Classical Music: A Comprehensive Guide

Classical Music

Transformation from the Early Modern Period to the Contemporary Age

Music between 1730 and 1820

The Rest of the Arts

Neo-classicism. 18th Century: The Age of Enlightenment. Music started to get closer to private houses and public concerts.

Classical Composers

• Liberal artists
• Wanted to reach out to new audiences
• Music: human, natural, pleasant for everyone
• Predominated formal clarity and melodic simplicity

Secular Vocal Music

• Most important: Classical Opera
• Opera underwent a change during the Classicism, which made it tend towards naturalness. It eliminates the excess of the Baroque and took the plots and the characters closer to the new audience.
• Opera Seria: Most important composer C.W. Gluck, who laid the foundation of the new opera in 1762 with Orpheus and Eurydice. Simpler music and plausible storylines.
• Opera Buffa: Favorite genre of the Classicism.
• Main Composer: W.A. Mozart
• Operas: Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

• Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus (Amadeus) Mozart
• Born in Salzburg, January 27th, 1756
• Prodigy kid that started composing minutes when he was 5 years old
• He had a great talent for improvisation, for reading scores, and he was a virtuoso of the violin and the harpsichord.
• Mozart was taught by his father, Leopoldo Mozart, who showed his talent on European tours, which started in 1762.

Instrumental Music

• Instrumental Music continues its development
• Introduction of new instruments: piano, clarinet
• Evolution of the Orchestra
• Instrumental music moved to public concert halls
• New halls changed to more members
• Basso Continuo: eliminated
• String members increased
• Sonata: Became the main important composition model.
• The timbric element: Fundamental role by presenting musical ideas with a specific instrumental color.

Magic Flute

• Last opera of Mozart
• Fight between light (Sarastro) and darkness (Night Queen)
• Love story between Princess Pamina and Tamino, who in the end could be together
• In this world of fantasy, the power was of the king who married the Night Queen. When the king died, Sarastro was who inherited the crown instead of the Night Queen. Because of that, the Night Queen started to fight for the power, but Sarastro kidnapped Princess Pamina in order to avoid the Queen's attacks. But one day, Prince Tamino appeared, and he found a flute, a magic flute, which let him do fantastic things. Tamino met the Queen, who explained to him what happened with her daughter and asked him for help. And Tamino, with his friend Papageno, started this adventure. Tamino rescued Princess Pamina and fell in love with her. The Night Queen wanted to use her daughter to kill Sarastro and recover the crown. In the end, the Night Queen is defeated, Sarastro keeps on ruling, and Pamina and Tamino could be together.

Sonata Scheme

• 3 part scheme: Exposition, Development, Recapitulation
• Main Instruments forms: All of them use the sonata scheme in their first movement.
• Depending on the different instrumental combinations: Sonata: one or two instruments. Trio, Quartet, Quintet, etc. Symphony: 4 movements: Allegro, Adagio, Minuet/Scherzo, and Allegro. Concerto: Orchestra + soloist, 3 movements: Allegro, Adagio, Allegro.

Composers

• F.J. Haydn (Father of Symphony)
• W.A. Mozart
• Ludwig Van Beethoven: Built the bridge toward Romanticism
• In Spain, the most prominent is Fernando Sor