The Classical Music Book

movement, the Renaissance. As

the taboo surrounding secular

music disappeared, composers

expressed themselves more freely,

and their music spread through

Europe, especially after the

invention of a method for printing

and therefore distributing music.

No longer controlled by the Church,

musicians sought employment

in the aristocratic courts of Italy,

France, Britain, and the Netherlands,

where they made a comfortable

living providing entertainment.

The Church still wielded some

power, however, and after the

Reformation, a more austere musical

style was imposed on the Protestant

churches in northern Europe, and

even the Catholic authorities looked

to curb the complexity of polyphony.

Composers thus developed a simpler

yet more expressive harmonic

style. Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610

broke new ground for sacred music

by incorporating elements of this

exciting new style.

Musical explosion

Around the same time, in Florence,

a group of intellectuals called the

Camerata de’ Bardi came up with

a new form of entertainment,

combining music and drama to

create opera. This was a success

in the aristocratic courts, which

continued to act as patrons to

composers and performers, but

there was also an increasing public

demand for opera and music in

general, prompting investment in

opera houses, concert halls, and

public theaters.

As the Baroque period

progressed, composers such as

J.S. Bach and George Frideric

Handel created works of increasing

complexity, taking advantage of

the orchestras provided by their

aristocratic patrons. The music

of the “High Baroque” era was

particularly expressive, often

ornamented with trills and other

embellishments, and sometimes

dazzlingly virtuosic.

For a while, the concertgoing

public flocked to hear the latest

orchestral showpieces, operas,

and choral works, but then the

Enlightenment, the Age of Reason,

dawned, and fashions changed.

There was suddenly a demand for

more elegant music emphasizing

balance and clarity, leading to

the Classical period from which

“classical music” gets its name.

In a short time, Classical

composers, such as Mozart, Haydn,

and Beethoven, established the

musical forms that are the staple

of modern concert repertoires,

including the four-movement

symphony, the solo concerto,

and the string quartet. Music

also became popular in the home

as the swelling middle class

acquired leisure time and musical

instruments, including the piano,

became more affordable.

The Romantic period

Despite its enduring influence, the

Classical period gave way to a new

cultural movement almost as soon

as it had begun. As Romanticism,

with its emphasis on the individual,

swept through Europe, expression

took precedence over clarity.

Composers stretched the Classical

forms to their limits in the quest

for new sounds. They looked to

extramusical sources of inspiration,

such as art, literature, landscapes,

and human experience. ❯❯

INTRODUCTION

What passion cannot

music raise and quell.

John Dryden

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