History of Classical Period 1730- 1820

 The dates of the Classical period in Western music are generally accepted as being

between about the year 1730 and the year 1820. However, the term classical music is often
used in a colloquial sense as a synonym for Western art music which describes a variety of
Western musical styles from the Middle Ages to the present, and especially from the
seventeenth century to the nineteenth. This article is about the specific period in most of the
18th century to the early 19th century, though overlapping with
the Baroque and Romantic periods.[1]
 The Classical period falls between the Baroque and the Romantic periods. Classical music
has a lighter, clearer texture than Baroque music and is less complex. It is
mainly homophonic, using a clear melody line over a subordinate chordal accompaniment,
[2]
 but counterpoint was by no means forgotten, especially later in the period. It also makes
use of style galant which emphasized light elegance in place of the Baroque's dignified
seriousness and impressive grandeur. Variety and contrast within a piece became more
pronounced than before and the orchestraincreased in size, range, and power.
 The best-known composers from this period are Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Schubert; other notable names include Luigi
Boccherini, Muzio Clementi, Antonio Salieri, Leopold Mozart, Johann Christian Bach, Carl
Philipp Emanuel Bach, and Christoph Willibald Gluck. Ludwig van Beethoven is regarded
either as a Romantic composer or a Classical period composer who was part of the transition
to the Romantic era. Franz Schubert is also a transitional figure, as were Johann Nepomuk
Hummel, Luigi Cherubini, and Carl Maria von Weber. The period is sometimes referred to as
the era of Viennese Classic or Classicism (German: Wiener Klassik), since Gluck, Mozart,
Haydn, Salieri, and Beethoven all worked in Vienna and Schubert was born there

CLASSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
1750-1820

 Classical music has a lighter, clearer texture than Baroque music and is less complex. It is
mainly homophonic[4]—a clear melody above a subordinate chordal accompaniment.
  Counterpoint was by no means forgotten, especially later in the period, and composers still
used counterpoint in religious pieces, such as Masses. Classical music also makes use
of style galant, which contrasted with the heavy strictures of the Baroque style.
 Galant style emphasized light elegance in place of the Baroque's dignified seriousness and
impressive grandeur.
 Variety and contrast within a piece became more pronounced than before. Composers used
a variety of keys, melodies, rhythms and dynamics.
 Classical pieces dynamic changes such as crescendo (an instruction to gradually get
louder), diminuendo (an instruction to gradually get softer) and sforzando (a sudden strong,
loud attack). Classical pieces had frequent changes of dynamics, mood and timbre, in
contrast to Baroque music.
  Melodies tended to be shorter than those of Baroque music, with clear-cut phrases and
distinct cadences. The orchestra increased in size and range; the harpsichord or pipe
organ basso continuo role in orchestra gradually fell out of use between 1750 and 1800. As
well, the woodwinds became a self-contained section, consisting
of clarinets, oboes, flutes and bassoons. As a solo instrument, the harpsichord was replaced
by the piano (or fortepiano, the first type of piano which was invented ca. 1700). Early piano
music was light in texture, often with Alberti bassaccompaniment, which used arpeggios in
the left hand to state the harmonies. Over the Classical period, the pieces became richer,
more sonorous and more powerful.
.

Melody
1. Short, balanced 4 bar phrases
2. 2 or more contrasting themes in a movement
3. Predictable and simple
4. Symmetrical
5. No improvisation
Harmony
1. Major/Minor tonalities
2. Contrast of tonic/dominant keys
3. Modulation
4. Strong tonal centre
5. Harmonic stability
Rhythm
1. Clearly defined and regular
2. Many rhythmic patterns
3. Sudden and gradual shifts in note lengths
4. Unexpected pauses
5. Syncopation
Texture
1. Frequently homophonic
2. Some shifts between homophonic and polyphonic
Tone Colour
1. Fortepiano replaces harpsichord
2. String quartet
3. Classical orchestra: "Noah's ark"
4. Variety and rapid changes
5. Contrast between brass, woodwind and string sections
Structure
1. Several movements contrasting in character and tempo
2. Often fast, slow, dance-related, fast
3. Symphony (4 mvmnts)
4. Sonata (2-4 mvmnts)
5. String quartet
6. Ternary form
7. Theme and variations
8. Minuet and trio
9. Rondo form
Dynamics
1. Common use of gradual change - cresc. and dim.
2. Little use of terraced dynamics

FAMOUS COMPOSERS OF CLASSICAL PERIOD

Josep Haydn
 was born in Rohrau, Austria, a village that at that time stood on the border with Hungary.
 His father was Mathias Haydn, a wheelwright who also served as "Marktrichter", an
office akin to village mayor. Haydn's mother Maria, née Koller, had previously worked
as a cook in the palace of Count Harrach,
 was an Austrian composer of the Classical period.

