The big ones Musicians of classicism In the West were developed in the period between 1730 and 1820. The term classical music, however, is used in colloquial terms as synonymous for different musical styles included between the Middle Ages and the present, especially between the seventeenth and XIX.
We will then speak, however, of the historical period known in music as classicism. This period is chronologically between the periods baroque and romanticism. The music of classicism definitely has a lighter and clearer texture than baroque music. It is less complex, basically homophonic, by making use of a clear melodic line above a subordinate chord accompaniment.
He also made use of a gallant style that emphasized a slight elegance in contrast to the dignified seriousness and impressive grandiloquence of the baroque. The variety and contrast within the same piece accentuated more than in the previous period and the orchestras increased their size, range and power.
The piano replaced the harpsichord as a main keyboard instrument. Unlike harpsichord, which operates using string blows using feathers, the piano is based on the blow of leather-covered hammers when the keys are pressed. This allowed the performers to play harder or softer and to achieve a wider range of expressions in the performance.
In contrast, the force with which a keyboard player plays the harpsichord does not alter the resulting sound. Instrumental music was considered of great importance among the composers of classicism. The main types of instrumental music were the sonata, the trio, the string quartet, the symphony and the solo concert.
Vocal music, for example songs for singer and piano (a hallmark of Schubert), choral works and operas, were also important during the period.
During the classical period, there was a movement called the First Viennese School. This name was used to refer to the three main composers of the classic period in the late eighteenth century in Vienna: Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven.
Who were the greatest composers of classicism? Here is a list.
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
He was a prolific Austrian composer of the classical period. It was a cornerstone in the development of chamber music, like the trio for piano. His contributions to musical form have earned him epithets as"the father of the symphony"or"the father of the string quartet."
He spent much of his career as a musician in the service of the court of the powerful Estherházy family, on his distant estate. For many years he was isolated from other composers and musical tendencies which, according to his own words,"forced him to become an original."
Despite this, his music circulated widely and throughout his career was the most celebrated composer in Europe. He was a close friend and mentor to Mozart, Beethoven's teacher and elder brother of composer Michael Haydn.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)
Baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theopohilus Mozart, he was a prolific and influential composer of classicism. He was born in Salzburg and showed prodigious skills from his earliest childhood. At the age of five he was already skilled at keyboard and violin. He composed since then and interpreted his works in front of the European royalty.
When he was seventeen he was recruited as a musician in the court of Salzburg, which kept him in disgust and bordered him to travel to seek a better position. While visiting Vienna in 1781, it was downplayed by the position he held at the Salzburg court. Even so, Mozart decided to remain in the Austrian capital, where he finally achieved fame, but without economic benefits.
It was during this stage in Vienna that he composed most of his most famous symphonies, concerts and operas. He also started the composition of his Requiem , Which remained unfinished after his death. It composed more than 600 works, considered the cusp of the symphonic music. The circumstances of his early death generate great controversy and a mythology has been created around it. He was survived by his wife Constanza and two sons.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Famous German composer and pianist, he was a transcendental figure in the transition between the classical and romantic periods in Western music. He is, in short, one of the most famous and influential composers of history.
His works include nine symphonies, five concerts for piano, a concert for violin, thirty-two piano sonatas, sixteen string quartets, a solemn mass and an opera, Fidelio. His hearing deteriorated considerably before the age of thirty and spent the latter part of his life virtually deaf. Many of his most admired works he composed, admirably, during this same stage.
Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828)
Austrian composer who produced a large number of works during a short period of life, because he died early at thirty-two years of age.
His work was little appreciated during his lifetime, however he was revived after his death by many other artists, including Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms. Today he is considered one of the greatest composers of late classicism and the incipient stage of romanticism.
Rodolfo Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805)
Italian composer of the classical era and right-handed interpreter of cello. His music maintained a gallant and polite style despite having developed in a way away from the great European musical centers. It is famous for a particular minuet, its String Quintet in Mi As well as their Concert for Chelo in Si mayor .
Muzio Clementi (1752 - 1832)
Composer born in Italy, naturalized English. He was a pianist, pedagogue, orchestra conductor, publisher and piano maker. Driven into music by his father, he received patronage from Sir Peter Beckford, which led him to England to continue his studies.
