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 9th century to present times.[1] The
central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the
common practice period.
European music is largely distinguished from many other non-European and popular musical
forms by its system of staff notation, in use since about the 16th century.[2] Western staff notation
is used by composers to prescribe to the performer the pitch, speed, meter, individual rhythms
and exact execution of a piece of music. This leaves less room for practices such as
improvisation and ad libitum ornamentation, that are frequently heard in non-European art music
(compare Indian classical music and Japanese traditional music) and popular music.[3][4][5]
The term "classical music" did not appear until the early 19th century, in an attempt to
"canonize" the period from Johann Sebastian Bach to Beethoven as a golden age.[6] The earliest
reference to "classical music" recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is from about 1836.[1][7]
Characteristics
Given the extremely broad variety of forms, styles, genres, and historical periods generally
perceived as being described by the term "classical music," it is difficult to list characteristics
that can be attributed to all works of that type. Vague descriptions are plentiful, such as
describing classical music as anything that "lasts a long time," a statement made rather moot
when one considers contemporary composers who are described as classical; or music that has
certain instruments like violins, which are also found in other genres. However, there are
characteristics that classical music contains that few or no other genres of music contain.
Instrumentation
The instruments used in most classical music were largely invented before the mid-19th century
(often much earlier), and codified in the 18th and 19th centuries. They consist of the instruments
found in an orchestra, together with a few other solo instruments (such as the piano, harpsichord,
and organ).
Electric instruments such as the electric guitar appear occasionally in the classical music of the
20th and 21st centuries. Both classical and popular musicians have experimented in recent
decades with electronic instruments such as the synthesizer, electric and digital techniques such
as the use of sampled or computer-generated sounds, and the sounds of instruments from other
cultures such as the gamelan.
None of the bass instruments existed until the Renaissance. In Medieval music, instruments are
divided in two categories: loud instruments for use outdoors or in church, and quieter
instruments for indoor use. Many instruments which are associated today with popular music
used to have important roles in early classical music, such as bagpipes, vihuelas, hurdy-gurdies
and some woodwind instruments. On the other hand, instruments such as the acoustic guitar,
which used to be associated mainly with popular music, have gained prominence in classical
music through the 19th and 20th centuries.
While equal temperament became gradually accepted as the dominant musical temperament
during the 19th century, different historical temperaments are often used for music from earlier
periods. For instance, music of the English Renaissance is often performed in mean tone
temperament. Keyboards almost all share a common layout (often called the piano keyboard).
Form
Whereas the majority of popular styles lend themselves to the song form, classical music can
also take on the form of the concerto, symphony, sonata, opera, dance music, suite, étude,
symphonic poem, and others.
Classical composers often aspire to imbue their music with a very complex relationship between
its affective (emotional) content and the intellectual means by which it is achieved. Many of the
most esteemed works of classical music make use of musical development, the process by which
a musical idea or motif is repeated in different contexts or in altered form. The sonata form and
fugue employ rigorous forms of musical development.
Technical execution
Along with a desire for composers to attain high technical achievement in writing their music,
performers of classical music are faced with similar goals of technical mastery, as demonstrated
by the proportionately high amount of schooling and private study most successful classical
musicians have had when compared to "popular" genre musicians, and the large number of
secondary schools, including conservatories, dedicated to the study of classical music. The only
other genre in the Western world with comparable secondary education opportunities is jazz.
Complexity
Performance of classical music repertoire often demands a significant level of technical mastery
on the part of the musician; proficiency in sight-reading and ensemble playing, thorough
understanding of tonal and harmonic principles, knowledge of performance practice, and a
familiarity with the style/musical idiom inherent to a given period, composer or musical work are
among the most essential of skills for the classically trained musician.
Works of classical repertoire often exhibit artistic complexity through the use of 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.
Society
Often perceived as opulent or signifying some aspect of upper-level society, classical music has
generally never been as popular with working-class society. However, the traditional perception
that only upper-class society has access to and appreciation for classical music, or even that
classical music represents the upper-class society, may not be true, given that many working
classical musicians fall somewhere in the middle-class income range in the United States,[8] and
that classical concertgoers and CD buyers are not necessarily upper class. Even in the Classical
era, Mozart's opere buffe such as Così fan tutte were popular with the general public.