 He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio[2] and

his contributions to musical form have earned him the sobriquets "Father of
the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet".
 He was a friend and mentor of Mozart, a teacher of Beethoven, and the older brother of
composer Michael Haydn.
 Haydn's singing impressed those who heard him, because in 1739 he was brought to the
attention of Georg von Reutter, the director of music in St. Stephen's Cathedral in
Viennas.
 Haydn lived in the Kapellhaus next to the cathedral, along with Reutter, Reutter's family,
and the other four choirboys, which after 1745 included his younger brother Michael.
 1749, Haydn had matured physically to the point that he was no longer able to sing high
choral parts. Empress Maria Theresa herself complained to Reutter about his singing,
calling it "crowing".
 Haydn passed his audition with Reutter, and after several months of further training
moved to Vienna (1740), where he worked for the next nine years as a chorister.

 Haydn struggled at first, working at many different jobs: as a music teacher, as a street
serenader, and eventually, in 1752, as valet–accompanist for the Italian composer Nicola
Porpora, from whom he later said he learned "the true fundamentals of composition"

 He was also briefly in Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz's employ, playing the
organ in the Bohemian Chancellery chapel at the Judenplatz.
 Haydn began to acquire a public reputation, first as the composer of an opera, Der
krumme Teufel, "The Limping Devil", written for the comic actor Johann Joseph Felix
Kurz, whose stage name was "Bernardon". The work was premiered successfully in 1753,

 Between 1754 and 1756 Haydn also worked freelance for the court in Vienna. He was
among several musicians who were paid for services as supplementary musicians at balls
given for the imperial children during carnival season, and as supplementary singers in
the imperial chapel (the Hofkapelle) in Lent and Holy Week.

 On 26 May Haydn played his "Emperor's Hymn" with unusual gusto three times; the
same evening he collapsed and was taken to what proved to be to his deathbed.[40]
  He died peacefully at 12:40 a.m. on 31 May 1809, aged 77.

Wolfganf Mozart

 27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791), baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus

Theophilus Mozart
.
 Born in Salzburg, he showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. Already
competent on keyboard and violin,
 he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty.
 At 17, Mozart was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court, but grew restless and
traveled in search of a better position. While visiting Vienna in 1781
 During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies,
concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the
time of his death.
He composed more than 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic,
concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music.

 He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, and his influence is
profound on subsequent Western art music. Ludwig van Beethoven composed his own
early works in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote: "posterity will not see
such a talent again in 100 years.

 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 to Leopold Mozart (1719–
1787) and Anna Maria, at 9 Getreidegasse in Salzburg.[4] This was the capital of the
Archbishopric of Salzburg, an ecclesiastic principality in what is now Austria, then part
of the Holy Roman Empire.
 He was the youngest of seven children, five of whom died in infancy.
 His elder sister was Maria Anna Mozart (1751–1829), nicknamed "Nannerl". Mozart
was baptized the day after his birth, at St. Rupert's Cathedral in Salzburg. The baptismal
 record gives his name in Latinized form, as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus
Theophilus Mozart.
 He generally called himself "Wolfgang Amadè Mozart"[6] as an adult, but his name had
many variants.
 Mozart was four or five years old when he created his first musical compositions, though
there is little doubt that Mozart composed his first three pieces of music within a few
weeks of each other: K. 1a, 1b, and 1
 Wolfgang's father was his only teacher. Along with music, he taught his children
languages and academic subjects.
 he was taught His first ink-spattered composition and his precocious efforts with the
violin were of his own initiative, and came as a surprise to Leopold[13] who eventually
gave up composing when his son's musical talents became evident.[14]
 Wolfgang met a number of musicians and acquainted himself with the works of other
composers. A particularly important influence was Johann Christian Bach, whom he
visited in London in 1764 and 1765. The family again went to Vienna in late 1767 and
remained there until December 1768.
 Mozart wrote his first symphony when he was eight years old. It is probable that his
father transcribed most of it for him.[16]
 Wolfgang met Josef Mysliveček and Giovanni Battista Martini in Bologna, and was
accepted as a member of the famous Accademia Filarmonica. In Rome, he heard
Gregorio Allegri's Miserere twice in performance, in the Sistine Chapel, and wrote it out
from memory, thus producing the first unauthorized copy of this closely guarded property
of the Vatican.[21][22]
 In Milan, Mozart wrote the opera Mitridate, re di Ponto (1770), which was performed
with success. This led to further opera commissions..
 Mozart wrote the first of his works to be still widely performed today, the solo motet
Exsultate, jubilate, K. 165.
 13 March 1773, Mozart was employed as a court musician by the ruler of Salzburg,
Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo. The composer had a great number
 Between April and December 1775, Mozart developed an enthusiasm for violin
concertos, producing a series of five (the only ones he ever wrote), which steadily
increased in their musical sophistication.
 6 December 1774 to March 1775. Neither visit was successful, though the Munich
journey resulted in a popular success with the premiere of Mozart's opera La finta
giardiniera
 Among the better known works which Mozart wrote on the Paris journey are the A minor
piano sonata, K. 310/300d and the "Paris" Symphony (No. 31), which were performed in
Paris on 12 and 18 June 1778.
 In January 1781, Mozart's opera Idomeneo premiered with "considerable success" in
Munich.[46] The following March, Mozart was summoned to Vienna, where his employer,
Archbishop Colloredo
 . He performed often as a pianist, notably in a competition before the Emperor with
Muzio Clementi on 24 December 1781,[51] and he soon "had established himself as the
finest keyboard player in Vienna.
 In the course of 1782 and 1783, Mozart became intimately acquainted with the work of
Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel as a result of the influence of
Gottfried van Swieten, who owned many manuscripts of the Baroque masters. Mozart's
study of these scores inspired compositions.

