The Classic Era And The Classic And Romantic Eras

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.

What were some of the social and cultural influences on the music of the Romantic period? this period expresses "freedom" and "individuality.". During the early Classical periods such as Baroque, music was made for the church and only for the church because there was no profit, or benefitAnother similarity touches the both music eras include melody and harmony. In reference to the "Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Classical Music," aspects like melody and harmony were not ruined during the Romantic period.

Music is present in every culture’s past, present, and future. It has been around since 500 B.C. and was especially important in the Elizabethan Era. There were reinventions of music as it was widespread and popular. Without this essential time in history, modern music may have been completely different from what we have today. This era brought new uses for music, styles of compositions, new instruments, and the uprising of popular composers.

To begin with , the 18th century was the Classical era. In which music had order, symmetry, and formal restraint. Composers such as Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven began creating music that pulled away from music that was mainly created for churches. This secular music they created became entertainment for the aristocrats and the nobility. A composer by the name of Johann Stamitz  organized one of  preliminary forms of the classical orchestra. This orchestra consisted of the string section, the woodwind section, the brass section, and the percussion section. The largest of the orchestra was called a symphony.

The Classical time period, which spanned a length of seventy years, from 1750 to 1820, was very different in nature from its predecessor, the Baroque time period. The Baroque era featured works that were ornamentally elaborate, where the artists and composers centered their works on a big, bold style that was dramatic in its composition. Artists and composers transferred strong feelings of tension and emotion into their works and it was common for there to be some type of action or movement happening within the work. Those who lived in the Classical time period, valued simplicity and wanted to return to the ideals of the Greeks. Therefore, the Classical time period is characterized by clear structural clarity, simplicity, smoothness, and symmetry. However, though the works took a step back from the grand movement of the Baroque era, the composers and artists of the Classical time period did lay out a tuneful and elegant style in their music and art. Out of the Classical era came many renowned artists and composers, two of those whom are artist Sir Thomas Lawrence and composer Ludwig van Beethoven (“NYU”).

Romantic 
Dates: 1800-1900
 
1.  What was going on historically during this era?  What was life like? Profound Political and Social changes going on; many moving into cities for work. Renewed interested in expressing emotion through music. 
2.  Does romantic music continue to use the same forms used in the classical era? No
3.  Explain the Individuality of style. Composers wanted their music to be uniquely identifiable to them. They worked hard on self-expression.
4.  What are the expressive aims and subjects of the pieces?  How is this different than in the classical era? Flamboyance, Intimacy, Unpredictability, Melancholy, Rapture, Longing etc..., Classical Era did not experiment with so many aims.
5.  What is musical nationalism?

The Music of the classical and Romantic era is a period of time where it shows the development and different styles of music. This can be shown through the manipulation of musical elements, (dynamics, pitch, tempo, rhythm, texture, meter, tonality, structure, melody, harmony, instrument) while contrasting them, but it can also be shown through the composers of the music, the size of the orchestra, musical directions, emotional content, and non-musical developments through that period of time.

First of all, the baroque is known by the exaggerated uses of ornamental decorations in their compositions. These ornaments were exposed in all types of art at that time as: painting, architecture, sculpture and music. In addition, baroque music uses a tonal harmony that produces musical contrast in high levels. This contrast is a very important element in the dramatic aspects of the baroque music, and it was reflected through the melody and texture of the compositions. Furthermore, the most important characteristics in the Baroque music style were the basso continuo and a simple melody with chord accompaniment. Those elements provided a variety of compositions with better stability in the harmony. Moreover, the music of this period presented the counterpoint and polyphony, two elements which caused movement in the melody, and also created expectations and captured the attention of those who listened to that music. On the other hand, romantic music is known for his great expressiveness in their compositions. This expressiveness allows to the composers, add their feelings and emotions to their music. Furthermore, the romantic music was showed a depletion of the capacity of tonal music, so it was passed to the trend of atonal music. Moreover, this kind of music presented a great use of melody, which was responsible to capture the beauty of the written music and as well

The Classical Period had lasted from around 1750 -- 1820, and was itself a revolt against the previous Baroque era. The arts moved away from the heavily ornamented styles of the Baroque to a cleaner, uncluttered style, thought to be reminiscent of Ancient Greece, and many people interested in music were now the aristocracy rather than the church or monarchy. The social upheavals of the latter part of this period challenged these ideas, and the Age of Reason became the age of the individual, and the beginnings of Romanticism, with its non-rational and disordered reasoning, became predominant.

The romantic period of music began in the 1820s and with it came a change of stylistic features. Beethoven largely impacted the new way that the music of the Romantic era was viewed. He made people perceive music as a true form of art made to be taken seriously, rather than just a fun time passer. Another reason for the change of music during that time was due to nationalism and exoticism. Nationalism promoted music, such as folk songs and dances, which was created for the purpose of supporting the nation. Exoticism had the opposite effect as nationalism. It caused audiences to listen to folk music from other nations and it allowed people to have a better understanding of unique qualities and cultures of surrounding nations. These factors led to the music during the Romantic period becoming more personal and emotion than it was in the previous classical era, although it still contained a melody, harmony, tone color, and a form. Much of the music from the Romantic era can be recognized by its melody. The melodies became wider, more irregular, and dramatic during this time. The harmony of Romantic music was further advanced as well. The composers learned how to use harmony to build the melody and intensify its emotionality, while at the same time experimenting freely with new chords. The tone color of music during this time was expanded allowing the quality of the sound of the music to improve. One of the most important changes that were made to the features of music during

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.

Furthermore, memorable melodies, richly expressive harmony, and broad expanded forms characterized Romantic music. The once Classical tradition became heavily influenced by emotional elements, reduced formalism, and the implementation of often non-musical

Romanticism came to be in the 18th and 19th centuries which emphasized the imagination and emotions of romanticism. Many people viewed this type of literature as the quality or state of being impractical or unrealistic meaning romantic feelings or ideas. During this time many poets were encouraged to express their true colors and individual uniqueness. The Romantic Era expanded all throughout the world, and reached poets such as Keats, Byron, Shelley, and Wordsworth.

The three most well-known, and arguably most important, musical eras in western civilizations would be the; medieval, Renaissance and Baroque time periods. With the basics of music with Gregorian chant and organum from the medieval era to the newfound polyphony texture from the Renaissance and the equal temperament and major-minor tonality of the baroque era; Each time period brings a part of the foundation that most past, present, and future music is and will be based on. While it may seem that these three eras or completely different, they do contain several underlying similarities.

Despite its name, Romantic, the Romantic age had only a few things that was related to the real meaning of romance known now, however, love had been the main subject of most of the age's art. The age was actually a great achievement of art and philosophy that resulted in the western societies to change the way they thought about themselves and their surroundings as mentioned in the article "Romanticism" Adapted from A Guide to the Study of Literature. Differing from the classical age the romantic age has given artists of that period more freedom and creation. Music for instance was of great value in terms of the way it expresses. Composers of the age used music along with freedom in expression to express nationalism and hence proving their