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Classical Music: Difference between revisions
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'''Classical music''' is the term generally used these days to refer to a particular tradition of music from Western European civilizations, and is often contrasted with the equally vague term [[Pop|Pop music]]. In the current era, much of this body of music has been studied carefully in scholarly manner, and is performed and appreciated as standalone art, even if it wasn't originally conceived as such.
The dates which characterize "classical music" are arguable; while some maintain that it began when norms about concepts such as rhythm and tonality began to be established, around 1600, others extend it much farther back to include medieval art music. Some modern composers also believe that there is no longer any value in considering contemporary art music "classical."
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Classical music is not a single style, but is in fact a bunch of different styles, generally classified into several periods:
* [[Medieval Music|Medieval]] c. 900 AD up until the end of the 14th century: mostly monophonic vocal music, and most of that religious. Choral music starts showing up towards the end of this. By modern standards, it's all pretty severely weird: common-practice tonality shows up ''after'' the Medieval period. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2TDS255jSE&feature=related Perotin], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCHO2CMizLk&playnext=1&list=PLA11EE63D8F3E7517&index=7 Vitry], and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAOd8Gro-V8 Machaut] are all good examples of the choral stuff. The monophonic music is mostly [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0Rv5F88WYA Gregorian chant], or at least heavily influenced by it.
* the [[Renaissance Music|Renaissance]] (1400s-1600s): Characterized by choral music in styles that we might find hard to relate to today (although most find it more approachable than the medieval stuff). Again, a lot of the music was composed for churches. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUAgAF4Khmg Josquin des Prez] is your go-to composer here.
* the [[Baroque Era]] (mid-1600s to about 1750): Still a lot of church music, but the wealthy nobles and royalty often found time and opportunity to indulge in fancy music for the heck of it. For a stereotypical Baroque sound, look for anything by [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J.S. Bach]] or his contemporaries. Famous works include the [[Toccata and Fugue in D minor|Toccata in D minor]] by Bach, the [[Canon in D]] by Pachelbel, and the [[Music/Messiah|Messiah]] oratorio by Handel (which includes the famous [[Hallelujah Chorus]]). The Concerto (a piece where a solo instrument or small group of instruments alternates passages with a larger orchestra) peaked during this period. A common feature was [[counterpoint]], terraced dynamics (the music is either loud or soft, with few crescendos or diminuendos or so forth) or having multiple melodies running at the same time (producing a texture called polyphony). During the early Baroque, Claudio Monteverdi began to write the first notable [[opera]]s. The harpsichord is a stereotypically Baroque instrument. If you hear a piece of classical music and there's a harpsichord in it, it is almost certainly a Baroque piece.
* the [[Classical Era]] (or [[Classical Period]], not to be confused with [[Classical Mythology]]) (about 1750 to the early 1800s): Think of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] and [[Ludwig Van Beethoven]]. While counterpoint was still respected, this era saw the growth of homophony, or having a melody on top of a chord-based accompaniment. [[Joseph Haydn]] was very influential in the development of the sonata-allegro form, which became a dominant musical form in this period. The piano replaced the harpsichord as the dominant keyboard instrument, and music became increasingly independent of religious activity. Concertos began giving way to Symphonies. Music also began to be written for ensembles such as the traditional string quartet.
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[[Category:Music Tropes]]
[[Category:Classical Music]]
[[Category:Music Genres]]
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