THE CLASSICAL PERIOD (1775-1825)
The Baroque period culminated in the masterpieces of J.S. Bach and G.F.Handel. In the middle of the eighteenth century, contemporaneous with the matureyears of Bach and Handel, a new musical style developed that is known as Rococoor preclassical style. This style is most evident in keyboard and orchestralmusic, but it is mentioned here because it represented a transition from theBaroque to the Classical era, occurring between 1725 and 1770.
In the world of painting, Rococo style is characterized by delicate colors,many decorative details, and a graceful and intimate mood. Similarly, music inthe Rococo style is hom*ophonic and light in texture, melodic, and elaboratelyornamented. In France, the term for this was style galant(gallant or elegant style) and in Germany empfindsamerstil (sensitive style). François Couperin (1668-1733), in France,and two of the sons of J. S. Bach, C. P. E. Bach (1714-1788) and JohannChristian Bach (1735-1782), in Germany, were important composers of music in theRococo style.
In the second half of the eighteenth century, a reaction against Rococo styleoccurred. There were objections to its lack of depth and to the use of decorationand ornamentation for their own sake. This led to the development of Classicalstyle.
The Classical period itself lasted from approximately 1775 to 1825. The nameclassical is applied to theperiod because in art and literature, there was keen interest in, admiration for,and emulation of the classical artistic and literary heritage of Greece andRome.
Intellectually, this era has also been labeled the Age of Enlightenment.Philosophers such as Rousseau, Voltaire, and Montesquieu wrote of the value ofthe common person and the power of human reasoning in overcoming the problems ofthe world. This revolution in thinking inevitably led to conflict between the oldorder and new ideas. The French and American revolutions in the last quarter ofthe eighteenth century were stimulated by this new attitude.
The musical scene in the classical period reflected the changes occurring inthe society in which the music was being written. This was the first era in musichistory in which public concerts became an important part of the musicalscene. Music was still being composed for the church and the court, but theadvent of public concerts reflected the new view that music should be written forthe enjoyment and entertainment of the common person.
Unlike the Renaissance or Baroque eras, which included many importantcomposers and trends, the choral music of the classical era was dominated bythree composers: Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart(1756-1791), and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). For the first time, during theClassical period most of the important stylistic advances that occurred can beobserved most clearly in the instrumental forms: the symphony, concerto, sonata,and in instrumental chamber music (e.g., the Beethoven string quartets). Churchmusic tended to be more conservative than secular compositions, which also helpsto explain why stylistic innovations were seen most clearly in instrumental musicbut were less prevalent in the choral music of the period.
Choral and instrumental forms overlapped during the Classical period to anunprecedented degree. Forms developed in the instrumental area were appropriatedand used to good effect in choral music. Sonata allegro form, for example, oftenfound in sonata or symphony movements, is also used in sections of classicalmasses. Beethoven included choral sections in two instrumental works, his Choral Fantasia and the Ninth Symphony.
This period in music history is sometimes referred to as "the VienneseClassic period," and it was centered in Vienna. Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart,though none was a native Viennese, all worked in Vienna for significant periodsin their careers. Although Vienna was the focal point for musical activity of theperiod, classical music is not parochial but universal in spirit and instyle.
Important Forms
Important forms of choral music during the classical period included thefollowing:
Mass.
The mass continued to be an important form foreach of the three primary Classical composers. During the Classical period,masses involved orchestra, soloists, and choir in a fully integrated work,utilizing organizational principles derived from instrumental forms.Missa Brevis. This
concise treatment of the mass textmay consist of strictly delimited development, simultaneous setting of severallines of text, or the omission of certain sections of the mass.Missa Solemnis.
When choral musicians refer to theMissa Solemnis they are usually speaking of Beethoven'sMass in D Major, a milestone in the development ofchoral music. In a broader sense, however, the term refers to a more elaborateand extended musical treatment of the mass text than that employed in the MissaBrevis.Oratorio.
The Baroque oratorio tradition, begun byCarissimi and culminating in the works of Handel, was continued in the Classicalperiod primarily by Haydn, who wrote two oratorios, TheCreation and The Seasons, which have remained animportant part of the choral repertoire.Requiem.
Although many musical settings of theRequiem were composed during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, the Classicalperiod produced a setting by Mozart (completed by a student following Mozart'sdeath) that has become a staple of the choral repertoire and two settings byCherubini that are also often performed.Vespers.
Mozart wrote two settings of this serviceeach of which includes psalms and the Magnificat, written for choir, quartet ofsoloists, and orchestra.Choral Symphony.
A symphony which includes sectionswritten for choir and orchestra. The earliest and probably best known example ofthis is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, incorporating choirand soloists in the fourth movement.Composers
Haydn.
Franz Joseph Haydn was born in the Rohrau,Austria, in 1732. At age eight he was accepted as a choirboy at St. Stephen'sCathedral in Vienna. When he left St. Stephen's in 1749, he became an assistantto Nicola Porpora. In 1759, he worked briefly as musical director for CountMorzin, and in 1761 was employed as assistant music director and then musicdirector for the Esterhazy family, residing at their estate. He remained with theEsterhazys for nearly thirty years, until 1790.During the last decade of the eighteenth century, Haydn made two trips toLondon. He had been hired by Johann Peter Salomon to compose and conduct sixsymphonies for his first trip (1791-1792) and six for his second (1794-1795).Haydn's London appearances were highly successful.