Based in London, he undertook a piano competition with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1781. He produced and promoted his own brand of piano and was a noted publisher of musical scores. It enjoyed great popularity during its life, nevertheless its reputation diminished during centuries XIX and XX.
Antonio Salieri (1750 - 1825)
Composer, conductor and Italian teacher, born in Legnano in the south of Verona. He spent most of his adult life and musical career at the service of the Habsburg monarchy. Salieri was one of the central figures in the development of the opera of the eighteenth century. He was a cosmpolitan composer, he composed operas in three languages.
He helped to form many of the characteristics of the vocabulary of operatic composition and his music was a determining influence for many of the composers of his time. At present he is better known for his rivalry, mostly fictitious, with Mozart, from the publication of the work Amadeus By Peter Shaffer in 1979.
Leopold Mozart (1719 - 1787)
Composer, conductor, teacher and German violinist. He is best known for being the father of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Wrote the violin text Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule .
He discovered that his children had prodigious musical skills in 1759 and taught them from an early age. Leopold began performing musical tours for the aristocracy and nobility with their children across Europe.
Johann Christian Bach (1735 - 1782)
Classical composer, younger son among eleven of Johann Sebastian Bach. He is sometimes referred to as"the Bach of London"or"the English Bach"because of the time he spent living in the English capital, where he was known as John Bach. His influence on Mozart's concert style is notorious.
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714 - 1788)
Fifth surviving son of Johann Sebastian and Maria Barbara Bach, was a German composer of classicism.
He was an influential composer who developed in the period of transition between the baroque style that distinguished his father and the periods classic and romantic that happened to him. To distinguish it from his brother Johann Christian, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was nicknamed"the Barch of Berlin".
Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787)
German composer of Italian and French operas of the early classical period. It gained importance in the Viennese court of Habsburg. He wrote eight operas for the Parisian stages. One of his last operas, Efigenia in Tauride, Enjoyed great success and is popularly considered his main work.
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778 - 1837)
Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist, his music is a reflection of the transition between the classic and romantic periods.
His work is focused mainly on the piano, instrument that dominated and in which he stood out as an interpreter. He wrote eight concerts for piano, ten sonatas, eight trios, a quartet and a quintet.
Luigi Cherubini (1760 - 1842)
Italian composer who spent most of his musical career in France. His most representative works are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as one of the greatest composers of his era.
Carl Maria von Weber (1786 - 1826)
He was a composer, orchestra conductor, pianist, guitarist and German musical critic. Their operas influenced to a great extent the development of the romantic opera in Germany. Being a great pianist, he composed four sonatas and two concerts that influenced other composers like Chopin and Mendelssohn.
Giovanni Porta (1675 - 1755)
Composer of Italian opera, born in Venice. One of the masters of the early eighteenth century and one of the principal Venetian musicians. His opera Numitore Was performed in 1720 by the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Giuseppe Maria Orlandini (1676 - 1760)
Italian composer, particularly known for his more than 40 operas. Together with Vivaldi, he is considered one of the creators of a new operatic style that dominated the second decade of the eighteenth century.
Manuel de Sumaya (1678 - 1755)
He was perhaps the most famous Mexican composer of the colonial period in New Spain. He was the first person in the Western Hemisphere to compose an opera in Italian, called Partenope . The same is today lost.
Johann Mattheson (1681-1764)
German composer, singer, writer, diplomat and theoretical music. He was born and died in Hamburg. A close friend of George Frideric Handel, he wrote eight operas and numerous oratorios and cantatas.
Most of his works were lost after World War II. Some of his manuscripts are now in the library of the University of Hamburg.
Giuseppe Valentini (1681-1753)
Nicknamed Starccioncino , Was a violinist, painter, poet and Italian composer of instrumental inventive music. He was successor of Corelli like director of the concertino of San Luigi del Francesi between 1710 and 1741.
During his life, his work was eclipsed by the achievements of Corelli, Vivaldi and Locatelli, although his contribution to Italian music is remarkable and many of his works were published throughout Europe.
Francesco Saverio Geminiani (1687 - 1762)
It is an Italian composer and violinist born in the city of Lucca. He was educated in music by Alessandro Scarlatti and Arcangelo Corelli. He led the Opera of Naples from 1771, which brought him originally to Scarlatti.
He lived from the teaching of music and composition. He is believed to have been one of the best violin performers of his time, nicknamed Il Furibondo By its students, due to its expressive rhythms.