Classical music regularly features in pop culture, forming background music for movies,
television programs and adve
rtisements. As a result most people in the Western World regularly and often unknowingly listen
to classical music; thus, it can be argued that the relatively low levels of recorded music sales
may not be a good indicator of its actual popularity. In more recent times the association of
certain classical pieces with major events has led to brief upsurges in interest in particular
classical genres. A good example of this was the choice of Nessun dorma from Giacomo
Puccini's opera Turandot as the theme tune for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, which led to a
noticeable increase in popular interest in opera and in particular in tenor arias, which led to the
huge sellout concerts by The Three Tenors. Such events are often cited as helping to drive
increases in the audiences at many classical concerts that have been observed in recent times.
History
The major time divisions of classical music are the early music period, which includes Medieval
(476–1400) and Renaissance (1400–1600), the Common practice period, which includes the
Baroque (1600–1750), Classical (1730–1820) and Romantic (1815–1910) periods, and the
modern and contemporary period, which includes 20th century classical (1900–2000) and
contemporary classical (1975–current).
The dates are generalizations, since the periods overlapped and the categories are somewhat
arbitrary. For example, the use of counterpoint and fugue, which is considered characteristic of
the Baroque era, was continued by Haydn, who is classified as typical of the Classical period.
Beethoven, who is often described as a founder of the Romantic period, and Brahms, who is
classified as Romantic, also used counterpoint and fugue, but other characteristics of their music
define their period.
The prefix neo is used to describe a 20th century or contemporary composition written in the
style of an earlier period, such as Classical or Romantic. Stravinsky's Pulcinella, for example, is
a neoclassical composition because it is stylistically similar to works of the Classical period.
Roots
Main article: Ancient music
The roots of Western classical music lie in early Christian liturgical music, and its influences
date back to the Ancient Greeks. Development of individual tones and scales was done by
ancient Greeks such as Aristoxenus and Pythagoras.[9] Pythagoras created a tuning system and
helped to codify musical notation. Ancient Greek instruments such as the aulos (a reed
instrument) and the lyre (a stringed instrument similar to a small harp) eventually led to the
modern-day instruments of a classical orchestra.[10] The antecedent to the early period was the era
of ancient music from before the fall of the Roman Empire (476 AD). Very little music survives
from this time, most of it from Ancient Greece.
Early Period
Main articles: Medieval music and Renaissance music
See also: List of Medieval composers and List of Renaissance composers
The Medieval period includes music from after the fall of Rome to about 1400. Monophonic
chant, also called plainsong or Gregorian Chant, was the dominant form until about 1100.[11]
Polyphonic (multi-voiced) music developed from monophonic chant throughout the late Middle
Ages and into the Renaissance, including the more complex voicings of motets. The Renaissance
period was from 1400 to 1600. It was characterized by greater use of instrumentation, multiple
interweaving melodic lines, and the use of the first bass instruments. Social dancing became
more widespread, so musical forms appropriate to accompanying dance began to standardize.
It is in this time that the notation of music on a staff and other elements of musical notation
began to take shape.[12] This invention made possible the separation of the composition of a piece
of music from its transmission; without written music, transmission was oral, and subject to
change every time it was transmitted. With a musical score, a work of music could be performed
without the composer's presence.[11] The invention of the movable-type printing press in the 15th
century had far-reaching consequences on the preservation and transmission of music.[13]
Typical stringed instruments of the Early Period include the harp, lute, vielle, and psaltery, while
wind instruments included the flute family (including recorder), shawm (an early member of the
oboe family), trumpet, and the bagpipe. Simple pipe organs existed, but were largely confined to
churches, although there were portable varieties.[14] Later in the period, early versions of
keyboard instruments like the clavichord and harpsichord began to appear. Stringed instruments
such as the viol had emerged by the 16th century, as had a wider variety of brass and reed
instruments. Printing enabled the standardization of descriptions and specifications of
instruments, as well as instruction in their use.[15]
Common Practice Period
The Common Practice Period is when many of the ideas that make up western classical music
took shape, standardized, or were codified. It began with the Baroque era, running from roughly
1600 to the middle of the 18th century. The Classical era followed, ending roughly around 1820.
The Romantic era ran through the 19th century, ending about 1910.
