Are there different types of classical music

During the Romantic period and the twentieth century, the musical boundaries expanded so that these styles became more free and varied, or broke out from these style altogether. The major musical styles are: Symphony A large-scale work for full orchestra. Usually consists of four movements or sections, often alternating fast-slow.

Beethoven's ninth symphony was the first to break with tradition in that he included vocal soloists and a full choir into the final movement. Other composers who wrote well-known symphonies are Haydn wrote of them , Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mahler and later Prokofiev and Shostakovich.

Concerto Also a large-scale work for full orchestra but with the addition of an instrumental soloist. Overture usually the orchestra-only curtain-raiser to an opera, often used to open concerts.

During the nineteenth century it became increasingly fashionable to compose independent concert overtures, occasionally with picturesque titles.

Concerto evolved from various forms of works using a solo instrument throughout the Baroque era and by the end of the eighteenth century denoted a work invariably in three movements fast-slow-fast.

Ballet evolved from passages of dance music, usually in an operatic context, into the popular, full-scale Romantic classics of Adam , Delibes , Tchaikovsky , early Stravinsky and beyond. Incidental Music usually composed in short sections, often with recurring themes, for a particular stage production.

Normally understood to be any type of music composed for a small ensemble of between two and approximately fifteen players.

The most basic form is a work for solo instrument with keyboard accompaniment. There are countless miniatures of this type, particularly for flute, violin, cello, oboe, and clarinet, often with descriptive titles. For slightly larger appetites, there are also numerous accompanied sonatas dating from the Baroque period onwards, typically in three or four movements, and after about corresponding roughly to symphonic structure. Duets also exist typically for two instruments of the same family e.

Other chamber works which normally fall into multi-movement structures are the string trio violin, viola, cello , piano trio piano, violin, cello , string quartet 2 violins, viola, cello , piano quartet piano, violin, viola, cello , string quintet typically 2 violins, viola, 2 cellos, or 2 violins, 2 violas, cello , and piano quintet typically piano, 2 violins, viola, cello.

Examples of sextets, septets, octets and even nonets are rather less plentiful and can be for a variety of different combinations.

Into this category falls any music composed for a single, unaccompanied instrument. The oldest genre of all, for what is humanity's oldest 'instrument'- the human voice. Anyone wishing to trace a stylistic history of classical music could do no better than to examine vocal music, for every composer worthy of the name wrote at least something which involves singing of some description.

In its simplest form vocal music consists of a single, monodic line, as in Medieval Gregorian chant for example. From this was derived all music for unaccompanied choir , so that as one moves further forward in time, more and more independent parts are gradually added, and the musical language and texturing becomes correspondingly more complex. The great majority of texts of pieces for unaccompanied and accompanied choir masses, motets, psalms, canticles, vespers etc.

If choral music in the 'classical' tradition tends towards the sacred, then the accompanied song, chanson, ballade, virelei, lied or melodie is almost invariably secular in origin or intentions. Indeed there are Medieval and Renaissance songs which are positively ribald in terms of their chosen texts. The most popular form within this category is, however, the keyboard accompanied art song, particularly the German Lied of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

This actually covers a huge period — essentially everything that happened till the Renaissance, when things started to really take off. Religion played a huge role, the church being one of the only arenas for public music-making. As such, music for the voice is massively important at this time. There were noisemakers, though… percussion and wind instruments can of course be traced back to early humans — actual horns, bone flutes and alike — but they became more advanced.

There were bagpipes, too! Around the earliest harpsichords begin to make an appearance. Music is revived, reborn if you will, composers allowed to think beyond the church walls. Science, art and mythology all become fair game for inspiring new music. That said, the church is still massively influential and if Top of the Pops was on, sacred works would continue to dominate the chart.

So choral music is king, but stringed instruments are on the rise; viols, lute , cello, etc. Organs are cool, too, and the harpsichord comes into its own. The concerto features a solo instrument — such the piano, violin, flute or cello - and an orchestra, showcasing what they can do both independently and together. Concertos have three movements — fast, slow, fast. For dramatic orchestral music, look no further than the best ballet scores.

A suite is usually a selection of short movements taken from a ballet - what would the festive period be without a performance of The Nutcracker Suite? The difference between an opera and a musical is that operas are generally entirely sung, while musicals combine singing with spoken dialogue. Opera songs are known as arias , many of which have been used over the years commercially and in films.

This piece has earned wide acclaim for its emotional effect, just see for yourself this two-year old getting emotional whilst listening to Puccini:. This canzone is often thought to be the centrepiece of the opera, occurring at a turning point in a much-loved story of deceit, love lust and desire. Apart from being serious, an Opera Seria is defined by its lack of spoken dialogue, emphasis on grand vocals and tragic or heroic narrative.

An Opera Buffa is usually more grounded than an Opera Seria and therefore features relatable characters and an everyday plot. It is a midway point between an Opera Seria and Opera Buffa that became popular during the s; it combines emotion with humour to keep an audience entertained. French opera style Opera Comique alternates between spoken dialogue and musical numbers — much like a modern-day musical.

This type of opera shares its name with a Parisian theatre which was founded under the reign of Louis XIV in A Grand Opera is a spectacular type of opera of four or five acts that originates from the s. Often revolving around a historic event or a dramatic tale, a grand opera is comparable to an Opera Seria as it takes on a serious tone and features no spoken dialogue.

The standard arrangement of instruments for chamber music include the string quartet two violins, a viola and a cello and a woodwind ensemble, often accompanied by a piano or harpsichord. The small number of musicians gives chamber music its characteristic intimacy and subtlety.