Classical Music
n : traditional genre of music conforming to an established form and appealing to critical interest and developed musical taste [syn: serious music]
Classical music, as the name suggests, is a well-established kind of music, at least in the West. Classical music concerts take place in every cultural center, and they take many forms, from a solo to large symphonic orchestras, from a sonata to an opera. This kind of music has many fans, especially among circles of intellectuals. But how did this great kind of music start? What made the great composers compose? And how was this all used before the time of recorded music and portable mp3 players? These are the questions we are going to examine today.
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The wealthy family provided him with his own small orchestra, and this gave him the opportunity to produce very many compositions. He was inspired by every day events, such as the times of day to write the triptych "Morning, Noon and Evening", and by the seasons to compose "The Seasons". He also composed the well-known symphony "Farewell", to give the Esterhazy Prince a hint: that he was holding the musicians for too long, and he had to give them some time off.
All his music was for the ears of a small, privileged audience, primarily for their own amusement.
However, not all the great composers worked for wealthy families. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a younger composer who Haydn considered as his only true peer in music wanted his music to last in time, and be heard by larger groups of people. This led him to produce many operas, and also religious music. He was inspired by ancient Greek and Roman history and mythology, but also by comic events of the every day life. However, he did not enjoy the same funding as Haydn, because of lack of a permanent (wealthy) audience, and also because of the war that broke out in Europe at the time.
Mozart's probably most famous composition is his unfinished "Requiem", which legend holds he wrote for his own death. Mozart's compositions were mainly played (and still are) either to amuse people (comic operas), or as religious music. Some of his
The emphasis on individualism and passionate expression of the self during the late 18th and early 19th century is also exemplified in the musical realm through the revolutionary work of one of the most highly influential musicians, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. At the time of Mozart’s birth, the most popular and conventional music was created in the style of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. After the discovery of Mozart’s prodigal musical genius and honing his skill through several positions of employment, Mozart began to realize his individualism as a gifted artist. Mozart became aware of his potential for greatness and used his gift not to conform to the style of music at the time, but to use his music as a form of passionate self-expression. Mozart would not let anything extinguish his passion and freedom to create, even if it caused him great financial struggle throughout most of adulthood. The musical pieces Mozart created differed from that the music of the time in the sense that his work was highly driven by passion and emotion. Rather than focusing solely on the structure and the elaborateness of the
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart lived from January 27, 1756 to December 5, 1791. Mozart was a very influential and prolific composer of more than 600 works, including symphonies, concertante, chamber, piano, opera, and choral music. Regarded as a child prodigy, Mozart composed and performed in the European courts from the age of five, and was engaged at the Salzburg court at 17. Mozart’s musical style can be classified as Classical, although he learned from many of his contemporaries throughout his musical career. In order to better understand Mozart’s genius it is best to begin looking at his earliest contributions to the musical world as a child. From there, an exploration of his
Composing works derived from styles already in existence, he created an extremely unique and unprecedented genre of works. Thus Mozart became a trailblazer of the classical age. Music from this period consists largely of a lighter and clearer texture than the preceding Baroque music and is less intricate. One trademark especially evident in Mozart’s contribution to the classical period is the use of homophony. Examples of the homophonic effect are displayed in his piano concerto No. 23 and sonata No 16 in C. In these, the distinct pattern of an indubitable melody can be distinctly and easily recognized above the adjunct chordal accompaniment. Although Mozart contributed primarily to the growth of the classical era, he was also influenced by the works of Handel and Bach. Both were prominent composers of the baroque era. In some of his later works, Mozart indulged more in the incorporation of the previous baroque
He was one of the most well-known and influential composers in the Classical Era. In the early years of his life, Mozart proved to be a prodigy. Growing up he “mastered the universal technical difficulties of musical composition, such as counterpoint, harmony, fugue, variation, instrumentation, and formal planning (of arias, ensembles, sonatas, and rondos); yet all this learning never suppressed the element of fantasy. Mozart excelled in virtually every genre and style” (Rushton, Paragraph 1) Mozart composed over 600 works varying from concertos, operas, sonatas, and symphonies. During the years 1782—1785, Mozart performed a series of concerts, earing him a substantial amount of wealth. In 1786, he returned to opera where his career began to slowly decline, causing him and his family to change from the comfortable lifestyle they grew accustom to living frugally. 1791, the year Mozart died was a year of great productivity. He wrote many new works, such as The Magic Flute, Clarinet Concerto K.622, and Ave verum corpus K.618. Unfortunately, he became ill and his health began to deteriorate. He died December 5th, 1791 at the age of
Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, or Wolfgang Mozart for short, was born on January 27, 1756. He was an Austrian composer that today is known as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music. Mozart wrote in multiple musical genres, excelling in each one. Because of his range of expression, it made him seem the most universal of all composers.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was one of the archetypal classical composers, along with Franz Haydn. He composed over 600 works, including choral, symphonic,
This paper discusses Mozart's life, his compositions and his importance to the world and the world of music. It explains how Mozart's music is still some of the most popular classical music played today and his life is still studied because his music is so well known and liked.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven are two of the greatest composers ever to write music. Both men lived in the early 18th and 19th century, but their music and influences are still felt today. The men faced similar experiences, yet they both lead very different lives. All together the pieces that these men composed amounts to over 300 published, and unpublished works of art. The people of their time period often had mixed feelings about these men, some “complained that Mozart’s music presented them with too many ideas and that his melodies moved from one to the next faster than audiences could follow, yet the ideas themselves seem effortless and natural, clear and
While working freelance, Mozart wrote numerous operas and he was even asked to write a requiem, which is a piece of music used to honor someone who had died.
