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AOS1: Western Classical Music

The Baroque Period:

  • 1600-1750

  • use of woodwind and natural brass

  • mainly strings

  • contrapuntal texture (lots of busy lines)

  • major or minor keys and simple harmony

  • chamber orchestra

  • basso continuo played by harpsichord or organ

  • terraced dynamics

  • short melodic motifs with plenty of ornamentation

  • modulations

  • Key composers: Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Pachelbel

Handel’s Coronation Anthems:

  • composed during the Baroque Period

  • large SATB choir and orchestra

  • trumpet fanfares

  • organ basso continuo

  • homophonic chordal sections of voices and polyphonic sections where imitation is common

  • melismatic word setting common in choir parts

  • diatonic harmony with clear perfect cadences

Opera:

  • large choral work, singers and orchestra

  • a story set to music with 3 sections

  • types of song are aria, chorus and recitative

Handel’s “Messiah” Oratorio:

  • used aria, recitatives (free rhythm, occasional instrumental chords) and choruses

  • composed during the Baroque period

  • word painting and melismatic wording setting

  • polyphonic and homophonic texture

  • performed by soloists, SATB choir and orchestra

Solo concerto: (think features of Mozart’s clarinet concerto)

  • typically 3 movements which are medium fast, slow, fast

  • in the Baroque period it was a group of soloists accompanied by an orchestra

  • in the Classical period it became more focused on a virtuosic solo instrument

  • featured a cadenza (improvised virtuosic passage)

  • had main melodic themes which were repeated and developed

  • melodies usually built on scales and arpeggios and are often 4 or 8 bars

  • balanced phrasing

The Classical Period: elegance and simplicity

  • 1750-1810

  • clear, balanced phrasing

  • use of perfect cadences

  • less complex textures

  • bigger orchestra than Baroque

  • Key composers: Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert

Classical Symphonies:

  • 4 movements

  • Symphony orchestra

  • timpani tuned to tonic and dominant

  • range of textures

  • feature main motifs which repeated in each movement

  • all the typical features of Classical period

The Romantic Period: drama and expression

  • 1810-1900

  • wide range of dynamics

  • directions such as rubato, dolce, amorose, agitato

  • added notes in chords (7ths, 9ths, 11ths, 13ths) to create dissonance

  • orchestra much bigger, brass instruments got valves

  • Key composers: Tchaikovsky, Schumann, Chopin, Verdi

Piano developments during the Romantic Period:

  • bigger and louder, more notes

  • greater dynamic range

  • two pedals (damper and sustain)

  • hammers covered in felt to produce a softer tone

Lieder:

  • strophic or through-composed

  • short melodic motifs

Verdi’s Requiem:

  • sung in Latin by a full SATB choir and accompanied by an orchestra

AOS1: Western Classical Music

The Baroque Period:

  • 1600-1750

  • use of woodwind and natural brass

  • mainly strings

  • contrapuntal texture (lots of busy lines)

  • major or minor keys and simple harmony

  • chamber orchestra

  • basso continuo played by harpsichord or organ

  • terraced dynamics

  • short melodic motifs with plenty of ornamentation

  • modulations

  • Key composers: Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Pachelbel

Handel’s Coronation Anthems:

  • composed during the Baroque Period

  • large SATB choir and orchestra

  • trumpet fanfares

  • organ basso continuo

  • homophonic chordal sections of voices and polyphonic sections where imitation is common

  • melismatic word setting common in choir parts

  • diatonic harmony with clear perfect cadences

Opera:

  • large choral work, singers and orchestra

  • a story set to music with 3 sections

  • types of song are aria, chorus and recitative

Handel’s “Messiah” Oratorio:

  • used aria, recitatives (free rhythm, occasional instrumental chords) and choruses

  • composed during the Baroque period

  • word painting and melismatic wording setting

  • polyphonic and homophonic texture

  • performed by soloists, SATB choir and orchestra

Solo concerto: (think features of Mozart’s clarinet concerto)

  • typically 3 movements which are medium fast, slow, fast

  • in the Baroque period it was a group of soloists accompanied by an orchestra

  • in the Classical period it became more focused on a virtuosic solo instrument

  • featured a cadenza (improvised virtuosic passage)

  • had main melodic themes which were repeated and developed

  • melodies usually built on scales and arpeggios and are often 4 or 8 bars

  • balanced phrasing

The Classical Period: elegance and simplicity

  • 1750-1810

  • clear, balanced phrasing

  • use of perfect cadences

  • less complex textures

  • bigger orchestra than Baroque

  • Key composers: Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert

Classical Symphonies:

  • 4 movements

  • Symphony orchestra

  • timpani tuned to tonic and dominant

  • range of textures

  • feature main motifs which repeated in each movement

  • all the typical features of Classical period

The Romantic Period: drama and expression

  • 1810-1900

  • wide range of dynamics

  • directions such as rubato, dolce, amorose, agitato

  • added notes in chords (7ths, 9ths, 11ths, 13ths) to create dissonance

  • orchestra much bigger, brass instruments got valves

  • Key composers: Tchaikovsky, Schumann, Chopin, Verdi

Piano developments during the Romantic Period:

  • bigger and louder, more notes

  • greater dynamic range

  • two pedals (damper and sustain)

  • hammers covered in felt to produce a softer tone

Lieder:

  • strophic or through-composed

  • short melodic motifs

Verdi’s Requiem:

  • sung in Latin by a full SATB choir and accompanied by an orchestra

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