Musical era (or period) – distinct time frame in the history of music characterized by specific styles, practices, and conventions. Each period reflects the cultural, social, and political contexts of its time. The following is an overview of the stylistic movements within each period.
Early music
Early music – generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classical music.
Medieval (c. 500 – c. 1400) – Period characterized by the development of early music notation systems and a strong emphasis on vocal music. Sacred music like Gregorian chant and various other religious and non-religious styles were developed during this time.
Renaissance (c. 1400 – c. 1600) – Period characterized by the development of polyphony and a richer use of harmony and melody. Genres like the Mass, motet, and madrigal were developed during this time.
Common practice period – period of about 250 years during which the tonal system was regarded as the only basis for composition. It began when composers' use of the tonal system had clearly superseded earlier systems, and ended when some composers began using significantly modified versions of the tonal system, and began developing other systems as well.
Baroque (c. 1600 – c. 1750) – Period characterized by the development of tonality and a greater emphasis on contrast and ornamentation in music. Genres like the opera, cantata, oratorio, and concerto were developed during this time.
Classical (c. 1730 – c. 1820) – Period characterized by a shift towards clarity, balance, and structure in music, emphasizing melodic expression and symmetrical forms. Genres like the symphony, sonata, and string quartet were developed during this time.
Romantic (c. 1800 – c. 1910) – Period characterized by a focus on emotional expression, individualism, and breaking away from the strict forms of the Classical era featuring more expansive and expressive compositions. Previous genres such as the symphony and opera were enhanced and also new genres such as the art song, nocturne and symphonic poem were developed.
Modernism (c. 1890 – c. 1975) – Period characterized by a departure from traditional harmonic and formal structures, embracing experimentation and innovation in music. Composers sought new approaches to tonality, rhythm, and sonority.
Contemporary classical music (from c. 1950) – Period characterized by a vast diversity of styles and an openness to incorporating elements from various musical traditions and technologies.
From left to right: Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. Their evolving hairstyles mirror the stylistic transitions in their music, from the structured complexity of the Baroque, through the balanced elegance of the Classical, to the emphasis on emotional expression of the Romantic era.
Composition schools
Composition school – group of composers or a style of composition shared by a group of composers, often from the same area or who studied in the same place. These are some significant schools organized by period.
Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque schools
Notre-Dame School – Pioneered polyphonic music, with key composers being Léonin and Pérotin.
Franco-Flemish School – Developed polyphony in vocal music, prominent composers include Guillaume Dufay, Johannes Ockeghem and Josquin des Prez.
Roman School – Focused on the development of Church music, with composers like Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Tomás Luis de Victoria.
Venetian School – Developed the Venetian polychoral style and played a crucial role in the early development of the Baroque style, with composers like Giovanni Gabrieli.
Neapolitan School – Crucial to the development of Italian opera, with figures like Alessandro Scarlatti, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi and Domenico Cimarosa.
Classical and Romantic schools
Mannheim School – Known for innovations in orchestral music, influencing the Classical style, with composers like Johann Stamitz.
First Viennese School – Developed and refined forms such as the symphony, sonata, string quartet and expanded the harmonic language of the time. The main composers were Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
The Five – Group of Russian composers that created a distinct Russian national style of music. It was led by Mily Balakirev and included César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Borodin.
New German School – Emphasized programmatic themes and dramatic expressiveness with composers like Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt.
Giovane scuola – Focused on the development of verismo in opera, with composers like Giacomo Puccini, Pietro Mascagni and Ruggero Leoncavallo.
20th and 21st century schools
English Pastoral School – Characterized by its incorporation of Tudor music and English folk elements to evoke the English countryside, creating a distinctively national style of classical music. Notable figures include Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst and Gerald Finzi.
Second Viennese School – Pioneered atonality and later developed the twelve-tone serial technique, breaking away from traditional tonality. The main figures were Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg and Anton Webern.
Darmstadt School – Focused on avant-garde techniques, with figures like Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Classical music compositions
Musical composition – structured work or piece of music. It can range from simple melodies to complex pieces for various instruments or voices. Classical music has many qualities, or aspects, and compositions may differ in each of them, including their purpose, genre, tonality, key, form, texture, tempo, metre, rhythm, etc., providing rich variety to the art form...
Aspects of classical music compositions
Purpose of music
The purpose of music refers to the fundamental reason or intention behind the creation and performance of a musical composition.
Absolute or Programmatic
Absolute – Music not intended to represent or illustrate something else. Self-contained and not explicitly about anything outside the music itself.
Programmatic – Music intended to evoke images or convey the impression of events, stories, or natural scenes.
Religious or Secular
Religious – Music composed for religious purposes. If it's composed for use in religious rituals and ceremonies it's liturgical music.
Secular – Music composed for non-religious purposes.
Classical music genre – category of composition characterized by a distinctive style, form, or content. The range of genres is broad, having grown and evolved over time, reflecting changes in musical tastes, compositional techniques, and cultural contexts. Below are some typical genres of each period.
Tonality and key – together, they define the harmonic and melodic framework of a musical composition.
Key – specific scale that forms the basis of the tonal structure of a piece of music.
