano tremolos. During the concert you could hear the repetition and shortness of the notes. The development of the sound was build similar to someone been in pain, torment, and eventually started to feel release and gain their freedom. The second movement Balada is a warm melody based on a simple motive of folk flavor, supported by the piano broken chords. This part has a more lyrical and calm theme. The third movement, Allegretto is a very peculiar two minute scherzo, with a vague Russian tinge. The melody is also simple and unexpected, with a constant