Classical Era

The Classical Era

When: 1730-1820

Leading Composers: 

• Franz Joseph Haydn
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Ludwig van Beethoven

Influences:

Baroque Architectural Design - Busy, Ornate and Decorative

Like in the Baroque era, architectural design had a lot to do with the Classical Music period - in fact, it takes its name "Classical" from the "Classical" Architecture of the Ancient Greeks.
Remember - Music of the Baroque era sought to reflect the ornate and intricate detail of the architectural designs, which is how it became polyphonic, contrapuntal and full of ornamentation.

Classical Architectural Design - Symmetrical, Balanced, Plainer

Now in the Classical era, music was simpler and clearer, and followed clear structures and forms such as Sonata - relying on symmetry and balance to create music which was more homophonic and less "busy" than that of the Baroque era


The invention of the fortepiano, and later the Pianoforte (which we use now) meant that composers wrote lots of music for the piano and it replaced the harpsichord as the preferred keyboard instrument. We see the introduction of the Alberti Bass and the Solo piano Sonata.

The concerto grosso disappeared and became the solo concerto. This is an old concept from National 5. The solo instrument would play a cadenza within the concerto. More about this in its own post.

Composers in the Classical era such as Haydn and Mozart worked for the aristocracy, who would "Patron" them. This means they were paid to compose music to entertain these people in their homes (big homes) and so "Chamber Music" came to be. The most popular and enduring Chamber Music group was a String Quartet, of which Haydn wrote 68. Mozart also wrote several of these in his employ as a court musician.

Other styles of instrumental music born in the Classical era include the Symphony for orchestra and the Minuet & Trio.

Vocal music continued to be popular with operas such as The Marriage of Figaro, the Magic Flute, Cosi fan Tutte and Don Giovanni.

Sacred music kept on going as long as there was a church to attend, and many of the big names of the Classical eras would write Masses to be sung at the chapels of their employer on Sundays, and for funerals of their friends and family members. The Oratorio continued for other worship occasions that required music.

Although Baroque was where the ornamentation flourished, Classical composers kept some of the ornaments in their music to embellish a melody line - such as the iconic Classical trill on the dominant before the end of a Cadenza. A very popular ornament in Classical piano music was the Appoggiatura, or the "leaning sigh" ornament.

All of these ornaments featured in Classical music, but were really only seen in the melody line of a piece of homophonic music. It was really popular to have the right hand part of a piano sonata embellished with ornamentation... Like this one in the video!

Can you see where the ornaments are happening in here? Follow the score and see if you can spot them. Also listen out for Scale passages, arpeggios, broken chords and an alberti bass line.