Classicism
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
From roughly 1750 to 1820, artists, architects, and musicians moved away from the heavily ornamented styles of the Baroque and the Rococo, and instead embraced a clean, uncluttered style they thought reminiscent of Classical Greece. The newly established aristocracies were replacing monarchs and the church as patrons of the arts, and were demanding an impersonal, but tuneful and elegant music. Dances such as the minuet and the gavotte were provided in the forms of entertaining serenades and divertimenti.
At this time the Austrian capital of Vienna became the musical center of Europe, and works of the period are often referred to as being in the Viennese style. Composers came from all over Europe to train in and around Vienna, and gradually they developed and formalized the standard musical forms that were to predominate European musical culture for the next several decades. A reform of the extravagance of Baroque opera was undertaken by Christoph von Gluck. Johann Stamitz contributed greatly to the growth of the orchestra and developed the idea of the orchestral symphony. The Classical period reached its majestic culmination with the masterful symphonies, sonatas, and string quartets by the three great composers of the Viennese school: Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. During the same period, the first voice of the burgeoning Romantic musical ethic can be found in the music of Viennese composer Franz Schubert.
About the middle of the century in Mannheim, Germany, composer and conductor Johann Stamitz (1717-1757) and his followers began to develop the orchestra and the art of orchestration, basing their music on the Baroque homophonic style, but now with chords played in unison rather than contrapuntally. The Baroque figured bass was now fully written out in specific parts for all of the instruments, rather than being left to the discretion of the players. Basing these larger works on the Baroque three-part sinfonia (overtures to operas), other elements were introduced, such as the contrasts of dynamics and tempo within movements. This kind music became the basis for the Classical instrumental sonata, string quartet, and orchestral symphony, and reached its apex in the works of Franz Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The elegance and courtly grace of the early Classical period may well be best exemplified by the familiar strains of the Minuet from the String quintet op. 13, no. 4 by the Italian composer, Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805). Known during his lifetime as an exceptional cellist, Boccherini is not considered a composer of any real import today. But he did compose a great deal of chamber music and concertos of great charm and melodiousness. Later in the period and spanning the turn of the century, Viennese composer Franz Schubert further developed the symphony and string quartet in his own style, operating as he was under the shadow of the great Beethoven. Schubert also transformed the German Lied (song) into an art form.
At this time the Austrian capital of Vienna became the musical center of Europe, and works of the period are often referred to as being in the Viennese style. Composers came from all over Europe to train in and around Vienna, and gradually they developed and formalized the standard musical forms that were to predominate European musical culture for the next several decades. A reform of the extravagance of Baroque opera was undertaken by Christoph von Gluck. Johann Stamitz contributed greatly to the growth of the orchestra and developed the idea of the orchestral symphony. The Classical period reached its majestic culmination with the masterful symphonies, sonatas, and string quartets by the three great composers of the Viennese school: Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. During the same period, the first voice of the burgeoning Romantic musical ethic can be found in the music of Viennese composer Franz Schubert.
About the middle of the century in Mannheim, Germany, composer and conductor Johann Stamitz (1717-1757) and his followers began to develop the orchestra and the art of orchestration, basing their music on the Baroque homophonic style, but now with chords played in unison rather than contrapuntally. The Baroque figured bass was now fully written out in specific parts for all of the instruments, rather than being left to the discretion of the players. Basing these larger works on the Baroque three-part sinfonia (overtures to operas), other elements were introduced, such as the contrasts of dynamics and tempo within movements. This kind music became the basis for the Classical instrumental sonata, string quartet, and orchestral symphony, and reached its apex in the works of Franz Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The elegance and courtly grace of the early Classical period may well be best exemplified by the familiar strains of the Minuet from the String quintet op. 13, no. 4 by the Italian composer, Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805). Known during his lifetime as an exceptional cellist, Boccherini is not considered a composer of any real import today. But he did compose a great deal of chamber music and concertos of great charm and melodiousness. Later in the period and spanning the turn of the century, Viennese composer Franz Schubert further developed the symphony and string quartet in his own style, operating as he was under the shadow of the great Beethoven. Schubert also transformed the German Lied (song) into an art form.
Reference
National Organisation of Book Publishing/Lybanis Public. ISBN: 978-960-06-2231-7 History of Music of 3nd Gymnasium Class