Classical music

By 1750, composers were tired of the complicated many-voiced music of Bach and Handel. They were looking for a simpler musical language. The result was the music of the classical period (about 1760 to 1790): symphonies, concertos for solo instruments with orchestra, and an increasing amount of music pieces for the newly developed pianoforte. This instrument is an early version of the modern piano.

Main Features

• opera is the primary genre of vocal music;• new forms:• • the sonata (three- or four-movement piece);• the symphony (a long piece of classical

music played by alarge orchestra);

• the concerto;• the string quartet.

This is the music of the second half of XVIII - early XIX century. The most outstanding representatives of this period were Franz Joseph Haydn, Johann Strauss – the son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven and others. In the era of classicism such instruments as violin, viola, cello, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, organ were common.

Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgang Theophilus Mozart (1756—1791)

He was an Austrian composer, an instrumentalist and a conductor, a violinist, a virtuoso harpsichordist, an organist. Mozart's musical talent emerged at a very early age when he was about three years. In 1779, Mozart received a place of court organist in Salzburg. He has created such famous works as "Requiem", 27 concertos for piano and orchestra, "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik."

Не was born on the 31st of March 1732. He showed his talant to music in his early childhood. He sang in the chorus of St.Stephen’s Cathedral in Hynburg-on-Dunai. Then he started to compose music. He wrote 8 sonatas for a violin and a piano, 83 string quartets for two violins, an alto and a violoncello, 6 duets for a violin and an alto, 41 trios for a piano, violins (or flutes) and violoncellos, 21 trios for 2 violins and a violoncello, 126 trios for a baritone, an alto (violin) and a violoncello, 11 trios for the mixed wind and string instruments, 35 concerts for one or several tools with an orchestra, 24 operas, 14 oratories, 104 symphonies and many other works.

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732—1809)