Roots The Western classical tradition formally begins with music created by and for the early Christian Church. It is probable that the early Church wished to disassociate itself from the predominant
music of ancient Greece and
Rome, as it was a reminder of the
pagan religion it had
persecuted and
by which it had been persecuted. As such, it remains unclear as to what extent the music of the Christian Church, and thus Western classical music as a whole, was influenced by preceding
ancient music. The general attitude towards music was adopted from the
Ancient Greek and
Roman music theorists and commentators. Just as in Greco-Roman society, music was considered central to education; along with arithmetic, geometry and astronomy, music was included in the
quadrivium, the four subjects of the upper division of a standard
liberal arts education in the
Middle Ages. This high regard for music was first promoted by the scholars
Cassiodorus,
Isidore of Seville, and particularly
Boethius, whose transmission and expansion on the perspectives of music from
Pythagoras,
Aristotle and
Plato were crucial in the development of medieval musical thought. However, scholars,
medieval music theorists and
composers regularly misinterpreted or misunderstood the writings of their Greek and Roman predecessors. This was due to the complete absence of surviving Greco-Roman musical works available to medieval musicians, to the extent that Isidore of Seville () stated "unless sounds are remembered by man, they perish, for they cannot be written down", unaware of the
systematic notational practices of Ancient Greece centuries before. The musicologist
Gustave Reese notes, however, that many Greco-Roman texts can still be credited as influential to Western classical music, since medieval musicians regularly read their works—regardless of whether they were doing so correctly. However, there are some indisputable musical continuations from the
ancient world. Basic aspects such as
monophony,
improvisation and the dominance of text in musical settings are prominent in both early medieval and music of nearly all ancient civilizations. Greek influences in particular include the
church modes (which were descendants of developments by
Aristoxenus and Pythagoras), basic
acoustical theory from
pythagorean tuning, as well as the central function of
tetrachords. Ancient Greek instruments such as the
aulos (a
reed instrument) and the
lyre (a stringed instrument similar to a small
harp) eventually led to several modern-day instruments of a symphonic orchestra. However,
Donald Jay Grout notes that attempting to create a direct evolutionary connection from the ancient music to early medieval is baseless, as it was almost solely influenced by Greco-Roman music theory, not performance or practice.
Early music Medieval (14th-century
Medieval manuscript) Medieval music includes Western European music from after the
fall of the Western Roman Empire by 476 to about 1400.
Monophonic chant, also called plainsong or
Gregorian chant, was the dominant form until about 1100. Christian monks developed the first forms of European musical notation in order to standardize liturgy throughout the Church.
Polyphonic (multi-voiced) music developed from monophonic chant throughout the late
Middle Ages and into the
Renaissance, including the more complex voicings of
motets. During the
earlier medieval period, the vocal music from the
liturgical genre, predominantly
Gregorian chant, was
monophonic, using a single, unaccompanied vocal melody line.
Polyphonic vocal genres, which used multiple independent vocal melodies, began to develop during the
high medieval era, becoming prevalent by the later 13th and early 14th century. Notable medieval composers include
Hildegard of Bingen,
Léonin,
Pérotin,
Philippe de Vitry,
Guillaume de Machaut,
Francesco Landini, and
Johannes Ciconia. Many
medieval musical instruments still exist, but in different forms. Medieval instruments included the
flute, the
recorder and plucked
string instruments like the
lute. As well, early versions of the
organ and
fiddle (or
vielle) existed. Medieval instruments in Europe had most commonly been used singly, often self-accompanied with a
drone note, or occasionally in parts. From at least as early as the 13th century through the 15th century, there was a division of instruments into
haut (loud, shrill, outdoor instruments) and
bas (quieter, more intimate instruments). A number of instruments have roots in Eastern predecessors that were
adopted from the medieval Islamic world. For example, the Arabic
rebab is the ancestor of all European
bowed string instruments, including the
lira,
rebec and
violin.