 On 14 December 1784, Mozart became a Freemason, admitted to the lodge Zur

Wohltätigkeit ("Beneficence").[66] Freemasonry played an important role in the remainder
of Mozart's life.

 1791 He composed a great deal, including some of his most admired works: the opera
The Magic Flute; the final piano concerto (K. 595 in B-flat); the Clarinet Concerto
K. 622; the last in his great series of string quintets (K. 614 in E-flat); the motet Ave
verum corpus K. 618.

 Mozart was nursed in his final illness by his wife and her youngest sister, and was
attended by the family doctor, Thomas Franz Closset. He was mentally occupied with the
task of finishing his Requiem, but the evidence that he actually dictated passages to his
student Franz Xaver Süssmayr is minimal.

 Mozart died in his home on 5 December 1791 (aged 35) at 1:00 am. The New Grove
describes his funeral:

LUDWIG BEETHOVEN

 Ludwig van Beethoven baptised 17 December 1770 26 M arch 1827) was a German
composer and pianist. eras in Western art music,
 His best-known compositions include 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, 1 violin
concerto, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, his great Mass the Missa solemnis, and
one opera, Fidelio.
 Beethoven was the grandson of Ludwig van Beethoven (1712–73), a musician from the
town of Mechelen in the Duchy of Brabant in the Flemish region of what is now
Belgium, who at the age of twenty moved to Bonn.
 Ludwig (he adopted the German cognate of the Dutch Lodewijk) was employed as a
bass singer at the court of the Elector of Cologne, eventually rising to become, in 1761,
Kapellmeister (music director) and thereafter the pre-eminent musician in Bonn.
 Ludwig had one son, Johann (1740–1792), who worked as a tenor in the same musical
establishment and gave keyboard and violin lessons to supplement his income.
 Beethoven was born of this marriage in Bonn. There is no authentic record of the date of
his birth; however, the registry of his baptism, in a Catholic service at the Parish of St.
Regius on 17 December 1770.
 Beethoven's first music teacher was his father. He later had other local teachers: the court
organist Gilles van den Eeden (d. 1782), Tobias Friedrich Pfeiffer (a family friend, who
provided keyboard tuition), and Franz Rovantini (a relative, who instructed him in
playing the violin and viola.
 1779, Beethoven began his studies with his most important teacher in Bonn, Christian
Gottlob Neefe, who was appointed the Court's Organist in that year.[12] Neefe taught
Beethoven composition, and by March 1783 had helped him write his first published
composition.
 His first three piano sonatas, named "Kurfürst" ("Elector") for their dedication to the
Elector Maximilian Friedrich (1708–1784).
 From 1790 to 1792, Beethoven composed a significant number of works (none were
published at the time, and most are now listed as works without opus number)
 Beethoven was probably first introduced to Joseph Haydn in late 1790, when the latter
was travelling to London and stopped in Bonn around Christmas time to study with the
old master.
 . He also studied violin under Ignaz Schuppanzigh.[30] Early in this period.
 By 1793, Beethoven had established a reputation as an improviser in the salons of the
nobility, often playing the preludes and fugues of J. S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier.
 Beethoven's first public performance in Vienna was in March 1795, a concert in which
he first performed one of his piano concertos.
 Beethoven composed his first six string quartets (Op. 18) between 1798 and 1800
(commissioned by, and dedicated to, Prince Lobkowitz). They were published in 1801.
With premieres of his First and Second Symphonies in 1800 and 1803,
 Beethoven became regarded as one of the most important of a generation of young
composers following Haydn and Mozart.
 He also continued to write in other forms, turning out widely known piano sonatas like
the "Pathétique" sonata (Op. 13), which Cooper describes as "surpass[ing] any of his
previous compositions, in strength of character, depth of emotion, level of originality ,
and ingenuity of motivic and tonal manipulation.
 He also completed his Septet (Op. 20) in 1799, which was one of his most popular
works during his lifetime.