Upon his return to Vienna in 1795, Haydn composed some of his most significantchoral music. The six masses from this period, composed for Prince NicholasEsterhazy (the son of Haydn's earlier employer), and his two oratorios, The Creation and The Seasons, are hismost significant choral works. Haydn's total choral output included twelvemasses, three oratorios, a passion, two Te Deums, a Stabat Mater, and a few othersmaller works.
In his later years, Haydn was a celebrity whose works were widely recognizedand appreciated, in contrast to the decades spent in the relative isolation ofthe Esterhazy estate. He died in 1809 in Vienna.
Mozart.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg,Austria, in 1756. At the age of six, he could play the harpsichord and violin,compose, and performed in Munich and Vienna. Between the ages of six and fifteen,Mozart was taken on tours of Europe and England, organized by his father, LeopoldMozart, a Salzburg court composer. Although he was away from home morethan half of the time, he produced a steady stream of compositions during thisperiod.In 1781, Mozart left Salzburg and moved to Vienna, teaching, concertizing,traveling, and continuing to compose constantly. In contrast to Haydn, who workedin the isolation and relative obscurity of the Esterhazy estate for many yearsand then became an international celebrity in his sixties, Mozart was thrust intointernational prominence as a child and encountered decreasing public acceptanceof his music when he was an adult.
By 1791, Mozart's health was failing. He received a commission that resultedin the composition of The Magic Flute. He was alsovisited by a representative of a Count Walsegg, who commissioned a requiem.Mozart may have believed he was writing a requiem for himself. He died beforecompleting the work, and it was finished by a pupil of Mozart's named Sussmayer,working from Mozart's sketches of the unfinished portion.
Mozart's choral output includes eighteen masses, the Requiem, two Vespers settings, and a variety of shorter choralpieces.
Beethoven.
Ludwig van Beethoven wasborn in Bonn, Germany, in 1770. He came to Vienna in 1792, where he studied withHaydn and Albrechtsberger. His first public performances in Vienna as a pianistand composer came in 1795.Beethoven protested against the patronage system that bound musicians to theservice of an employer. Increasingly deaf, Beethoven eventually was forced toretire from public performance and to concentrate on composition. Unlike Mozart,who seemed to conceive of music in final form and who simply wrote down hisconceptions, Beethoven's sketchbooks provide a record of his agonizing struggleto arrive at a composition he felt was satisfactory.
Beethoven was primarily a composer of instrumental music, and it is in hissymphonies, piano music, and string quartets that the transition from Classic toRomantic style is most clearly discernible. Nevertheless, his choral music is animportant part of the repertoire, and his Mass in D Major,the Missa Solemnis, is one of the monuments ofWestern musical tradition. Beethoven's choral output included two masses, anoratorio, two symphonic works with large choral sections and a few smallerpieces.
Classical Style
Music from the Classical period is distinctivein style from what preceded and followed it. Some of the questions related toperformance practice in Renaissance and Baroque music are less complex because atthis point in Music history we have much clearer and more explicit indicationsfrom the composer concerning the tempo, dynamics, and expressive qualities of theMusic under consideration.
Moreover, there have been public performances of this repertoire from the timeof its composition to the present. This is both a help and a hindrance in lightof the fact that through the last two centuries, certain Romantic conventionshave become an accepted part of the performance of this music, and they are notalways appropriate to authentic Classical style (this same Problem ofinappropriate performance conventions added during the Romantic period existswith Baroque repertoire and, to a lesser extent, music from the Renaissance).
Classical choral music tends to be more hom*ophonic and lighter in texturethan that of the Baroque. This lightness needs to pervade the choral lines. Thereis still rhythmic energy and drive, but without the weightiness of Baroquemusic.The lighter quality of Classical music also is derived from its slowerharmonic movement. Baroque music, with its emphasis on vertical structure and useof figured bass and basso continuo, is characterized by frequent harmonicchanges, sometimes on every beat. Classical music changes chords much lessfrequently, giving it a more graceful sweep and lightness of phrasing than thatcreated by the pulsating feel of a harpsichordist realizing a Baroque figuredbass part, supporting the choral singing with rapidly changing embellishedchords. During the Classic period, the keyboard player was no longer typicallythe composer/ conductor, but instead was simply one of the players in theorchestra. The keyboard part should be much less obtrusive and less highlydecorated than that of a Baroque work.
The choral music of the Classic period is generally conservative, andtherefore often contains sections of free counterpoint, fugue, and use ofcontinuo, reminiscent of the Baroque. This is particularly true in the musicwritten in the early part of the period.
The Classical era was an era of formality. The music was characterized bycareful attention to form and by elegance and restraint. The formal structure wasbased on the use of thematic development and harmonic structure.
The music of the Classical era is characterized by objectivity. While emotionis an important aspect of all music, in the Classical period, emotions werecarefully controlled. This control is evident in the use of dynamics andexpressive differences within sections or movements of a composition. The Baroquenotion of terraced dynamics, coupled with the expression of a single emotion in agiven section of a composition, was replaced by the classical trait of varyingthe emotional content of a given movement, section, or even a measure of a piece.Dynamically speaking, this was accomplished through the use of crescendo anddecrescendo.
