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Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream 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 public taste for and appreciation of formal music of this type waned in the late 1900s in the United States and United Kingdom in particular.[6] Certainly this period has seen classical music falling well behind the immense commercial success of popular music, in the opinion of some[who?], although the number of CDs sold is not indicative of the popularity of classical music.[7]
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.[8] The earliest reference to "classical music" recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is from about 1836.[9][10] Many writers feel that "classical" is an inappropriate term for mainstream and avant-garde music written since the latter part of the 19th century; hence the common usage of apostrophes as a short-hand for "so-called".
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 bluegrass music, Broadway music, and other genres; or "relaxing" or "background" music for affluent people, descriptions which are probably only accurate when describing court music from the Baroque and Classical periods. However, there are characteristics that classical music contains that generally few or no other genres of music contain.
[edit] Instrumentation
Classical and popular music are often distinguished by their choice of instruments. There are few if any genres in which so many different instruments are used simultaneously by performing groups such as symphony orchestras, which often contain as many as 5 or so different types of string instruments including violins, violas, cellos, double basses and harp; 7 or more types of woodwind instruments; 4 or so types of brass instrument; and many diverse percussion instruments, sometimes as many as 10 different types. Also prevalent, especially in opera, is the human voice. Comparatively, most popular music genres involve fewer instruments. For instance a typical rock band will consist of a drummer, a guitarist or two, a singer or two, an electric bassist and, less universally, a keyboardist; Of course, crossover influences, such as string sections in pop recordings, are very popular as well, but rarely are backing strings considered to be part of pop or rock bands.
The instruments used in common practice classical music were mostly 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, the acoustic guitar, for example, which used to be associated mainly with popular music, has 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.
[edit] Form and technical execution
Whereas the majority of popular styles, such as rock music, lend themselves to the song form, classical music can also take on the form of the concerto, symphony, 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 germ, idea or motif is repeated in different contexts or in altered form. The classical genres of sonata form and fugue employ rigorous forms of musical development.
Along with a certain 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 the conservatories, dedicated to the study of classical music. The only other genre in the Western world with comparable secondary education opportunities is jazz.
[edit] 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 competent, 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 through the study of this complexity, leading to more meaningful hearing and a greater appreciation of the composer's style.
[edit] 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 if not most working classical musicians fall somewhere in the middle-class income range in the United States, and that classical concertgoers and CD buyers are not necessarily upper class.[citation needed] Even in the Classical era, Mozart's opere buffe such as Così fan tutte were popular with ordinary people.
Classical music regularly features in pop culture, forming background music for movies, television programs and advertisements. As a result most people in the Western World regularly and often unknowingly listen to classical music; this means that 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 Soccer 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.
Classical period music
Main article: Classical period (music)
See also: List of Classical era composers
The Classical period, from about 1750 – 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 predominating. The opera buffa, or comic opera, gained 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 (whom we now call the concertmaster).[22]
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 did not receive wide use until Mozart expanded its role in orchestral, chamber, and concerto settings.
[edit] Romantic era music
Main article: Romantic music
See also: List of Romantic composers
The music of the Romantic era, from 1820 – 1910, was characterized by increased attention to melody and rhythm, 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 with titles like nocturne, fantasia, and prelude being written, where accepted ideas about the exposition and development of themes were ignored or minimized.[23] The music became more chromatic, dissonant, and tonally colorful, with tensions (with respect to accepted norms of the older forms) about key signatures increasing.[24] The art song (or Lied) came to maturity in this era, as did the epic scales of grand opera, which culminated with Richard Wagner's Ring cycle.[25]
In the 19th century, musical institutions were able to separate themselves from the control of wealthy patrons, as composers and musicians were able to construct lives independent of the whims of the sometimes fickle 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. Most symphony orchestras with long histories date their founding to this era.[24] Some musicians and composers were the stars of the day; some, like Franz Liszt and Niccolò Paganini, fulfilled both roles.[26]
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.[24] Gustav Mahler's 1906 Symphony of a Thousand, for example, has been performed with over 150 instrumentalists and choirs over 400 strong.
The influence of the European musical ideas also began to spread beyond the boundaries of Europe, as European cultural ideas and institutions began to follow colonial expansion into other parts of the world. There was also a rise within Europe, 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.[27]
[edit] 20th century, modern, and contemporary music
Main articles: 20th century classical music and Contemporary classical music
See also: List of 20th century classical composers and List of 21st century classical composers
The modern era began with Impressionist music from 1910 – 1920, which was dominated by French composers who went against the traditional German ways of art and music. Impressionist music by Erik Satie, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel used the pentatonic scale, long, flowing phrases and free rhythms. 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 in this time. 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 present day.