Classical Music: Tracing the Evolution of Western Musical Tradition

Music is a very important part of history. It represents the style and people of the era it is from. Music is also constantly changing to fit the style people like. Throughout the history of music, conductors have played an important role in organizing and leading musical groups. The job of a conductor is to understand the pulse and rhythm of the music and convey this message to the musicians, so they can understand it and stay in rhythm. Musical ensembles have also changed throughout history and have been a very important part of the music. A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In the essay about the music during the classical period wil be discussed the part of the history of conducting and ensembles.

The period of classical music took place after the baroque period and lasted until around 1820. Some well-known composers of classical music are Mozart, Beethoven, Joseph Hayden, and Antonio Soler. The main instruments used in this period were the violin, cello, basset horn, flute, oboe, fortepiano, and french horn. During the classical era, conductors were usually part of the ensemble. The conductor was sometimes the concertmaster who could use his bow as a baton or a lutenist who could use the neck of their instrument to control the beat and tempo. It was also common to conduct from the harpsichord for basso continuo parts. Operas often had two conductors, one was the keyboard player who would conduct the singers and a principal violinist who would control the orchestra. Many ensembles play music from the classical period. For example, Early Music New York, Apollo’s Fire, and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique.

During the classical period, many different instruments were used. The most well-known composers of this period were Mozart and Haydn. The orchestra became standardized during this period and consisted of strings (first and second violins, violas, violoncellos, and double basses), two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two or four horns, two trumpets, and two timpani. Haydn also introduced trumpets that were used independently instead of always doubling the horns, and the cellos became separated from the double basses, and woodwind instruments were often given the main melodic line. Also, some percussion instruments not normally used in the orchestras during this time were used such as the triangle, hand cymbals, and bass drum. They were used in the second movement, which in the Classical period is normally the slow movement. Haydn’s used a musical method of composition that had a very positive effect on orchestration. This consisted of the use of musical motives; motiveis defined in the Harvard Dictionary of Music as: “The briefest intelligible and self-contained fragment of a musical theme or subject.” One of the most well-known musical motives in Western music is the four-note group with which Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony begins. These musical cells turned into the basic structure of the Classical period, especially in the center or improvement part of a development, with the writer moving the melodic thought process from one instrument to another and area to segment, giving another aspect to the arrangement. The craft of arrangement was in this manner turning into a central point in the creative nature of the music. Mozart also was responsible for new advancements such as exploring the combination of piano and orchestra.

In conclusion, Classical music (1750-1820) is noted for its sophisticated form structure within pieces. The center of the music during the classical period came from Vienna, Austria. It was a period in which the texture of music was homophonic; there was melody and chordal accompaniment. The typical size of a classical orchestra was/is 30 to 60 players in four sections: strings, woodwinds (were in pairs; 2 flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons), brass, and percussion. During this time musicians and/or composers were treated little better than servants, they worked under the patronage system. A system which musicians and/or composers worked under a wealthy family and would write and perform music for them. During the eighteenth-century, Age of Reason caused the idea of overly ornamented and exaggerated music to be sent away in favor of fresh, clean melodies, and formal structure within pieces.