Renaissance The musical Renaissance era lasted from 1400 to 1600. It was characterized by greater use of
instrumentation, multiple interweaving melodic lines, and the use of earlier forms of
bass instruments. Social dancing became more widespread, so musical forms appropriate to accompanying dance began to standardize. It is in this time that the notation of music on a
staff and other elements of
musical notation began to take shape. This invention made possible the separation of the
composition of a piece of music from its
transmission; without written music, transmission was oral, and subject to change every time it was transmitted. With a
musical score, a work of music could be performed without the composer's presence. The invention of the movable-type
printing press in the 15th century had far-reaching consequences on the preservation and transmission of music. featuring the
Kyrie of
Ockeghem's
Missa Ecce ancilla Domini|left|350x350px Many instruments originated during the Renaissance; others were variations of, or improvements upon, instruments that had existed previously. Some have survived to the present day; others have disappeared, only to be re-created in order to perform music on period instruments. As in the modern day, instruments may be classified as brass, strings, percussion, and woodwind. Brass instruments in the Renaissance were traditionally played by professionals who were members of
Guilds and they included the
slide trumpet, the wooden
cornet, the valveless
trumpet and the
sackbut. Stringed instruments included the
viol, the
rebec, the harp-like
lyre, the
hurdy-gurdy, the
lute, the
guitar, the
cittern, the
bandora, and the
orpharion.
Keyboard instruments with strings included the
harpsichord and the
clavichord. Percussion instruments include the
triangle, the
Jew's harp, the
tambourine, the bells, the rumble-pot, and various kinds of drums. Woodwind instruments included the double-reed
shawm (an early member of the
oboe family), the
reed pipe, the
bagpipe, the
transverse flute, the
recorder, the
dulcian, and the
crumhorn. Simple
pipe organs existed, but were largely confined to churches, although there were portable varieties. Printing enabled the standardization of descriptions and specifications of instruments, as well as instruction in their use. Vocal music in the Renaissance is noted for the flourishing of an increasingly elaborate
polyphonic style. The principal liturgical forms which endured throughout the entire Renaissance period were masses and motets, with some other developments towards the end, especially as composers of sacred music began to adopt secular forms (such as the
madrigal) for their own designs. Towards the end of the period, the early dramatic precursors of opera such as monody, the
madrigal comedy, and the
intermedio are seen. Around 1597, Italian composer
Jacopo Peri wrote
Dafne, the first work to be called an
opera today. He also composed
Euridice, the first opera to have survived to the present day. Notable composers of the Renaissance include
Josquin des Prez,
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina,
John Dunstaple,
Johannes Ockeghem,
Orlande de Lassus,
Guillaume Du Fay,
Gilles Binchois,
Thomas Tallis,
William Byrd,
Giovanni Gabrieli,
Carlo Gesualdo,
John Dowland,
Jacob Obrecht,
Adrian Willaert,
Jacques Arcadelt,
Cipriano de Rore, and
Francesco da Milano.
Common-practice period The
common practice period is typically defined as the era between the formation and the dissolution of common-practice
tonality. The term usually spans roughly two-and-a-half centuries, encompassing the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods.
Baroque ,
harpsichord,
bass viol,
lute,
violin, and
baroque guitar Baroque music is characterized by the use of complex tonal
counterpoint and the use of a
basso continuo, a continuous bass line. Music became more complex in comparison with the simple songs of all previous periods. The beginnings of the
sonata form took shape in the
canzona, as did a more formalized notion of
theme and variations. The tonalities of
major and minor as means for managing dissonance and
chromaticism in music took full shape. During the Baroque era, keyboard music played on the
harpsichord and
pipe organ became increasingly popular, and the violin family of stringed instruments took the form generally seen today. Opera as a staged musical drama began to differentiate itself from earlier musical and dramatic forms, and vocal forms like the
cantata and
oratorio became more common. For the first time, vocalists began adding ornamentals to the music. additional stringed chordal instruments (e.g., a lute), bowed strings, woodwinds, and brass instruments, and an unspecified number of bass instruments performing the basso continuo,(e.g., a cello, contrabass, viola, bassoon, serpent, etc.). Vocal oeuvres of the Baroque era included suites such as
oratorios and
cantatas. Secular music was less common, and was typically characterized only by instrumental music. Like
Baroque art, themes were generally sacred and for the purpose of a catholic setting. Notable composers of the Baroque era include
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Antonio Vivaldi,
George Frideric Handel,
Johann Pachelbel,
Henry Purcell,
Claudio Monteverdi,
Barbara Strozzi,
Domenico Scarlatti,
Georg Philipp Telemann,
Arcangelo Corelli,
Alessandro Scarlatti,
Jean-Philippe Rameau,
Jean-Baptiste Lully, and
Heinrich Schütz.
