 Classical
Music
Classical music is a broad term with many subjective
definitions. For me classical music is defined primarily by the
precision and clever composition,blending a diverse range of
sounds from orchestral instruments. (Compared to
music limited to three chords on a guitar, a drum machine, and
a singer.)
Given the extremely broad variety of forms, styles, genres,
and historical periods generally perceived as being described
by the term "classical music," it is difficult to list
characteristics that can be attributed to all works of that
type.
Vague descriptions are plentiful, such as describing
classical music as anything that "lasts a long time," a
statement made rather moot when one considers contemporary
composers who are described as "classical;"
or music that has certain instruments like violins, which
are also found in bluegrass music, Broadway music, and other
genres;
or "relaxing" or "background" music for affluent people,
descriptions which are probably only accurate when describing
court music from the Baroque and Classical periods;
indeed, many people do not find modern or avant-garde
composers and works such as Threnody to the Victims of
Hiroshima by Krzysztof Penderecki or Black Angels by George
Crumb to be either very relaxing or "snobby."
However, there are some characteristics that classical music
contains that generally few or no other genres of music
contain.
Classical musicians have a "classical" education
in playing their instruments.They train for years and achieve
perfection in technique but the best of these also are able to
convey emotion.
Often included in the Classical tag is opera and choral
works. But I feel that musicals, music theatre and Opera are a
genre of their own. Choral works use the human voice more as an
instrument and the sound and emotion they stir with the
sound, is more important than the words which emphasize shape
more than meaning.
The term Classical Music has the same connotation as
Literature does for books. The word literature means only
something you read. This term has evolved to give works
from writers who are given this tag an aura of quality and
perfection that more "common" works don't get.
Likewise classical music has the same aura of tradition and
heritage, of established and quality artists, of a rich
lifestyle where crafts people have the time to perfect such
things because they are not working to make a living off the
land.The earliest reference to "classical music" recorded by
the Oxford English Dictionary is from about 1836.
Wikipedia says that Classical Music usually refers to
mainstream music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of
Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad
period from roughly the 9th century to present times. The
central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550
and 1900, which is known as the common practice period.
Classical music in its widest and worldwide sense refers to
music composed in a classical tradition and intended as serious
art, especially as distinguished from popular or folk music.
The term is generally used to "canonize" a musical tradition
dating to a period which is the "golden age" of music for a
particular culture. Music derived from that "classical
tradition" is what is then termed that culture's variety of
classical music.
European Classical Music is largely distinguished from
many other non-European and popular musical forms by its system
of staff notation, in use since about the 16th century. Western
staff notation is used by composers to prescribe to the
performer the pitch, speed, meter, individual rhythms and exact
execution of a piece of music. This leaves less room for
practices, such as improvisation and ad libitum ornamentation,
that are frequently heard in non-European art music and popular
music.
The public taste for and appreciation of formal music of
this type waned around the late 1900s. In the last century
there were few truly memorable composers considered to fit
the type, although to a great degree, the movies have
inspired some truly awesome pieces that should have their
composers considered. Certainly classical music has fallen well
behind the immense commercial success of popular music.
The number of CDs sold - generally of current or past
recordings of performances of works by long dead composers,
is indicative of the popularity of classical music. A
similar style of instrumental music to these composers is
alternative or new age music, but this is normally
restricted to peaceful pieces and varies a great deal in
the quality of its style, compared to the grand orchestral
works of bygone days with their huge range of dynamics.
Often perceived as opulent or signifying some aspect of
upper-level society, classical music has generally never been
as popular with working class society. However, the traditional
perception that only upper-class society has access to and
appreciation for classical music, or even that classical music
represents the upper-class society, may not be true, given that
many if not most working classical musicians fall somewhere in
the middle-class income range in the United States, and that
classical concertgoers and CD buyers are not necessarily upper
class. Even in the Classical era, Mozart's opera buffa such as
Cosi fan Tutte were very popular with many common people.
Classical music regularly features in Pop Culture forming
background music for movies, television programs and
advertisements. As a result most people in the Western World
regularly and often unknowingly listen to classical music, this
means that it can be argued that the relatively low levels of
recorded music sales may not be a good indicator of its actual
popularity.
One criterion used to distinguish works of the classical
musical canon is that of cultural durability. However, this is
not a distinguishing mark of all classical music. While works
by J. S. Bach continue to be widely performed and highly
regarded, music by many of Bach's contemporaries is deemed
mediocre and is rarely performed, even though it is squarely in
the "classical" realm. To some extent, the notion of such
durability is a fallacy, simply because classical music is
studied and preserved at much higher levels than other
music.
In more recent times the association of certain classical
pieces with major events has led to brief upsurges in interest
in particular classical genres. A good example of this was the
choice of Nessun Dorma from Puccini's opera Turandot as the
theme tune for the 1990 Soccer World Cup which led to a
noticeable increase in popular interest in opera and in
particular in tenor arias, which led to the huge sellout
concerts by The Three Tenors. Such events are often cited as
having helped to drive the increase in the audience
size observed at many classical concerts in recent
times.
So many styles of music come under the umbrella term of
Classical Music that they are more deserving of their sub genre
name such as Baroque or Romantic.
History of Classical Music
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