When you hear or think of classical music, what do you think of? What should come to your mind is someone by the name of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who is best known as just Mozart, had a huge impact on classical music and truly changed the style forever. He had a remarkable young childhood, but then went through some up and downs as he got older. Mozart was best known by his personal life, career, and music.
At the age of eight, he wrote a symphony and at eleven, he wrote an oratorio. Then, at the age of twelve he wrote a great opera. Mozart's father was Leopold Mozart, who happened to be a court musician. Both Mozart and Beethoven had help from their fathers in many different ways. Mozart's father helped him travel around as a young musician and he traveled many places and he seen many well-known people and aristocrats. Because of Mozart's early successes many challenges had become part of his life. He had very high expectations from the community and from his father. Unlike, Beethoven, Mozart was spoiled as a youth and because of this he refused to be treated as a servant. He completely relied on his father’s help and refused to work with the archbishop. This would become a problem later when Mozart did not develop enough initiative. Because of that he could not make decisions on his own.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s style unlike anyone else. Mozart was a master of counterpoint, fugue, and the other traditional compositional points of his day. He is also considered the best melody writer the world has ever known. Wolfgang perfected the grand forms of symphony, opera string quartet, and concerto made the classical period. “Mozart’s music is characterized by lucid ease and distinction of style....”2 Wolfgang wrote over 600 works which consisted of 21 stage and opera works, 15 masses, over 50 symphonies, 25 piano concertos, 12 violin concertos,27 concert arias, 17 piano sonatas, 26 string quartets, and many more. His operas range from comic baubles to tragic pieces. In his Requiem it illustrates the supreme vocal sounds in any of his work.
In Salzburg, Austria, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756. Wolfgang was the only son of Leopold and Maria Pertl Mozart to survive. Wolfgang began learning about music when he was three years old, watching his sister Nannerl play the keyboard. He was a musical prodigy, composing his first piece at 5, and beginning “tours” with his father at 6 years old. When Wolfgang turned 13, his father took him to Italy to show off this young boy’s talents. Before Mozart turned 21, he was appointed to be assistant concertmaster. It was at this time that he wrote his first opera. Mozart left on another tour in 1777, and then returned to Salzburg to be a court organist. He soon decided he was not so fond of this position, and resigned to become a freelance musician in Vienna. When he moved to Vienna, he married Constanze Weber, against his father’s wishes. Wolfgang lived in luxury during the beginning of his life in Vienna, he was producing popular operas. Soon, though, he began to lack money, and took loans that would leave him in debt for the rest of his life. In the final years of Mozart’s life, he was most productive, writing his most famous symphonies, The Magic Flute, and of course,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is the composer of Symphony No. 40 in G minor. This piece was composed in 1788. Mozart overshadowed and took after his father, Leopold, who was a talented composer of the time. After his father passed, young Mozart had the opportunity to work in several different musical genres composing symphonies, string quartets, sonatas and serenades and a few operas. He developed a passion for violin concertos producing what came to be the only five he wrote.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was probably the greatest genius in Western musical history. He was born in Salzberg, Austria on January 27, 1756. The son of Leopold Mozart and his wife Anna Maria Pertl. Leopold was a successful composer and violinist and assistant concertmaster at the Salzberg court.