Classical (1732–1809), portrayed by
Thomas Hardy (1791) Though the term "classical music" includes all Western art music from the medieval era to the 21st century, the Classical
era was the period of Western art music from the 1750s to the early 1820s—the era of
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Joseph Haydn, and
Ludwig van Beethoven. The Classical era established many of the norms of composition, presentation, and style, and when the piano became the predominant keyboard instrument. The
basic forces required for an
orchestra became somewhat standardized (though they would grow as the potential of a wider array of instruments was developed). 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. The
opera buffa, a form of comic opera, rose 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, and were often led by the lead violinist (now called the
concertmaster). Classical era musicians continued to use many of the instruments from the Baroque era, such as the cello, contrabass, recorder, trombone, timpani, fortepiano (the precursor to the modern
piano) and organ. While some Baroque instruments fell into disuse e.g. the theorbo and rackett, many Baroque instruments were changed into the versions still in use today, such as the Baroque violin (which became the
violin), Baroque oboe (which became the
oboe) and Baroque trumpet, which transitioned to the regular valved trumpet. During the Classical era, the stringed instruments used in orchestra and
chamber music such as
string quartets were standardized as the four instruments which form the
string section of the orchestra: the violin, viola, cello, and double bass. Baroque-era stringed instruments such as fretted, bowed
viols were phased out. Woodwinds included the
basset clarinet,
basset horn,
clarinette d'amour, the Classical
clarinet, the
chalumeau, the flute, oboe and bassoon. Keyboard instruments included the
clavichord and the
fortepiano. While the
harpsichord was still used in basso continuo accompaniment in the 1750s and 1760s, it fell out of use at the end of the century. Brass instruments included the
buccin, the
ophicleide (a replacement for the bass
serpent, which was the precursor of the
tuba) and the
natural horn. Wind instruments became more refined in the Classical era. While
double-reed instruments like the oboe and
bassoon became somewhat standardized in the Baroque, the
clarinet family of
single reeds was not widely used until Mozart expanded its role in orchestral, chamber, and concerto settings. Notable composers of the Classical era include
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Joseph Haydn,
Franz Schubert,
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach,
Luigi Boccherini,
Antonio Salieri,
Carl Czerny, and
Pierre Rode.
Ludwig van Beethoven is commonly regarded as a transitional composer whose music combines both late Classical and early Romantic elements.
Romantic 's 1840 painting
Liszt at the Piano featuring
Franz Liszt at the piano surrounded by (from left to right)
Alexandre Dumas,
Hector Berlioz,
George Sand,
Niccolò Paganini,
Gioachino Rossini, and
Marie d'Agoult with a bust of
Ludwig van Beethoven on the piano The music of the
Romantic era, from roughly the first decade of the 19th century to the early 20th century, was characterized by increased attention to an extended melodic line, 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 like
nocturnes,
fantasias, and
preludes being written where accepted ideas about the exposition and development of themes were ignored or minimized. The music became more chromatic, dissonant, and tonally colorful, with tensions (with respect to accepted norms of the older forms) about key signatures increasing. The
art song (or
Lied) came to maturity in this era, as did the epic scales of
grand opera, ultimately transcended by
Richard Wagner's
Ring cycle. In the 19th century, musical institutions emerged from the control of wealthy patrons, as composers and musicians could construct lives independent of the 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 many piano builders. Many symphony orchestras date their founding to this era. The families of instruments used, especially in orchestras, grew larger; a process that climaxed in the early 20th century with very large orchestras used by late romantic and modernist composers. 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. New woodwind instruments were added, such as the
contrabassoon,
bass clarinet and
piccolo and new percussion instruments were added, including
xylophones,
snare drums,
celestas (a bell-like keyboard instrument),
bells, and
triangles, Cornets appear regularly in 19th century scores, alongside trumpets which were regarded as less agile, at least until the end of the century. Notable composers of the Romantic era include
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky,
Frédéric Chopin,
Hector Berlioz,
Franz Schubert,
Robert Schumann,
Clara Schumann,
Felix Mendelssohn,
Fanny Hensel,
Franz Liszt,
Giuseppe Verdi,
Richard Wagner,
Johannes Brahms,
Alexander Scriabin,
Nikolai Medtner,
Edvard Grieg, and
Johann Strauss II.
Gustav Mahler and
Richard Strauss are commonly regarded as transitional composers whose music combines both late Romantic and early modernist elements.
