Classical Period

(1750-1827)

 Listen to music from the Classical Period

The span of time when music was written from 1750 (the death of Bach) to 1827 (the death of Beethoven). The Classical period was a time of change in feelings and ideas. People wanted a say in their own self-determination, social justice was not tolerated, public morality was espoused and it was the beginnings of the Age of Revolution, when people started speaking out against what the didn’t like. The social and political movement that best represented this new way of thinking was called the Enlightenment. Followers believed that reason and man’s natural good were enough to improve the quality of life. Revolutions overthrew the social structure in both France and America in order to establish a more democratic way of governing and to insure that the concepts of the Enlightenment prevailed. Governments were being measured not by how powerful or rich they were but by what good they could do for the citizens that lived by them. 

These changes were reflected in the music of the times. Music was written to be more accessible, less complicated, more popular and pleasing. Music became one of the main recreations for the powerful middle class. Partly in reaction to the notey extravagance and the decorated art of the Baroque and partly due to the new ideas of the "Pursuit of Happiness," music became more "natural," simpler and uncluttered. Polyphony, which had been evolving from the Middle Ages, suddenly stopped and clearly defined tunes with suitable accompaniment (homophony) replaced it. The predominant homophonic texture allowed composers to exploit and emphasize cadence. Music was consumed by a literate population interested in music as a hobby, as a diversion and for a simple, easy and pleasant activity. 

The Classical period takes its name after the art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome emphasizing order, clarity and restraint. In the music of the classical period the clearly defined phases put into predictable forms produced a balance of voices and symmetry. Because so many of the composer of the period lived and worked in Vienna, the age is sometimes referred to as the Viennese Classical period. Composer-performers include: Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and early Beethoven.