Baroque music
Baroque music is characterized by the use of complex tonal counterpoint and the use of a basso
continuo, a continuous bass line. The beginnings of the sonata form took shape in the canzona, as
did a more formalized notion of theme and variations. The tonalities of major and minor as
means for managing dissonance and chromaticism in music took full shape.[16]
During the Baroque era, keyboard music played on the harpsichord and pipe organ became
increasingly popular, and the violin family of stringed instruments took the form generally seen
today. Opera as a staged musical drama began to differentiate itself from earlier musical and
dramatic forms, and vocal forms like the cantata and oratorio became more common.[17]
Instrumental ensembles began to distinguish and standardize by size, giving rise to the early
orchestra for larger ensembles, with chamber music being written for smaller groups of
instruments where parts are played by individual (instead of massed) instruments. The concerto
as a vehicle for solo performance accompanied by an orchestra became widespread, although the
relationship between soloist and orchestra was relatively simple. The theories surrounding equal
temperament began to be put in wider practice, especially as it enabled a wider range of
chromatic possibilities in hard-to-tune keyboard instruments. Although Bach did not use equal
temperament, as a modern piano is generally tuned, changes in the temperaments from the
meantone system, common at the time, to various temperaments that made modulation between
all keys musically acceptable, made possible Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier.[18]
Classical period music
Main article: Classical period (music)
See also: List of Classical era composers
The Classical period, from about 1750 to 1820, established many of the norms of composition,
presentation and style, and was when the piano became the predominant keyboard instrument.
The basic forces required for an orchestra became somewhat standardized (although they would
grow as the potential of a wider array of instruments was developed in the following centuries).
Chamber music grew to include ensembles with as many as 8-10 performers for serenades.
Opera continued to develop, with regional styles in Italy, France, and German-speaking lands.
The opera buffa, a form of comic opera, rose in popularity. The symphony came into its own as a
musical form, and the concerto was developed as a vehicle for displays of virtuoso playing skill.
Orchestras no longer required a harpsichord (which had been part of the traditional continuo in
the Baroque style), and were often led by the lead violinist (now called the concertmaster).[19]
Wind instruments became more refined in the Classical period. While double reeded instruments
like the oboe and bassoon became somewhat standardized in the Baroque, the clarinet family of
single reeds was not widely used until Mozart expanded its role in orchestral, chamber, and
concerto settings.
Romantic era music
Main article: Romantic music
See also: List of Romantic composers
The music of the Romantic era, from roughly the second decade of the 19th century to the early
20th century, was characterized by increased attention to an extended melodic line, as well as
expressive and emotional elements, paralleling romanticism in other art forms. Musical forms
began to break from the Classical era forms (even as those were being codified), with free-form
pieces like nocturnes, fantasias, and preludes being written where accepted ideas about the
exposition and development of themes were ignored or minimized.[20] The music became more
chromatic, dissonant, and tonally colorful, with tensions (with respect to accepted norms of the
older forms) about key signatures increasing.[21] The art song (or Lied) came to maturity in this
era, as did the epic scales of grand opera, ultimately transcended by Richard Wagner's Ring
cycle.[22]
In the 19th century, musical institutions emerged from the control of wealthy patrons, as
composers and musicians could construct lives independent of the nobility. Increasing interest in
music by the growing middle classes throughout western Europe spurred the creation of
organizations for the teaching, performance, and preservation of music. The piano, which
achieved its modern construction in this era (in part due to industrial advances in metallurgy)
became widely popular with the middle class, whose demands for the instrument spurred a large
number of piano builders. Many symphony orchestras date their founding to this era.[21] Some
musicians and composers were the stars of the day; some, like Franz Liszt and Niccolò Paganini,
fulfilled both roles.[23]
The family of instruments used, especially in orchestras, grew. A wider array of percussion
instruments began to appear. Brass instruments took on larger roles, as the introduction of rotary
valves made it possible for them to play a wider range of notes. The size of the orchestra
(typically around 40 in the Classical era) grew to be over 100.[21] Gustav Mahler's 1906
Symphony no. 8, for example, has been performed with over 150 instrumentalists and choirs of
over 400.
European cultural ideas and institutions began to follow colonial expansion into other parts of the
world. There was also a rise, especially toward the end of the era, of nationalism in music
(echoing, in some cases, political sentiments of the time), as composers such as Edvard Grieg,
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Antonín Dvořák echoed traditional music of their homelands in
their compositions.[24]
20th century, modern, and contemporary music
Main articles: 20th-century classical music, Contemporary classical music, and 21st-century
classical music
See also: List of 20th-century classical composers by birth date and List of 21st-century classical
composers
Modernism (1905–1985) marked a period when many composers rejected certain values of the
common practice period, such as traditional tonality, melody, instrumentation, and structure.
