Classical Music

CLASSICAL MUSIC, is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times. The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common practice period. The term "classical music" did not appear until the early 19th century, in an attempt to "canonize" the period from Johann Sebastian Back to Beethoven as a Golden Age.

Classical music is a very general term which normally refers to the standard music of countries in the Western world as said. It is a music style that has been composed by musicians who are trained in the art of writing music (composing) and written down in music notation so that other musicians can play it. Classical music may also be described as "art music" though it was not good in classical period; that term also includes types of serious modern music which are not classical.

Classical music differs from popular music because it is not made just in order to be popular for a short time or just to be a commercial success. It is different from folk music which is generally made up by ordinary members of society and learned by future generations by listening, dancing and copying.

People who want to be good at performing classical music have to practice hard for many years. They normally have formal training at a music college or conservatoire and have lessons from well-known music teachers. Classical musicians often spend a lot of time thinking carefully about pieces of music, especially about pieces of music that they perform. They study such things as harmony and counterpoint to help them understand the way that the composers were thinking when they put the piece together. When they look at pieces of music in this way this is called “musical analysis”. People who specialize in thinking and writing about music may become professors or lecturers of music at universities.

In general 'popular' music may be as clear in expression as the longer examples of 'classical' music. One important difference, however, lies in the logical connection that exists in 'classical ' music between the beginning and end, with the latter a logical extension and development of the former. 'Popular' music, on the other hand, tends to present its material without development, the music ending when interest is exhausted.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The classical period in music, is a time when composers began pulling in the reigns of the many baroque period musical styles by creating strict compositional "rules and regulations."  Yet within their rigidity, great composers like Haydn and Mozart were able to create some of the greatest classical music the world has ever known.  However, Haydn and Mozart weren't alone in their pursuit of musical perfection, there are a handful of classical period composers whose contributions to classical music changed the course of music forever.

Classical music may not enjoy as much popularity as it used to in its golden age from 17th to the early 20th century. But it continues to impress and inspire, especially the works by the greatest composers of all times. Some of them may have lived hundreds of years ago but their masterpieces simply remain unsurpassed.

Franz Joseph Haydn

Prominent composers of the Classical era include:Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Antonio Salieri (1750-1825), Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787), Muzio Clementi (1752-1832), Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805), Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788), Johann Schobert (c. 1735–1767), Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741, Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), etc.…

Some of these composers experienced the transition from Baroque era to Classical era. Classical music and Baroque music both use orchestras to produce their distinctive sounds, but the way in which each does it is truly different. For example, Baroque music is very heavy, whereas Classical music is light, almost airy. Indeed, Classical music greatly emphasized homophonic melodies, meaning that there was a single melody that all the instruments played, instead of the layered melodies of the Baroque period. This allowed for Classical pieces to be much more powerful, whereas Baroque pieces were just pretty in comparison. Music of this period was generally of an orderly nature, with qualities of clarity and balance, and emphasizing formal beauty rather than emotional expression.

Classical Music Orchestral with String Dominance

The most outstanding characteristic of classical music is that the repertoire tends to be written down in musical notation, creating a musical part or score. This score typically determines details of rhythm, pitch, and, where two or more musicians (whether singers or instrumentalists) are involved, how the various parts are coordinated. The written quality of the music has, in addition to preserving the works, enabled a high level of complexity within them. There are characteristics that classical music contains that few or no other genres of music contain.

Classical music has been noted for its development of highly sophisticated forms of instrumental music: these include the concerto, symphony, sonata, suite, étude, symphonic poem, opera and others.

Works of classical repertoire often exhibit artistic complexity through the use of counterpoint, thematic development, phrasing, harmonization, modulation (change of key), texture, and, of course, musical form itself. Larger-scale compositional forms (such as that of the symphony, concerto, opera or oratorio, for example) usually represent a hierarchy of smaller units consisting of phrases, periods, sections, and movements. Musical analysis of a composition aims at achieving greater understanding of it, leading to more meaningful hearing and a greater appreciation of the composer's style. 

In Western countries a vast amount of classical music was written for Christian worship in churches and cathedrals. This is called “sacred” (religious) music. All other music is “secular” music. The word “secular” means things that are not sacred. Sacred and secular music have influenced one another in many ways during the course of music history.

Secular music was largely influenced by dance, and this in turn changed the style of sacred music. For example: the church music of the 16th century composer Giovanni da Palestrina has nothing to do with dance music, but both the sacred and secular music of Johann Sebastian Bach two centuries later is full of dance rhythms. At some times in music history there have been different styles of composing for sacred and for secular music. Claudio Monteverdi uses two different styles for his church and for his non-church music. When composers were experimenting with new ways of writing music they usually did this with secular music, and sacred music caught up later.

Many people are unaware that Classical music is still being composed today, although it is far different than what was created several hundred years ago. Indeed, nowadays classical music is all around us, whether it be for advertising or as theme and incidental music on television. A great deal of film music either directly uses or draws from the 'classical' tradition; a good example of the former might be '2001: Space Odyssey', and of the latter, the many scores John Williams has composed in recent years for such blockbusters as the Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies.

Whether we like it or not, the classical music is a musical style that will live forever.