The Periods of Classical Music Part 2: The Classical Era

Welcome to the 2nd part in my four-part series on the Periods of Classical Music. Last time we discussed The Baroque Era, known for its counterpoint and ornamentation. Today we will be talking about the Classical Era.

Not to be confused with the genre of classical music – which is a broad term for all four parts of these era’s – the classical era itself is well defined by artists like Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert, and others.

The classical period came directly after the Baroque era; signaling a drastic change in the style of music. While the Baroque was known for its decadence and complexity of the music, tastes began to change. Towards the end of Bach’s career, he was composing music that was so complex, it was becoming too complicated for most people’s tastes. In fact, his sons would eventually become more famous composers than him.

Bach’s sons, like many composers of the classical era, were writing in new forms – called Sonatas. If you want a more thorough explanation of the Sonata format, watch this video. To be brief, the sonata is a structured form – like A B A B A (but a little bit more complex).

In the video attached to this article, I play Mozart’s K332 F Major Sonata to demonstrate the form and contrasting themes which lie beneath the Sonata format. The structure of this piece, in particular, is very regular – you have one theme in the key of the piece (F major) and then you have a contrasting theme (in this piece it’s the relative D minor).

When performing classic era music – specifically Sonata’s – you must delineate between your two themes and make sure that each stands on its own. And while clarity was an important part of Baroque music, it’s equally as important when it comes to classical period music. The difference is, instead of clarity between counterpoint (as with the Baroque), it’s more a clarity of structure – the different sections of the piece should be very well defined.

While the Baroque era had a tapestry of sound, the classical era has definite sections which are clearly delineated from one another. How these sections relate to one-another gives the piece it’s structure and it’s important to maintain this. If you start to stray from the structure the piece will lose its luster and sound incorrect.

Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729