A Level Music: Area of Study 1 – Classical Styles

Information about the AoS1 Classical Styles – Sonatas, Concertos, Symphonies and Chamber Music.

Contents

Classical Era Music: A Beginner’s Guide

https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/periods-genres/classical/classical-music-beginners-guide/

As the Classical period took over in the mid-1700s and the Baroque era was winding down, a few defining characteristics emerged. Where the music of the Baroque period was ordered, efficient and complex, the new sound of the classical period tended to focus on simplifying things a little bit, but also making them bigger. Confused? Let our guide show you which pieces to listen to.

Classical Period Sound

On a purely musical level, there was simply more to hum along to in the Classical period. Melodies and plain-old good tunes took over from complex polyphony (everything playing at once), and composers like Haydn and Mozart flourished because they were so good at writing them.

Just think about how many Mozart tunes you know without realising it – it’s all down to the melody. What about Eine Kleine Nachtmusik?

It’s a classic tune from the Classical period. Listen to how the melody sits perfectly on top of the lower strings – it’s eminently hummable. When it comes down to it, that’s what defined the classical period’s sound. It was the first time when melody really became the most important thing to get right.

Classical Period Instruments

The instruments of the Classical period were constantly changing and evolving as various bright sparks came up with handy innovations and grab ideas, but there are two main developments that we can point to – first, the piano. Previously, the harpsichord’s twangy sound was all over the place in the Baroque period, but it gradually became replaced by the piano because of its ability to play much more softly and subtly than the harpsichord.

The second major development in sound in the Classical period was the expansion of the orchestra. In the Baroque period you could expect modest strings-only orchestras with occasional woodwind accompaniment and a harpsichord, but as woodwind instruments (clarinet, flute, horns, oboe etc) got better and more versatile, they managed to bag their very own section in a standard orchestra.

And with huge numbers of symphonies now being composed, the orchestra started to resemble the orchestras we see in concert halls today. Other developments included the emergence of the string quartet (Haydn was the real pioneer here), but the real meat was coming from the orchestra. Have a listen:

Classical Period Pieces

The sound and the instruments are nothing without the actual pieces of music. Fortunately, the Classical period saw the number of different types of piece expand massively, so you start to get more symphonies, concertos, solo instrumental pieces and even operas.

Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Rossini, Paganini and more all wrote stunning works that were symptomatic of the time, but it was Beethoven who really stretched the Classical mould and laid the groundwork for the period that followed – the Romantic. His symphonies especially grew to mammoth proportions (the ninth needs a full orchestra and a huge choir) and were often deeply emotional or political affairs.

All manner of smaller works were composed too, so look out for extensive piano sonatas from Mozart and Beethoven and some cracking, witty string quartets from Haydn. King of opera would have to be either Mozart or Rossini (check out his overtures for a good starting point).

Basically, when it comes down to it, the Classical period is the sound of delicate order gradually being taken over by emotion and indulgence. As time went on and musical experiments started to succeed, the sound got more and more Romantic – leading perfectly into the Romantic period that followed.

The Classical Period (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

https://www.britannica.com/art/Western-music/The-tonal-era-and-after-1600-to-the-present#ref15765

Chamber Music

Reading

Chamber Music (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

https://www.britannica.com/art/chamber-music

Audio

Video

Sonatas

Reading

The Sonata (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

https://www.britannica.com/art/sonata

Audio

Video

Symphonies

Reading

The Symphony (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

https://www.britannica.com/art/symphony-music

Haydn and the Symphonyhttps://www.britannica.com/art/symphony-music/The-mature-Classical-period#ref308459

Mozart and the Symphonyhttps://www.britannica.com/art/symphony-music/The-mature-Classical-period#ref27483

Beethoven and the Symphonyhttps://www.britannica.com/art/symphony-music/The-mature-Classical-period#ref27484

Audio

BBC Radio 3: Symphony Question Time

Sue Perkins and Tom Service unravel everything you ever wanted to know about the symphony…but were too afraid to ask…

Why are symphonies considered the pinnacle of classical music? Who wrote the first one? Is there really a “Curse Of The Ninth”? And can you be a truly great composer without writing a symphony?

They’re here to blow away the myths and unpick the mysteries surrounding this most venerable form – with a host of musical excerpts from Haydn to Hovhaness, Mozart to Mahler, Beethoven to Berio.

