Classical music
A broad Western art-music umbrella, with a narrower historical meaning tied to the late 18th-century Classical era. The entry now distinguishes that everyday usage from the specific Haydn-Mozart-Beethoven period and points readers toward Beethoven as a reliable listening doorway.
Origins and context
The genre name covers a broad Western European art-music tradition; the narrower Classical era emerged in European concert, court, and church culture.
History
The roots of Western classical music reach back to medieval sacred chant and the long development of notation, polyphony, and court and church repertories in Europe. By the Classical period, roughly 1750 to 1820, composers such as Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven helped settle the symphony, concerto, and sonata as durable public forms, with the piano gradually replacing the harpsichord and orchestras growing in scope and color.
Notable artists
- JHJoseph Haydn
- WAWolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- LVLudwig van Beethoven
Essential listening
- 1
- 2
Ludwig van Beethoven
- 3
Classical Music Genre Overview
Explore connected genres
Sources and further reading
- allmusic.com
AllMusic describes classical music as rooted in Western European traditions and notes its roots in medieval chant.
- Apple Music
Apple Music Classical describes Beethoven as born in Bonn in 1770 and as a central figure in classical music.
- classical.music.apple.com
Apple Music Classical presents Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 as first heard in Vienna in 1808.
- Classical Music Genre Overview
- Classical period (music)