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The classical music era is usually seen as the years between approximately 1750 and 1820. Famous composers from the classical period include:

• Joseph Haydn
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Classical music is recognised for:

• beautiful melodies
• homophonic accompaniments

It introduced the alberti bass line, a chordal pattern where the notes of the chord are broken up. It also continued to use ornamentation in melodies for decoration. The opening of Mozarts 'Piano Sonata, K545' is a well known example of alberti bass. The audio clip below also features trills as ornament.

Instruments

Classical composers built their orchestras on the foundations of baroque music but they were bigger in size. They were based on:

• strings - violin, viola, cello, double bass, and sometimes guitar
• woodwind - recorder or wooden flute, oboe, bassoon and clarinet
• brass - trumpet, horns (with valves by the end of the period)
• percussion - timpani (kettledrums) and sometimes triangle, hand cymbals and bass drum
• key - fortepiano

Classical orchestras were bigger in size and as instrument building improved so did the range of dynamics in the performance. The harpsichord was replaced with the fortepiano, the precursor to today’s modern piano.

Types of classical music

Instrumental music became very important in this period.

Composers created the symphony to be played by an orchestra. A symphony is a large piece of work with four movements. Each movement has a different tempo and mood.

In the video below, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra play extracts from Shostakovich’s 6th Symphony.

The piece was written in 1939 and unusually only has three movements – symphonies normally have 4 movements – and is about 30 minutes long. In the clip the orchestra plays from the first movement (which is the main movement and nearly 20 minutes long) and the final movement.

The concerto, a work for a solo instrument accompanied by an orchestra, was developed further, with composers added cadenzas.

A cadenza consists of themes and melodies from the concerto arranged to display the technical virtuosity of the soloist. Some performers were so confident in their musical talent that they would improvise their cadenza rather than play a piece they had practiced.

In the video below, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and pianist Boris Giltburg perform an excerpt from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. This is an example of a concerto - a soloist accompanied by an orchestra.

It was also common during this period for musicians to play chamber music, where a group of musicians could get together to play in a smaller venue, without the need for a full orchestra.

Classical composers wrote many string quartets, with Mozart's 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' a good example.

Structure

Structure was very important during this period. Composers liked their music to be balanced for the listener and so a number of forms evolved. These included:

• Binary form (AB) - where the music has two clear sections.
• Ternary form (ABA) - where the music has two sections then returns to the first section again
• Rondo form (ABACA) - where the music has one section which keeps returning and is sandwiched between lots of different sections

Another addition to musical structure in the classical period was the coda.

A coda is the final section in a piece of music, often 8 or 16 bars long.

Some composers would use a loud coda that was full of repetition. This would create a dramatic finish that made it clear to the listener that the piece was about to end.

The First Movement of Beethovens 'Symphony No. 3 in B Minor' is an example of a coda where the dynamics build to a powerful and definite ending.

Some composers would use a rallentando in a coda. This would slow the music down to show it ending. A diminuendo where the music gets quieter and quieter until it cannot be heard any more could also be used. This is similar to the use of a fade out in modern music.

In this video, Daniel Ciobanu plays Mozart's 'Rondo alla Turca'. You will hear some of the features mentioned above, such as rondo form, homophonic texture and coda.