Composers, academics, and musicians developed extensions of music theory and technique. 20th
century classical music, encompassing a wide variety of post-Romantic styles composed through
the year 1999, includes late Romantic, Modern and Postmodern styles of composition. The term
"contemporary music" is sometimes used to describe music composed in the late 20th century
through to the present day.
Significance of written notation
Modernist view of the significance of the score
Modernist views hold that: Classical music is considered primarily a written musical tradition,
preserved in music notation, as opposed to being transmitted orally, by rote, or by recordings of
particular performances. While there are differences between particular performances of a
classical work, a piece of classical music is generally held to transcend any interpretation of it.
The use of musical notation is an effective method for transmitting classical music, since the
written music contains the technical instructions for performing the work. The written score,
however, does not usually contain explicit instructions as to how to interpret the piece in terms of
production or performance, apart from directions for dynamics, tempo and expression (to a
certain extent); this is left to the discretion of the performers, who are guided by their personal
experience and musical education, their knowledge of the work's idiom, and the accumulated
body of historic performance practices.
Criticism of this modernism view on the importance of the score
Some critics express the opinion that it is only from the mid 19th century, but esp. in the 20th
century that the score has begun to hold such a high significance. Previously improvisation,
rhythmic flexibility, improvisatory deviation from the score and oral tradition of playing was
integral to style of music. Yet in the 20th century this oral tradition and passing on of stylistic
features within classical music no longer exists. Instead musicians use the score to play music,
yet even given the score, there is considerable controversy about how to perform the works.
Some of this controversy relates to the fact that this score-centric approach has led to performing
styles that emphasize metrically strict block-rhythms (just as the music is notated in the score).
This eventually led Sol Babitz to speak of "sewing machine Bach".
Some quotes that highlight this criticism of modernist overvaluing of the score:
[...]one of the most stubborn modern misconceptions concerning baroque music is that a
metronomic regularity was intended (Baroque Interpretation in Grove 5th edition by
Robert Donington)
Too many teachers, conditioned to 20th Century ideas, teach Bach and other Baroque
music exactly the wrong way. This leads to what musicologist Sol Babitz calls "sewing
machine Bach."[25]
[...] tendency to look alike, sound alike and think alike. The conservatories are at fault
and they have been at fault for many years now. Any sensitive musician going around the
World has noted the same thing. The conservatories, from Moscow and Leningrad to
Juilliard, Curtis and Indiana, are producing a standardized product.
[...] clarity, undeviating rhythm, easy technique, "musicianship". I put the word
musicianship in quotes, because as often as not, it is a false kind of musicianship - a
musicianship that sees the tree and not the forest, that takes care of the detail but ignores
the big picture; a musicianship that is tied to the printed note rather than to emotional
meaning of a piece.
The fact remains that there is a dreadful uniformity today and also an appalling lack of
knowledge about the culture and performance traditions of the past. (Music Schools
Turning out Robots?[25] by Harold C. Schonberg)
Improvisation
Improvisation once played an important role in classical music. A remnant of this improvisatory
tradition in classical music can be heard in the cadenza, a passage found mostly in concertos and
solo works, designed to allow skilled performers to exhibit their virtuoso skills on the instrument.
Traditionally this was improvised by the performer; however, it is often written for (or
occasionally by) the performer beforehand. Improvisation is also an important aspect in authentic
performances of operas of Baroque era and of bel canto (especially operas of Vincenzo Bellini),
and is best exemplified by the da capo aria, a form by which famous singers typically perform
variations of the thematic matter of the aria in the recapitulation section ('B section' / the 'da
capo' part). An example is Beverly Sills' complex, albeit pre-written, variation of Da tempeste il
legno infranto from Händel's Giulio Cesare.
Its written transmission, along with the veneration bestowed on certain classical works, has led to
the expectation that performers will play a work in a way that realizes in detail the original
intentions of the composer. During the 19th century the details that composers put in their scores
generally increased. Yet the opposite trend — admiration of performers for new "interpretations"
of the composer's work — can be seen, and it is not unknown for a composer to praise a
performer for achieving a better realization of the original intent than the composer was able to
imagine. Thus, classical performers often achieve very high reputations for their musicianship,
even if they do not compose themselves. Generally however, it is the composers who are
remembered more than the performers.