 In May 1799, Beethoven taught piano to the daughters of Hungarian Countess Anna
Brunsvik. During this time, Beethoven fell in love with the younger daughter
Josephine[43] who has therefore been identified as one of the more likely candidates for
the addressee of his letter to the "Immortal Beloved" (in 1812
 Beethoven had few other students. From 1801 to 1805, he tutored Ferdinand Ries, who
went on to become a composer and later wrote Beethoven remembered, a book about
their encounters.
 Beethoven's compositions between 1800 and 1802 were dominated by two large-scale
orchestral works, although he continued to produce other important works such as the
piano sonata Sonata quasi una fantasia known as the "Moonlight Sonata".
 In the spring of 1801 he completed The Creatures of Prometheus, a ballet. The work
received numerous performances in 1801 and 1802, and Beethoven rushed to publish a
piano arrangement to capitalise on its early popularity.
 In the spring of 1802 he completed the Second Symphony, intended for performance at a
concert that was cancelled. The symphony received its premiere instead at a subscription
concert in April 1803 at the Theater an der Wien, where Beethoven had been appointed
composer in residence.
 In addition to the Second Symphony, the concert also featured the First Symphony, the
Third Piano Concerto, and the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives.
 Beethoven is reported to have dated his hearing loss from a fit he suffered in 1798
induced by a rage at the interruption of his work—having fallen over, he got up to find
himself deaf.
 As early as 1801, he wrote to friends describing his symptoms and the difficulties they
caused in both professional and social settings (although it is likely some of his close
friends were already aware of the problems.
 by the age of 44, Beethoven was almost totally deaf, and when a group of visitors saw
him play a loud arpeggio of thundering bass notes at his piano remarking, "Ist es nicht
schön?" (Is it not beautiful?), they felt deep sympathy considering his courage and sense
of humour (he lost the ability to hear higher frequencies first.
 Beethoven's compositions between 1800 and 1802 were dominated by two large-scale
orchestral works, although he continued to produce other important works such as the
piano sonata Sonata quasi una fantasia known as the "Moonlight Sonata".
 In the spring of 1802 he completed the Second Symphony, intended for performance at a
concert that was cancelled. The symphony received its premiere instead at a subscription
concert in April 1803 at the Theater an der Wien, where Beethoven had been appointed
composer in residence.
 Perhaps Beethoven's most important aristocratic patron was Archduke Rudolph, the
youngest son of Emperor Leopold II, who in 1803 or 1804 began to study piano and
composition with Beethoven.
 Beethoven dedicated 14 compositions to Rudolph, including the Archduke Trio (1811)
and Missa solemnis (1823). Rudolph, in turn, dedicated one of his own compositions to
Beethoven.
 Beethoven began a renewed study of older music, including works by J. S. Bach and
Handel, that were then being published in the first attempts at complete editions.
 He composed the overture The Consecration of the House, which was the first work to
attempt to incorporate these influences. A new style emerged, now called his "late
period".
 Beethoven is acknowledged as one of the giants of classical music; he is occasionally
referred to as one of the "three Bs" (along with Bach and Brahms) who epitomise that
tradition.
 He wrote seven concerti for one or more soloists and orchestra, as well as four shorter
works that include soloists accompanied by orchestra
 His large body of compositions for piano includes 32 piano sonatas and numerous
shorter pieces, including arrangements of some of his other works.
 Beethoven also wrote a significant quantity of chamber music. In addition to 16 string
quartets, he wrote five works for string quintet, seven for piano trio, five for string trio,
and more than a dozen works for various combinations of wind instruments..
 Beethoven's late period began around 1815. Works from this period are characterised by
their intellectual depth, their formal innovations, and their intense, highly personal
expression.
 In 1822 Beethoven composed The Consecration of the House overture, which also bears
the influence of Handel.