Indian classical music During the ancient and medieval periods, the
classical music of the
Indian subcontinent was a largely unified practice. By the 14th century, socio-political turmoil inaugurated by the
Delhi Sultanate began to isolate Northern and Southern India, and independent traditions in each region began emerging. By the 16th-century two distinct styles had formed: the
Hindustani classical music of the North and the
Carnatic classical music of the South. One of the major differences between them is that the Northern Hindustani vein was considerably influenced by the Persian and Arab musical practices of the time. Carnatic music is largely devotional; the majority of the songs are addressed to the Hindu deities. Indian classical music (marga) is monophonic and based on a single melody line or
raga rhythmically organized through
talas.
Western classical music Renaissance (left), with
Gilles Binchois (right) in a
Illuminated manuscript copy of
Martin le Franc's Le champion des dames The beginning of the Renaissance in music is not as clearly marked as the beginning of the Renaissance in the other arts, and unlike in the other arts, it did not begin in
Italy, but in northern Europe, specifically in the area currently comprising central and northern
France, the
Netherlands, and
Belgium. The style of the
Burgundian composers, as the first generation of the
Franco-Flemish school is known, was at first a reaction against the excessive complexity and mannered style of the late 14th century
ars subtilior, and contained clear, singable melody and balanced
polyphony in all voices. The most famous composers of the Burgundian school in the mid-15th century are
Guillaume Dufay,
Gilles Binchois, and
Antoine Busnois. By the middle of the 15th century, composers and singers from the
Low Countries and adjacent areas began to spread across Europe, especially into Italy, where they were employed by the papal chapel and the aristocratic patrons of the arts (such as the
Medici, the
Este, and the
Sforza families). They carried their style with them: smooth polyphony which could be adapted for sacred or secular use as appropriate. Principal forms of sacred musical composition at the time were the
mass, the
motet, and the
laude; secular forms included the
chanson, the
frottola, and later the
madrigal. The invention of
printing had an immense influence on the dissemination of musical styles, and along with the movement of the Franco-Flemish musicians, contributed to the establishment of the first truly international style in European music since the unification of Gregorian chant under Charlemagne. Composers of the middle generation of the Franco-Flemish school included
Johannes Ockeghem, who wrote music in a contrapuntally complex style, with varied texture and an elaborate use of
canonical devices;
Jacob Obrecht, one of the most famous composers of masses in the last decades of the 15th century; and
Josquin des Prez, probably the most famous composer in Europe before
Palestrina, and who during the 16th century was renowned as one of the greatest artists in any form. Music in the generation after Josquin explored increasing complexity of
counterpoint; possibly the most extreme expression is in the music of
Nicolas Gombert, whose contrapuntal complexities influenced early instrumental music, such as the
canzona and the
ricercar, ultimately culminating in
Baroque fugal forms. By the middle of the 16th century, the international style began to break down, and several highly diverse stylistic trends became evident: a trend towards simplicity in sacred music, as directed by the
Counter-Reformation Council of Trent, exemplified in the music of
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina; a trend towards complexity and
chromaticism in the madrigal, which reached its extreme expression in the
avant-garde style of the
Ferrara School of
Luzzaschi and the late century madrigalist
Carlo Gesualdo; and the grandiose, sonorous music of the
Venetian school, which used the architecture of the Basilica
San Marco di Venezia to create
antiphonal contrasts. The music of the Venetian school included the development of
orchestration, ornamented instrumental parts, and
continuo bass parts, all of which occurred within a span of several decades around 1600. Famous composers in
Venice included the Gabrielis,
Andrea and
Giovanni, as well as
Claudio Monteverdi, one of the most significant innovators at the end of the era. '' by
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Most parts of Europe had active and well-differentiated musical traditions by late in the century. In England, composers such as
Thomas Tallis and
William Byrd wrote sacred music in a style similar to that written on the continent, while an active group of home-grown madrigalists adapted the Italian form for English tastes: famous composers included
Thomas Morley,
John Wilbye and
Thomas Weelkes. Spain developed instrumental and vocal styles of its own, with
Tomás Luis de Victoria writing refined music similar to that of Palestrina, and numerous other composers writing for the new guitar. Germany cultivated polyphonic forms built on the Protestant
chorales, which replaced the Roman Catholic Gregorian Chant as a basis for sacred music, and imported the style of the Venetian school (the appearance of which defined the start of the Baroque era there). In addition, Dutch and German composers, particularly
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, wrote enormous amounts of
organ music, establishing the basis for the later Baroque organ style which culminated in the work of
J.S. Bach. France developed a unique style of musical diction known as
musique mesurée, used in secular chansons, with composers such as
Guillaume Costeley and
Claude Le Jeune prominent in the movement. One of the most revolutionary movements in the era took place in Florence in the 1570s and 1580s, with the work of the
Florentine Camerata, who ironically had a reactionary intent: dissatisfied with what they saw as contemporary musical depravities, their goal was to restore the music of the ancient Greeks. Chief among them were
Vincenzo Galilei, the father of the astronomer, and
Giulio Caccini. The fruits of their labors was a declamatory melodic singing style known as
monody, and a corresponding staged dramatic form: a form known today as
opera. The first operas, written around 1600, also define the end of the Renaissance and the beginning of the Baroque eras. Music prior to 1600 was
modal rather than
tonal. Several theoretical developments late in the 16th century, such as the writings on scales on
modes by
Gioseffo Zarlino and
Franchinus Gaffurius, led directly to the development of common practice tonality. The major and minor scales began to predominate over the old
church modes, a feature which was at first most obvious at cadential points in compositions, but gradually became pervasive. Music after 1600, beginning with the tonal music of the Baroque era, is often referred to as belonging to the
common practice period.
