MUSIC NOTES (Classical Music)

Classical Era (1750-1825)

• After the death of Johann Sebastian Bach
• Age of Travel
• The New Age of Enlightenment, ideals of the Renaissance
• A Cosmopolitan Age, the fading of national boundaries and a leaning towards the universality of art and music.
• A desire for symmetry and formal structure
• A desire for simplicity and the fading of the excessive ornamentation of the Baroque period.
• The birth of Sonata-Allegro form
• The birth of Crescendos and Diminuendos (Mannheim School)
• Primarily absolute music, characterized by a unique union of reason and emotion
• Form was clear-cut and served to discipline the emotional content of music
• Tone color, melody, harmony, rhythm and form were unified.
• The forms known as the symphony and the sonata were developed.
• The opera (Musical Drama) began in Italy

The Parts of Sonata-Allegro Form

A. EXPOSITION - section emphasizes the compositional principle of contrast.

B. DEVELOPMENT - section is based on the compositional principle of variation.

C. RECAPITULATIONS - section shows the influence of the principle of repetition or return of the material of the exposition section.

**DONE**

 

Enjoy, kids.