Classical period (music)
As generally accepted by music historians, the classical period of Western music lasted from around 1750 to 1830. Since the term is easily and erroneously conflated with "classical music" (as contrasted with "popular music") some historians prefer to call the period "classic" instead.[1] Though the movement comprised composers all across continental Europe, the epicenter of activity during this time was Vienna, Austria. For this reason, other historians use the term "Viennese classic," after the German Wiener Klassik.
Strongly tied to the ideas of the Enlightenment, music of the classic period rejected the dense, polyphonic textures of Baroque music, preferring the simpler, clearer textures of homophony. In line with the true impetus behind classicism, a renewed interest in the perfect symmetry and proportions of ancient Greek art and architecture, composers in this time fully prioritized temporal balance on a small and large scale. In this regard, they adopted as a norm the symmetrical 2 or 4-measure phrase, and the well-proportioned sonata form became the preferred principle on which compositions were based.[2]
The classic period oversaw the development of many important genres of instrumental music: the symphony, the string quartet, and the piano sonata. The concerto, while inherited from the Baroque Concerto Grosso, took on a new form as a vehicle for an instrumental soloist, in most cases the composer himself. In vocal music, composers continued to write masses and other sacred music, though their importance declined. Opera began a new life in the classic period with the so-called opera buffa, or comic opera; many of the most-performed operas today were written in this style.
Major classical era composers will be very well-known even to the casual listener:
- Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
- Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1826)
