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Baroque - 1600-1750
Baroque music saw the beginning of operas, the slow dominance of secular over sacred music, and the beginning of our major-minor system or tonality. It is characterized by several features: a dynamic rhythm based on the regular beat that drives the music, dance rhythms, continuous expansion, increasing expression, terraced dynamics (going from loud to soft without crescendos or decrescendos), and the dominance of the Binary Form.
The two most important composers of this time were J.S. Bach and Handel.
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Classicism - 1750-1825
Classicism is art as a mean of communication. It emphasizes clarity of thought, beauty of form, and objective approach. This is apparent in its music in which form is considered more important than expression. The main focus of this period is to explore the major-minor system created during the Baroque period, and to use large instrumental forms to prove this system. Therefore the piano sonata is very popular during this period.
There were three major composers of this period: W. A. Mozart, Joseph Haydn, and L. van Beethoven
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Romanticism - 1820-1900
The Romantic period is a complete change from the Classical. Romantic art style emphasize three elements: strangeness, ecstasy, and experimentation. The piano during this period, because of the industrial revolution, was made stronger and better, leading to great virtuosos of the century such as Chopin and Liszt.
During the Romantic period, the industrial revolution improved many of the traditional instruments, mostly the wind instruments. The piano was given metal frames and thicker strings. As more musical conservatories were established, musicians began to be better trained. This period saw the rise of virtuoso performers alone, instead of the composer-performers of previous decades. Increasing dynamics helped make the music more dramatic. Musical terms began to become more popular in an effort to communicate with the performer and listener. Folklore and nationalism in composing enriched music. Romantic melodies were long tuneful phrases with emotional appeal. Romantic harmony was expressive, more dissonant, and more chromatic. Many forms of previous century were expanded, but there was also an increase of use of shorter forms and free form.
In piano music, there was an increased use of short forms, equivalent to the art song, which also flourished during this period. Some examples of short forms are the ballade, capriccio, impromptu, march, mazurka, nocturne, polonaise, prelude, song without words, and waltz. The piano cycle also came into being, which is a group of short pieces related in story or character combined to be played in a series, e.g. Schumann's Carnaval. Composers began to give more descriptive names to pieces instead of just opus numbers, like in the Classical Period.
There were many significant composers of this period: Schubert, Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Robert and Clara Schumann, Mussorgsky, Dvorak, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, and Mendelssohn. Many have written piano works. However the most significant piano composers of this century were Chopin and Liszt.
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Impressionism - 1890-1915
The Impressionist period in music marks a change in the European music scene. The major-minor system that worked for centuries past is being questioned. This parallels the movement in art in which painting began to be hazy instead of the clear, descriptive paintings of the past.
Impressionism in music is the start of the breaking away of tradition -- namely the major-minor
system. The composers of impressionism began to think that it has been used to its full
possibilities, and began to investigate older, Medieval sounds and also the sounds of other cultures.
Impressionism depended on floating colors and blending tones. Impressionist rhythm do away with the regular beat of Classical rhythm, and instead used floating rhythms that has no regular beat. Small forms such as preludes and nocturnes prevail.
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Twentieth-century music
The most obvious trend in Twentieth century music is the break away of tonality. It is rooted in the reaction against Romanticism, trying to capture the freedom associated with primitive life. Later twentieth-century composers turned towards internationalism, aleatoric music, experimentation, and technology as a source of their art.
The music of the twentieth century is innovative, unusual, and increasingly unfamiliar to our ears. Many new elements appeared in the new music that are unthinkable by tradition. Rhythm, for example, went from the regular, symmetric rhythm of the past to the irregular rhythm patterns based on 5, 7, 11, or 13 beats to a bar that is constantly changing. Polyrhythm, or the use of more than one rhythmic pattern at the same time, came into being. Melody changed from the vocal tunes of the past to having wide leaps and odd intervals that have no relation to the voice. Harmony went from the triads (3 notes) and 4 note chords to the complex 6 or 7 notes of modern music, adding increasing tension that's never heard before.
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