Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also applies to non-Western art music. Classical music is often characterized by formality and complexity in its musical form and harmonic organization, particularly with the use of polyphony. Since at least the ninth century it has been primarily a written tradition, spawning a sophisticated notational system, as well as accompanying literature in analytical, critical, historiographical, musicological and philosophical practices. A foundational component of Western Culture, classical music is frequently seen from the perspective of individual or groups of composers, whose compositions, personalities and beliefs have fundamentally shaped its history. (Full article...)
![]() Poster by Prudent-Louis Leray for the 1875 première |
![]() Rachmaninoff in 1921 |
![]() The arrival of the Queen of the Night. Stage set by Karl Friedrich Schinkel for an 1815 production. |
![]() Mozart c. 1788 |
![]() Davies in 2012 |
“ | Music is the wine which inspires one to new generative processes, and I am Bacchus who presses out this glorious wine for mankind and makes them spiritually drunken. | ” |
— Ludwig van Beethoven |
![]() Uematsu in 2011 |
![]() Khachaturian in 1971 |
![]() Jörg Widmann in 2006 |
![]() Leo Ornstein as a young man, c. 1918 |
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