Tonality (in music) – system of organizing musical compositions around a central pitch or tonic, defining the hierarchy of pitches and chords that gives music its sense of direction and resolution.
Major Tonality – Music based on a major scale, often characterized by a bright, happy, or triumphant mood.
Minor Tonality – Music based on a minor scale, often conveying a melancholic, dark or introspective mood.
Modal Music – Music that employs modes that differ from conventional major and minor scales, prevalent in Western music before the widespread adoption of the major-minor tonality system.
Polytonality – Simultaneous use of two or more tonalities or keys.
Atonality – Music without a key or tonal focal point.
Form
Form – structural aspects of a composition, the way its individual sections are constructed, and how these relate to each other. These are some common forms.
Binary form – musical form in two related sections, both of which are usually repeated (AA′BB′)
Ternary form – three-part musical form consisting of an opening section (A), a following section (B) and then a repetition of the first section (A), usually schematized as A–B–A.
Strophic form – song structure in which all verses or stanzas of the text are sung to the same music.
Rondo form – contains a principal theme (sometimes called the "refrain") which alternates with one or more contrasting themes, generally called "episodes", but also occasionally referred to as "digressions" or "couplets". Some possible patterns include: ABACA, ABACAB, ABACBA, or ABACABA.
Sonata form – musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th century (the early Classical period).
Arch form – sectional structure for a piece of music based on repetition, in reverse order, of all or most musical sections such that the overall form is symmetric, most often around a central movement. The sections need not be repeated verbatim but must at least share thematic material.
Cyclic form – technique of musical construction, involving multiple sections or movements, in which a theme, melody, or thematic material occurs in more than one movement as a unifying device.
Texture
Texture – refers to the way different melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic elements are combined in a composition.
Monophonic – A single melodic line without accompaniment.
Polyphonic – Multiple independent melody lines played simultaneously.
Tempo – also known as beats per minute, it's the speed or pace of a given composition. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece, often using conventional Italian, French or German terms.
Common tempo markings, from slow to fast:
Italian: Largo • Adagio • Lento • Andante • Moderato • Allegro • Vivace • Presto
French: Grave • Lent • Modéré • Vif • Vite • Rapide
Metre – recurring pattern of beats providing a structured framework, while rhythm is the arrangement of notes and rests within this framework, creating the distinctive flow and character of a piece.
Rhythm (in music) – variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds. Often reinforced with percussion instrumentation.
Other composition related concepts
Cataloging methods
Opus number – Number assigned to a composition or set of compositions to indicate the chronological order of composition or publication of a composer's pieces. Can be unreliable as some numbers were assigned posthumously and also some composers did not use opus numbers at all.
Catalogues of classical compositions – Systematic listings of a composer's compositions, often organized in chronological order. Typically created by musicologists or scholars specializing in a particular composer's works. For example, Johann Sebastian Bach's works were catalogued in the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV) by Wolfgang Schmieder.
DSCH motif – Succession of notes 'D, E-flat, C, B natural' which in German musical nomenclature form Dmitri Shostakovich's name.
Stile antico – Also known as "prima practica", it refers to a composition style from the 16th century.
Stile moderno – Also known as "seconda pratica", it refers to a composition style from the early Baroque period that contrasts with the traditional stille antico.
Vocalist (aka, singer) – musician who uses their voice as their primary instrument. They are commonly classified in voice types according to the vocal range.
Baton – Stick that is used by conductors primarily to enlarge and enhance the manual and bodily movements associated with directing.
Concertmaster – Leading violinist in an orchestra who plays solo passages and assists the conductor in leading.
Kapellmeister – Historically, it indicated the music director in cathedrals or for monarchs, with the term evolving to denote leaders of smaller musical groups.
Page-turner – Person employed to turn sheet music pages for a soloist during a performance.
Musical instrument – device created or adapted to make musical sounds, like a flute, violin, or drum. Instruments can be categorized based on how they produce sound.
Aerophones – Instruments that produce sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate, without the use of strings or membranes and without the vibration of the instrument itself adding considerably to the sound.
Woodwind instruments – Instruments that produce sound by splitting the air blown into them on a sharp edge, such as a reed or a fipple. Despite the name, a woodwind may be made of any material, not just wood.
Membranophones and idiophones – Instruments that produce sound primarily by way of a vibrating stretched membrane or by the vibration of the instrument itself. Typically part of the percussion section of an orchestra.
Historically informed performance – This approach aims to perform music in a style and manner faithful to the era in which it was composed, often using period instruments and techniques derived from historical research to closely align with the composer's original intent.
Concert pitch – It's the pitch reference to which a group of musical instruments are tuned for a performance. Concert pitch may vary from ensemble to ensemble, and has varied widely over time.
Classical music industry
Buildings
Concert hall – Building with a stage that serves as a performance venue. These are some significant concert halls.
Classical music record label – Record label that specializes in recording, producing, and distributing classical music. These are some significant record labels.
Other awards – Awards that recognize other achievements such as live performances, compositions, lifetime achievements or other contributions. These are some significant awards.
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