Relax in the world of music

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Classical music Classical music is a term with three distinct the year 476, the approximate time of the meanings: fall of the Roman Empire. Most of the extant music from this period is from ancient The European tradition of music which is Greece. associated with high culture, as distinct from popular or folk forms (including works Medieval, generally before 1450. Monophonic in this tradition in non-European countries). chant, also called plainsong or Gregorian Chant, was the dominant form until about 1100. Polyphonic (multivoiced) music That tradition as well as similar developed from monophonic chant throughout non-European  traditions. the late Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. A particular stage in the development of the European art music tradition, centered in the Renaissance, about 1450-1600, characterized late  18th  century. by greater use of instrumentation, multiple melodic lines and by the use of the first This article discusses classical music in the bass  instruments. first sense. For the second, see List of classical music styles. For the third, see Baroque, about 1600-1750, characterized by Classical  period  (music). the use of complex tonal, rather than modal, counterpoint, and growing popularity of Classical music is a broad, somewhat keyboard music (harpsichord and pipe organ). imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, Western Classical, about 1750-1820, an important era art, ecclesiastical and concert music, which established many of the norms of encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 composition, presentation and style. Also, to the present day. The central norms of this the classical era is marked by the tradition developed throughout this period disappearance of the harpsichord and the but reached their heights of complexity and clavichord in favour of the piano, which from development in the period between 1550 and then on would become the predominant 1900: what is known as the common practice instrument for keyboard performance and period. composition. This music evokes classical traditions, Romantic, 1820-1901 a period which codified focuses on formal styles, invites technical practice, expanded the role of music in and detailed deconstruction and criticism, cultural life and created institutions for and demands focused attention from the the teaching, performance and preservation of listener. It is written down using a formal works of music. Characterized by increased notation and a work of classical music is attention  to  melody  and  rhythm. usually defined by the notated version, rather than a particular performance of it. Modern, 1905-1985 a period which represented This music is associated with, and often a crisis in the values of classical music and compared to, fine art and high culture, its role within intellectual life, and the sometimes leading to accusations of extension of theory and technique. Some haughtiness and exclusivity being leveled at theorists, such as Arnold Schoenberg in his its enthusiasts. Nevertheless, many essay "Brahms the Progressive," insist that "classical" pieces were the popular music of Modernism represents a logical progression their time, and have remained popular to this from 19th century trends in composition; day. The public taste for and appreciation of others hold the opposing point of view, that formal music of this type is often described Modernism represents the rejection or as having waned through the later part of the negation of the method of Classical 20th century and into the present millennium, composition. particularly in the USA and UK, although it continues to thrive elsewhere in the world. 20th century, usually used to describe the Certainly, this period has seen classical wide variety of post-Romantic styles composed music falling well behind the immense through the year 1999, which includes late commercial  success  of  popular  music. Romantic, Modern and Post-Modern styles of composition. The term classical music did not appear until the early 19th century, in an attempt to The term contemporary music is sometimes used "canonize" the period from Bach to Beethoven to describe music composed in the late 20th as an era in music parallel to the golden age century  through  present  day. of sculpture, architecture and art of classical antiquity (from which no music has The prefix neo is usually used to describe a directly survived). The earliest reference to 20th Century or Contemporary composition "classical music" recorded by the Oxford written in the style of an earlier period, English Dictionary is from about 1836. Since such as classical, romantic, or modern. So that time the term has come in common for example, Prokofiev's Classical Symphony parlance to mean the opposite of popular is  considered  a Neo-Classical composition. music. The dates are generalizations, since the Timeline periods overlapped. Some authorities subdivide the periods further by date or According to one school of thought, musical style. However, it should be noted that these works are best understood in the context of categories are to an extent arbitrary; the their place in musical history; for adherents use of counterpoint and fugue, which is to this approach, this is essential to full considered characteristic of the Baroque era, enjoyment of these works. There is a widely was continued by Mozart, who is generally accepted system of dividing the history of classified as typical of the Classical classical music composition into stylistic period, by Beethoven who is often described periods. According to this system, the major as straddling the Classical and Romantic time  divisions  are: periods, and Brahms, who is often classified as Romantic. 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