20th and 21st centuries . Many early 20th century composers such as Mahler, Sibelius and Vaughan Williams were heavily influenced by the forces of nature. At the turn of the century, music was characteristically late
romantic in style with its expressive melodies, complex harmonies, and expansive forms. This era was marked by the works of several composers who pushed forward
post-romantic symphonic writing. Composers such as
Gustav Mahler and
Richard Strauss continued to develop the western classical tradition with expansive symphonies and operas, while the likes of
Jean Sibelius and
Vaughan Williams infused their compositions with nationalistic elements and influences from folk songs.
Sergei Prokofiev began in this tradition but soon ventured into modernist territories. At the same time, the impressionist movement, spearheaded by
Claude Debussy, was being developed in France, with
Maurice Ravel as another notable pioneer.
Modernist Modernist classical music encompasses many styles of composition that can be characterised as post romantic, impressionist, expressionist, and neoclassical. Modernism marked an era when many composers rejected certain values of the common practice period, such as traditional tonality, melody, instrumentation, and structure. Some music historians regard musical modernism as an era extending from about 1890 to 1930. Others consider that modernism ended with one or the other of the two world wars. Still other authorities claim that modernism is not associated with any historical era, but rather is "an
attitude of the composer; a living construct that can evolve with the times". Despite its decline in the last third of the 20th century, there remained at the end of the century an active core of composers who continued to advance the ideas and forms of modernism, such as
Pierre Boulez,
Pauline Oliveros,
Toru Takemitsu,
George Benjamin,
Jacob Druckman,
Brian Ferneyhough,
George Perle,
Wolfgang Rihm,
Richard Wernick,
Richard Wilson, and
Ralph Shapey. Two musical movements that were dominant during this time were the
impressionist beginning around 1890 and the
expressionist that started around 1908. It was a period of diverse reactions in challenging and reinterpreting older categories of music, innovations that lead to new ways of organizing and approaching harmonic, melodic, sonic, and rhythmic aspects of music, and changes in aesthetic worldviews in close relation to the larger identifiable period of
modernism in the arts of the time. The operative word most associated with it is "innovation". Its leading feature is a "linguistic plurality", which is to say that no single
music genre ever assumed a dominant position. The orchestra continued to grow during the early years modernist era, peaking in the first two decades of the 20th century. Saxophones that appeared only rarely during the 19th century became more commonly used as supplementary instruments, but never became core members of the orchestra. While appearing only as featured solo instruments in some works, for example
Maurice Ravel's orchestration of
Modest Mussorgsky's
Pictures at an Exhibition and
Sergei Rachmaninoff's
Symphonic Dances, the saxophone is included in other works such as
Sergei Prokofiev's
Romeo and Juliet Suites 1 and 2 and many other works as a member of the orchestral ensemble. In some compositions such as Ravel's
Boléro, two or more saxophones of different sizes are used to create an entire section like the other sections of the orchestra. The
euphonium is featured in a few late
Romantic and
20th century works, usually playing parts marked "tenor tuba", including
Gustav Holst's
The Planets, and
Richard Strauss's
Ein Heldenleben. Similarly, in the 20th century, both the
accordion and its cousin the
Free Bass Accordion were occasionally scored as a respected "legitimate instrument" within compositions of classical music for the
symphonic orchestra and the
chamber music ensemble. Significant works for the accordion included:
Paul Creston's
Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra, Op. 75,
Robert Davine's
Divertimento for Flute, Clarinet,Bassoon and Accordion,
Anthony Galla-Rini's
Accordion Concerto in G Minor No. 1 and
John Serry's
Concerto for Free Bass Accordion. Prominent composers of the early 20th century include
Igor Stravinsky,
Claude Debussy,
Sergei Rachmaninoff,
Sergei Prokofiev,
Arnold Schoenberg,
Nikos Skalkottas,
Heitor Villa-Lobos,
Karol Szymanowski,
Anton Webern,
Alban Berg,
Cécile Chaminade,
Paul Hindemith,
Aram Khachaturian,
George Gershwin,
Amy Beach,
Béla Bartók, and
Dmitri Shostakovich, along with the aforementioned Mahler and Strauss as transitional figures who carried over from the 19th century.
Post-modern/contemporary Postmodern music is a period of music that began as early as 1930 according to some authorities. A generation later, this term now properly refers to the music of today written by composers who are still alive; music that came into prominence in the mid-1970s. It includes different variations of
modernist,
postmodern,
neoromantic, and
pluralist music. ==Performance==