The History of Classical Music

From Gregorian Chant to Henryk Gorecki, the first living
classical composer to get into the pop album charts, here is
the fascinating story of over a thousand years of Western
classical music and the composers who have sought to express
in music the deepest of human feelings and emotions.
Polyphony, sonata form, serial music - many musical
expressions are also explained - with the text illustrated by
performances from some of the most highly praised recordings
of recent years.

Music of the western classical tradition spans some fourteen
centuries, from the emergence of Gregorian chant to the sounds
of the present day. The range covered is extraordinary - the sacred
and the secular, the massive spectaculars of the opera stage and
the darkly intensive world of the string quartet.

But there was a gradual development, one that reflected the times
in which the composers lived and worked. It is the purpose of this
History to give an overview, to draw the multifaceted threads
together and provide a background to our present musical
experience.

Medieval and Renaissance Periods
Western classical music, like drama, began in church with the
chanting of monks. Out of this plainchant grew choral polyphony
-many sounds - as the vocal line was embellished and developed.
As composers became interested in rhythm, contrast, harmony
and music with words not taken directly from the mass, new
vocal forms were introduced. This was the age of the motet,
the madrigal, the chanson and carols. Slowly too, instruments
began to be incorporated into musical performance and composers
began to write for ensembles. From dance came the idea of
musical contrast, and the seeds of all later music were sown.

Baroque and Classical Periods
The musical form above all others that came from the Baroque
period was opera, a form reflecting the time's love of theatrical
excess. Even religious music was written to be staged, hence the
development of the oratorio and the chorale, while the increasing
virtuosity of instrumentalists led to the formation of orchestras
and the development of the concerto grosso.

Taken up by composers of the classical period, the concerto grosso
became the symphony the contrast of a soloist against an ensemble
became the concerto, and, at the other end of the scale, the sonata
and the string quartet came into being.

The Romantic Period
Romantic composers believed that music was an expression of their
inner feelings and so they produced music that was wild,
tempestuous and often tried to tell a story. Tone-poems, programme
symphonies and large scale concertos became their hallmark.
Increasing nationalism was reflected not just in the use of folk tunes
in orchestral music but also in the subject matter of operas.

And if there was one instrument above all others that the Romantics
claimed as their own it was the piano. Many composers, like Liszt
and Chopin, were virtuoso performers who wrote their pieces to show
off their own talents.

The 20th Century
The 20th century is the most confusing of all musical periods.
It is a century in which the old empires crumbled, the world map
was redrawn by two world wars, and in which there are still
nationalist conflicts. It is also a century in which man has walked
on the moon. The immense political and scientific changes have
been reflected in art and in music as composers have sought to
find a new musical voice.

From the atonalism of Schoenberg to the rhythmic experiments
of Stravinsky, from the aural impressionism of Debussy to the
electronic world of Varese, composers have tried to examine
what music is and how it relates to life. Some of these
experiments have taken music away from popular taste,
others have proved to be a dead end; but all have contributed
in some measure to the mainstream so that classical music
now is as rich, vibrant and diverse as it has ever been.

Want more? Here's a "must-listen" audiobook :




Author : Richard Fawkes
Narrator : Robert Powell
Length : 5 hours 15 minutes
Format : Encoded Windows Media

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