Another consequence of the primacy of the composer's written score is that this has led to the
state, where today improvisation plays a relatively minor role in classical music, in sharp contrast
to musicians who lived during the baroque, classical and romantic era. Improvisation in classical
music performance was common during both the Baroque era and in the nineteenth, yet lessened
strongly during the 2nd half of the 19th and in the twentieth centuries. Recently the performance
of such music by modern classical musicians has been enriched by a revival of the old
improvisational practices. During the classical period, Mozart and Beethoven often improvised
the cadenzas to their piano concertos (and thereby encouraged others to do so), but they also
provided written cadenzas for use by other soloists. In opera, the practice of singing strictly by
the score i.e. come scritto, is famously propagated by Maria Callas, who called this practice
'straitjacketing' and implied that it allows the intention of the composer to be understood better,
especially during studying the music for the first time.
Popular music
Classical music has often incorporated elements or material from popular music of the
composer's time. Examples include occasional music such as Brahms' use of student drinking
songs in his Academic Festival Overture, genres exemplified by Kurt Weill's The Threepenny
Opera, and the influence of jazz on early- and mid-twentieth century composers including
Maurice Ravel, exemplified by the movement entitled "Blues" in his sonata for violin and piano.
[26]
Certain postmodern, minimalist and postminimalist classical composers acknowledge a debt
to popular music.[27]
There are numerous examples of influence in the opposite direction, including popular songs
based on classical music, the use to which Pachelbel's Canon has been put since the 1970s,[28]
and the musical crossover phenomenon, where classical musicians have achieved success in the
popular music arena (notable examples are the Hooked on Classics series of recordings made by
the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the early 1980s and the classical crossover violinists
Vanessa Mae and Catya Maré). Some rock bands such as Emerson, Lake & Palmer have
recorded classical compositions. The rock band Muse has been known to use classical aspects in
their songs, especially "Exogenesis: Symphony".
Folk music
Further information: European Classical Composers Noted for Use of Folk Music
Composers of classical music have often made use of folk music (music created by musicians
who are commonly not classically trained, often from a purely oral tradition). Some composers,
like Dvořák and Smetana,[29] have used folk themes to impart a nationalist flavor to their work,
while others (like Bartók) have used specific themes lifted whole from their folk-music origins.
[30]
Commercialism
Certain staples of classical music are often used commercially (either in advertising or in movie
soundtracks). In television commercials, several passages have become clichéd, particularly the
opening of Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra (made famous in the film 2001: A Space
Odyssey) and the opening section "O Fortuna" of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana; other examples
include the Dies Irae from the Verdi Requiem, Edvard Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King
from Peer Gynt, the opening bars of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, Wagner's Ride of the
Valkyries from Die Walküre, Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, and excerpts of
Aaron Copland's Rodeo.
Similarly, movies and television often revert to standard, clichéd snatches of classical music to
convey refinement or opulence: some of the most-often heard pieces in this category include
Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Vivaldi's Four Seasons, and Mussorgsky's A Night on Bald
Mountain.
Education
Main article: Music education
Throughout history, parents have often made sure that their children receive classical music
training from a young age. Some parents pursue music lessons for their children for social
reasons or in an effort to instill a sense of self-discipline.[citation needed] Some believe that knowledge
of important works of classical music is part of a good general education.
During the 1990s, several research papers and popular books wrote on what came to be called
the "Mozart effect": an observed temporary, small elevation of scores on certain tests as a result
of listening to Mozart's works. The approach has been popularized in a book by Don Campbell,
and is based on an experiment published in Nature suggesting that listening to Mozart
temporarily boosted students' IQ by 8 to 9 points.[31] This popularized version of the theory was
expressed succinctly by a New York Times music columnist: "researchers... have determined that
listening to Mozart actually makes you smarter."[32] Promoters marketed CDs claimed to induce
the effect. Florida passed a law requiring toddlers in state-run schools to listen to classical music
every day, and in 1998 the governor of Georgia budgeted $105,000 per year to provide every
child born in Georgia with a tape or CD of classical music. One of the co-authors of the original
studies of the Mozart effect commented "I don't think it can hurt. I'm all for exposing children to
wonderful cultural experiences. But I do think the money could be better spent on music
education programs." [33]