Classical Period

preclassical period

transition between Baroque + Classical

• 1730-1770

Composers

CPE Bach

JC Bach

Mozart

Haydn

Beethoven

WF Bach

classical music

anything that’s not rock, jazz, folk or pop

• 1770-1820

characteristics of classical music

• fluctuates in mood

• contrast themes

• unexpected changes

movement types

1. fast

2. slow

3. dance-related

4. fast

middle class

drove the increased popularity of music (public)

vienna

most popular music place in the world during classical period

private concerts

aristocrates + wealthy commoners played with professional musicians

divertimentos/serenadas

outdoor entertainment pieces

transitional composers

Baroque + Classical composers…mixing of different periods into one piece

forms of classical music

1. sonata

2. symphony

3. concerto

4. string quartet

sonata form sequence

tonic

dominant

anything but tonic

tonic

cadenza

improv for soloist in concerto’s

sonata form

single movement

sonata

whole composition made up of several movements

exposition

first theme (tonic)

bridge with modulation

second theme (dominant)

development

new treatment of themes

modulations to different keys

recapitulation

first theme again in tonic

bridge without modulation

second theme in tonic

coda

in tonic

repeat 

bridge

leading to the second theme

• in the exposition it leads to the dominant key

motives

short musical ideas developed within a composition

concerto

3-movement work

instrumental soloist + orchestra

concerto form

1. fast

2. slow

3. fast

fermata

pause

movements of the symphony

1. fast

2. slow

3. minuet

4. fast

Mozart known for

opera transformation

symphony/concerto reformation