Baroque The Baroque era took place from 1600 to 1750, as the
Baroque artistic style flourished across Europe and, during this time, music expanded in its range and complexity. Baroque music began when the first operas (dramatic solo vocal music accompanied by orchestra) were written. During the Baroque era,
polyphonic contrapuntal music, in which multiple, simultaneous independent melody lines were used, remained important (counterpoint was important in the vocal music of the medieval era). German, Italian, French, Dutch, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, and English Baroque composers wrote for small
ensembles including
strings,
brass, and
woodwinds, as well as for
choirs and keyboard instruments such as
pipe organ,
harpsichord, and
clavichord. During this period several major music forms were defined that lasted into later periods when they were expanded and evolved further, including the
fugue, the
invention, the
sonata, and the concerto. The late Baroque style was polyphonically complex and richly ornamented. Important composers from the Baroque era include
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck,
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Arcangelo Corelli,
François Couperin,
Girolamo Frescobaldi,
George Frideric Handel,
Jean-Baptiste Lully,
Jean-Philippe Rameau,
Claudio Monteverdi,
Georg Philipp Telemann,
Domenico Scarlatti and
Antonio Vivaldi.
Classical The music of the
Classical period is characterized by
homophonic texture, or an obvious
melody with
accompaniment. These new melodies tended to be almost voice-like and singable, allowing composers to actually replace singers as the focus of the music. Instrumental music therefore quickly replaced
opera and other sung forms (such as
oratorio) as the favorite of the musical audience and the epitome of great composition. However, opera did not disappear: during the classical period, several composers began producing operas for the general public in their native languages (previous operas were generally in Italian). Along with the gradual displacement of the voice in favor of stronger, clearer melodies, counterpoint also typically became a decorative flourish, often used near the end of a work or for a single
movement. In its stead, simple patterns, such as arpeggios and, in piano music,
Alberti bass (an accompaniment with a repeated pattern typically in the left hand), were used to liven the movement of the piece without creating a confusing additional voice. The now-popular instrumental music was dominated by several well-defined forms: the
sonata, the
symphony, and the
concerto, though none of these were specifically defined or taught at the time as they are now in
music theory. All three derive from
sonata form, which is both the overlying form of an entire work and the structure of a single movement. Sonata form matured during the Classical era to become the primary form of instrumental compositions throughout the 19th century. The early Classical period was ushered in by the
Mannheim School, which included such composers as
Johann Stamitz,
Franz Xaver Richter,
Carl Stamitz, and
Christian Cannabich. It exerted a profound influence on
Joseph Haydn and, through him, on all subsequent European music.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the central figure of the Classical period, and his phenomenal and varied output in all genres defines our perception of the period.
Ludwig van Beethoven and
Franz Schubert were transitional composers, leading into the Romantic period, with their expansion of existing genres, forms, and even functions of music.
Romantic and
Robert Schumann In the Romantic period, music became more expressive and emotional, expanding to encompass literature, art, and philosophy. Famous early Romantic composers include
Schumann,
Chopin,
Mendelssohn,
Bellini,
Donizetti, and
Berlioz. The late 19th century saw a dramatic expansion in the size of the
orchestra, and in the role of concerts as part of
urban society. Famous composers from the second half of the century include
Johann Strauss II,
Brahms,
Liszt,
Tchaikovsky,
Verdi, and
Wagner. Between 1890 and 1910, a third wave of composers including
Grieg,
Dvořák,
Mahler,
Richard Strauss,
Puccini, and
Sibelius built on the work of middle Romantic composers to create even more complex – and often much longer – musical works. A prominent mark of late 19th-century music is its nationalistic fervor, as exemplified by such figures as Dvořák, Sibelius, and Grieg. Other prominent late-century figures include
Saint-Saëns,
Fauré,
Rachmaninoff,
Franck,
Debussy and
Rimsky-Korsakov. == 20th century ==