Introduction to music of the classical era (1750-1820)

With the new era of what we now call classicism, several new innovations arouse. First of all, the mechanical and very steady rhythmic feel of the baroque music became gradually less prominent. In the classical era, musicians started to employ more dynamics in music, the crescendos and decrescendos, where sound of music gets louder and quieter, respectively. Secondly, the typical polyphonic complexity of baroque music was diminished in the classical era. More homophonic-like music was now written, meaning that clear single melodies were dominanting the texture of music, other instruments providing more of accompaniment than being independent melodies per se. Thirdly, the arrival of new instruments, especially piano, that allowed the performer to play very variating dynamics in the music, that is, now one could play louder and softer on the keyboard instrument, providing new realm of expressing oneself. This was not possible with the baroque-style harpsichords that pluck strings with the same force all the time. This limitation was certainly driving the baroque composers to write strictly polyphonic music since all the voices played at full volume, so to speak. In the classical era though, the new dynamics provided a tool for writing melodies that could be stretched in time, and be independent on the surface of accompanying texture. You can surely notice how the melodies are easy to sing, as compared with the baroque melodies. These are the main differences between the baroque and the classical eras in music.

In the classical era, dated from 1750 to 1820, or so, people started to get more and more revolutionary against the established powers in the political sphere. People started to question the powers of the Church and the authoritative kings. The period of enlightment came to be. More important, this era meant that more education, trust in reason, sciences, and more open society became the driving force of the civilization. In music, the nationalistic styles, so prominent during the baroque era, suddenly vanished and the best of all the nations was combined into music that 'had it all'. There was no special signatures that would directly tell you which country the music came from. The French had their majestic swingy music, Germans had their mechanical driving force and super polyphonies, and the Italians had their light entertaining melodies. But now, in the classical era, all these landmarks were eradicated and, maybe that's a better word, combined into an international style of music.

This revolution in music was driven by the increasing power of the middle class citizens, who didn't like the complex and 'aristocratic' music of polyphonic nature. They wanted something simple, easy to listen to, just like today's people in general. Also, there was a trend where anyone who wanted to play music would be able to do so. Naturally, music amateurs didn't really like the complex fugues of Bach but rather settled for the simpler Mozart piano sonatas. Simple music that sounded nice was the key to success for the classical era composers. Actually, the music may sound simple but is not that easy to play, since missing one note in the main melody will destroy the whole performance, and missing a note in Bach's fugue will not do as much damage. Still, the classical era music was easier to approach for the vast majority of amateur musicians that emerged during the 18th century. The era of homophonic music has began.

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