Over the six episodes they’ll be looking at questions like how the symphony first originated; whether a symphony should be about logic and form, or be a encapsulation of the whole world; and why people get so darn annoyed when you clap between the movements…

They’ll also be asking you to send in your own questions for their perusal later in the series. You can submit your queries about anything symphonic by email to r3symphonyqt@bbc.co.uk; alternatively, you can pose your questions on the BBC Radio 3’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/bbcradio3), or via Twitter at @BBCRadio3 (hashtag #R3SymphonyQT).

BBC Radio 3: Symphony Question Time – Episode 1/6

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016vpy2

09/11/2011: Sue Perkins and Tom Service try to discover the roots of the symphony.

In today’s episode, Sue and Tom examine the thorny issue of to clap or not to clap before a symphony’s finished; explore at the roots of the symphony – the idea of a ‘sounding together’; and get to grips with the titans of the classical symphonic tradition, Haydn and Mozart .

BBC Radio 3: Symphony Question Time – Episode 2/6

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017596y

17/11/2011: Sue Perkins and Tom Service explore Beethoven’s colossal symphonic legacy.

Today, the pair explore your questions, ideas and observation about Ludwig van Beethoven: a composer who transformed and revolutionised the very idea of what a symphony should be…and who left a fearsome legacy for his contemporaries to try and match…

BBC Radio 3: Symphony Question Time – Episode 3/6

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01759vv

18/11/2011: Sue Perkins and Tom Service explore programme symphonies – plus Mahler and Schnittke.

How can a symphony tell a story? Today’s episode explores the rise of the ‘programme symphony’ in the mid-19th century in the hands of Berlioz, Liszt and Richard Strauss, as a host of composers, from Berlioz to Schumann to Liszt, sought to make their music tell fantastic tales of life, death, sex and the underworld…

But away from these symphonies’ explicit texts, in the works of Tchaikovsky and Mahler, a new type of ‘extra-musical’ symphony developed: musical works with hidden subtexts that hinted at the composers’ inner world. These would come to a peak in the works of two of the greatest 20th century symphonists: Dmitri Shostakovich and Alfred Schnittke.

BBC Radio 3: Symphony Question Time – Episode 4/6

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017chz0

21/11/2011: Sue Perkins and Tom Service explore symphonic nationalism and famous symphonic beginnings.

Today, the pair explore your questions about symphonic nationalism – looking at how the symphony grew to articulate a dream of nationhood across Europe (and America) in the 19th century. They also examine the changing reputation of the great Finnish symphonist, Jean Sibelius, and present some of their favourite symphonic beginnings and endings…

BBC Radio 3: Symphony Question Time – Episode 5/6

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017ck99

25/11/2011: Sue Perkins and Tom Service on the relevance of the symphony in the 21st century.

What relevance do symphonies have today? In Episode 5 of the series, the pair ask if the social and cultural ideas that gave birth to the symphony are still relevant today – and who’s still composing symphonies at the dawn of the 21st century. Can you be considered a truly great composer if – like Chopin, Verdi and Delius – you haven’t written one?

BBC Radio 3: Symphony Question Time – Episode 6/6

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017msyl

30/11/2011: Long-lost fragments of Sibelius’s Eighth, and feedback about the question of applause.

To end the series, the pair discuss and play extraordinary long-lost extracts of Sibelius’s Eighth Symphony, and present your feedback on the thorny question of applause between movements…as well as answering a mixed bag of questions sent in over the course of the series.

Video

Concertos

Reading

Concerto (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

https://www.britannica.com/art/concerto-music

Audio

Video

 

Serenades

Information on Serenades

BBC Radio 3: Discovering Music – History of the Serenade

https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/play/p01ygzxn

History of the Serenade: 1/2. Charles Hazlewood explores the history of the serenade, focusing on the beginnings of the form and in particular one written by Mozart.

Serenade Examples

BBC Radio 3: The Story of Music in Fifty Pieces – Mozart: Serenade No. 10 ‘Gran Partita’

https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/play/p01w9vct

Howard Goodall and Suzy Klein discuss ‘Gran Partita’ from Mozart’s Serenade No. 10 for winds in B flat major.

BBC Radio 3: Discovering Music – Mozart: Serenade No. 12 ‘Nacht Musique’

https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/play/p01yhv1q

Charles Hazlewood and members of his ensemble, Harmonieband take a closer look at Mozart’s Serenade for Wind in C Minor, recorded in the Chapel of Greenwich’s Old Royal Naval College.