European Classical Music - Essay Example

European Classical Music- 1000AD to 2000AD Order No. 356979 No. of pages: 6 Writer: 653 ‘Classical music’ is a term that is broadly based and refers to the ‘Western liturgical and secular music…approximately from the 9th century to the present times.’ (The Oxford Concise Dictionary of music, 2007) Early European music has been divided into the medieval, Renaissance and the Baroque periods, which was followed again by the Classical Period (1730 – 1830)soon after which followed the music of the 20th century and the present day Contemporary music. The word Classical music encapsulates a wide variety of musical styles that evolved during the 9th century. The Classical era took place between the Baroque and the Romantic eras during which time some of the most famous composers lived. Some of these great composers were Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Haydn, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Mauro Giuliani, Luigi Boccherini and many others. However, Ludwig van Beethoven is also considered to be a composer of the Romantic period because he lived during the transition that occurred into the Romantic era. Other composers of this transition period were Carl Maria von Weber, Luigi Cherubini and Johann Nepomuk. Since Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn spent a major part of their lives working in Vienna, this period is also referred to as a period of Classicism or Viennese Classic. The tradition of classical music took shape in Europe during the last part of the Middle Ages. As European culture began spreading far and wide across the world, European Classical Music, also developed and spread to other countries where it continues to be explored and adapted among other cultures besides European. According to the Western tradition, ‘Classical music’ is also referred to as ‘Art music’ though not commonly. The music belonging to this Classical era is more challenging and some of the popular genres includes even Rock and Jazz. However, though the Classical era was a much shorter period than the Baroque and Romantic eras, yet it has been given a special place due to the conscious and definitive attempts made by some of the greatest composers, which gave this special musical style a widespread unanimous and universal appeal. During the mid 18th century, Europe evolved with a totally new style in the arts, literature and architecture due to their influence of ancient masterpieces which were unearthed in Archaeological discoveries. This period came to be famously known as ‘Classicism” where the emphasis was laid on order, which had a clear cut style and a hierarchy which was strictly followed. The style of Classicism was more simplistic in nature and avoided any kind of complexity. This new style favored musical ideas with clear demarcations and made use of bright and contrasting colors. The idea of simplicity coupled with structural clarity was greatly influenced by Newton’s laws of physics which was based on the paradigm of orderliness and good articulation which could be easily understood even by the common man. These innovative ideas of that period god deeply established into the consciousness of the people and they automatically got attracted towards clarity of structure and form and imbibed these attributes into their music as well. The European Classical era is also popularly known as the “Age of Enlightenment”. The great thinkers of this period also endeavored to incorporate careful and systematic reasoning which resulted in great strides been made in the field of Science. In ancient times, Music was more aural and therefore never written down. Therefore, we do not have “Classical Music” from the ancient period of Rome and Greece. In many cultures the world over, it is the teacher who passes on the “musical literature” directly to the student aurally. But in the Middle Ages, Catholic churches in Europe, began to use notation for its music in order to standardize their musical compositions to make it easy for the practices in different regions. Hence composers who lived during that period and were inclined towards Classical thoughts and ideas did not have musical notation from which they could learn or imbibe. But even so, they were handed down a lot of theory which the ancients passed down to them. Prior to the Classical era, music was more polyphonic (many) in nature and consisted of two or more voices independently represented. Polyphony was quite unlike monophony which comprised of a single dominant voice, or homophony which was more preferred and comprised of a voice accompanied by chords. The Fugue is a good example of Polyphonic music and is also referred to as contrapuntal during the Baroque period. The Classical Period was a period of enlightenment that catered to music that was not complex and had a much finer texture and structure than music of the Baroque era. The music of the Classical era was softer and was primarily more homophonic with a systematic chordal arrangement. During this period, the use of gut strings for different instruments became quite popular because it gave a much softer tone to the instrument. Composers of the Classical period were greatly influenced and inspired by the ideals of enlightenment and strive to hard to mould and craft their music in order to gain the universal appeal. These great composers were staunchly supported by church and the upper elite class, but nevertheless is strictly kept to a natural simplicity and maintained a symmetrical balance that was not only functional but appealing the class of people who were not well educated. The Baroque era which preceded classical era, was quite complex in its melody and structure. Baroque music needed a well educated audience to understand it. Its main features were an elaborate counterpoint with long drawn melodies which extended for many measures. In sharp contrast to the Baroque style was the Classical style that was not only simplistic to understand even by the common man, but it also followed a well balanced and symmetrical structure that was evenly proportioned and was based on an evenly spread number of musical phrases arranged in pairs(two or four measure) that had the same duration. This style had a clear melody that was strongly backed by a simplistic and pleasant harmony. This type of music was extremely appealing because of its naturalness and hence needed no special musical training for it to be accepted and enjoyed. Some examples of this style are folk and other popular songs. Harmony was an integral part of European Classical music and composers of western music made use of the harmonic progressions, chords and different cadences used by composers of the Baroque period. However, to make it more simplistic in style, they made use of a standard chord progression, with a lesser use of chromatic notes and with fewer number of chord changes. ‘Form’ is an integral part of a classical composition and classical music encapsulates many different forms. In instrumental music composers became well aware of the importance of different instruments used and therefore not only wrote themes for solo instruments but also for mixed ensembles. This laid the foundation for the modern orchestra. Baroque’s most popular instrumental forms were the Fugue, Concerto grosso and the toccata. Schmidt Jones, C, (2007, October 25) During the classical era, these forms were widely improved upon and replaced with the Sonata, Concerto and Symphony. Even today, the Classical version of this form has served to mesmerize performers as well as different audiences around the world. When one thinks of “Western Classical Music”, Schmidt Jones, C, (2007, October 25) the popular form that comes to one’s mind is the ever popular Symphony which has never failed to charm its audience. This form consists of four movements. The string quartets and wind quintets also make use of this form consisting of four movements. The concerto on the other hand, is made up of three movements and is well suited for a solo instrumentalist. This form makes use of rondo, fugue, dance forms in addition to other popular variations and themes. The sonata form can be adapted in a symphony, concerto and sonata composition. Though the Classical era was a very short one, yet it made a great impact on the musical scene and was furthered developed and evolved by some of the greatest composers of that time whose hard work and commitment has paid off in a way that even contemporary composers have never failed to be in awe of the amazing era of European Classical Music. There is no doubt that the contemporary composers of today are not only highly influenced by the music of this era but also create a lot of their music by following the style and form of the Classical period. References Classical music www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Classical_Music "Classical", The Oxford Concise Dictionary of Music, ed. Michael Kennedy, (Oxford, 2007), Oxford Reference Online, accessed 23 July, 2007 Schmidt Jones, C, (2007, October 25). Classical Music and the Music of the Classical Era. Retrieved from the Connexions Web site: http://cnx.org/content/m15294/latest/ Read More