The Classical Period of Music

Classicism is a commonly accepted term to refer to the period from the 1750s to about Beethoven's death in 1827. The classic art is characterized by the search for clarity, simplicity and balance between reason and sensibility .  Melodies are simpler; orchestrations and works are shorter and divided into several movements. Thus, this return to sobriety marks a contrast with the baroque style, which was very"loaded." Classicism knows also a profile change in the status of the musician. While the baroque musician played or composed primarily for the Court or the Church, the classical musician begins to emancipate. The rise of the bourgeoisie, the middle of the eighteenth century had a significant impact on the musical life of the time with the appearance of public concerts.
It should be noted, before going further, that the term "classical" music has little to do with its use in other forms of art and literature in particular. It is striking that the tragedies of Racine is considered the model of the French classical theater, but are not absolutely contemporary of Mozart and Gluck, let alone Beethoven.
Finally, the end of the Baroque era does not mean the beginning of the classical era; thus called "pre-classical" composers making the hinge, particularly those of the Mannheim school, and Bach son Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, "revolutionary composer" Karl Geiringer3 but Jean Chrétien Bach, who exercise particular a decisive influence on the young Mozart.
The classical language is defined by strict rules, great formal rigor, high harmonic simplicity, and a strong sense of melody. The principle of contrast within the same room is the driving force of classical language, very dramatic. In addition, the classical era saw the disappearance of the basso continuo, which turns the music then. We spend, overall, the use of "figures" (predominant in the Baroque era) structuring from "musical phrases punctuated" and the development of the whole system of "punctuation" ("rates" ), and thus, slip processes "analog" to methods relating to a "discursive logic" similar to that of the tongue.

1. Harmonic aspects 

The most striking feature of the classical harmonic language is its economy of means. While the Baroque period saw the birth of a rich and complex harmony, composers of the second half of the eighteenth century gradually simplify their range of agreements and degrees to use more than almost perfect dominant agreements, tonic and sub-dominant, sometimes also augmented sixth, and the seventh chord dominant. This depletion is offset by an increase in loans and local modulations. This is paralleled by a scarcity of steps harmonics, modulating and often shorter than in Baroque music.

    2.   Melodic aspects


The relative impoverishment of the classical harmonic language is partly explained by the predominance of melody accompanied end of the opera. The contrapuntal very horizontal and therefore is very complex composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach gives way to a music largely made of superior lyrical voice accompanied by vertical agreements language. Regular middle four or eight measures in a large majority of cases, achieved with classical melodic phrase Lebrun including degree completion unparalleled.

    3.  Rhythmic aspects 


Unlike romantic music that provide rhythmic new novel, the classic composers innovate very little on the subject. Yet it is largely there that plays mostly classical revolution, research rhythmic contrasts, wrinkles, oppositions. This difference in approach is summarized by Charles Rosen: "All those [minuets] Bach go smoothly, almost uniformly: steady flow in which Haydn is transformed into a series of articulated elements - elements of drama, which sometimes will even surprise"