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?
Lv 5
? asked in Entertainment & MusicMusicClassical · 8 years ago

Are the 3 main genres within classical music Baroque, Romantic, Classical?

Who are the most important composers of each style?

Who are some famous composers who wrote in more than one style?

Is classical music separated into "genres" mostly by the time period, or are there composers who are considered to play a style different from the dominant style of the day?

Update:

Is there such thing as "niche" styles within classical music? If so what would be an example?

Update 2:

I know it's a bit silly of me because this is Yahoo and it's often used for homework, but I felt bad about your sarcasm (i. jones) and assuming I'm slacking off my schoolwork. I'm graduated from highschool, am not in college, and am asking for my own curiosity's sake. I've been feeling more drawn to classical music lately and am trying to figure out a basic understanding of the genre and how things within it operate. I suppose it is my personality that makes me asks questions so formally that you believed me to be cheating on my homework.

4 Answers

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  • petr b
    Lv 7
    8 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Classical music is an overall genre: another term for it is (western culture) art music.

    There are numbers of historic periods, named in the late 1800's when music history was for the first time, being formulated. The period names are attached to he music from them, and mark a general style difference in each, as developed over time.

    Medieval

    Renaissance

    Baroque

    Classical

    Romantic

    Modern

    Contemporary

    [Different sources split up the 20th century differently, or into smaller sub-groups. The (Oxford) Groves Dictionary -- used in music schools throughout the English speaking areas of the world, keeps it more 'wide' and has Modern 1890 - 1975; Contemporary from 1975 onward.]

    For the general public, or the 'average' classical listener, most of what is listened to and performed come from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic eras -- i.e. those are the most common taste. More 'devoted' classical fans often know some, at least, of music from all the different periods.

    You can find a list of composers representative of each period in the big Wikipedia article, "Classical Music," not far down under the sub-heading "History."

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_music

    a click on the links in the box on the right -- medieval classical,' etc. leads you to those lists of composers from those periods.

    Genre: within classical music has to do with pieces typed by numbers of instrumental forces, and vocal music.

    Solo instrumental music:

    Music for one instrument solo. I suppose the biggest body of literature and the best known would be keyboard music, organ, harpsichord, piano.

    Chamber music:

    music for only several players, say two to about ten - usually played without a conductor. Duet, Trio, Quartet, Quintet, Sextet, Septet, Octet, Nonette, denote the number of instruments needed for those pieces.

    Orchestral music:

    Music for larger ensembles, a 'chamber orchestra' being about 30 to fifty players, a full orchestra "symphony orchestra" fifty up to the larger ensemble of about 100, sometimes even more, players.

    Vocal music:

    for voice, often with an instrumental accompaniment.

    Choral music:

    is music for choirs alone, also "Acappella" means unaccompanied voices.

    Choral piece: the genre of works for orchestra and chorus, sometimes also vocal soloists.

    Best regards.

    P.s. as per 'niche' style, I suppose there are one or two, usually either an eccentric composer who just does not fit in, by style, with all going on around them. By date, Eric Satie was a 'romantic' composer, but his music is anything but. It has been called 'modern,' and 'Dadaist' while it sits somewhere apart on its own.

    Ditto for, especially, 'Impressionism.' That is a style, not so much an historic era, and its two main proponents, with a few far lesser composers lumped in under the style, were Debussy and Ravel.

  • Anonymous
    7 years ago

    Some notable composers in each style are as follows:

    Renaissance: Purcell, Palestrina

    Baroque: Vivaldi, Bach, Telemann, Handel.

    Classical: Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn

    Romantic: Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky Korsakov

    Modernism: John Cage, Toru Takemitsu, Gyorgy Ligeti

    Neoclassicism: Eric Satie, Stravinsky, Francis Poulenc

    The Late Romantic/ Modernist transmission period: Mahler, Shostakovich

    Atonal: Arthur Schoenberg, Alban Berg

    Minimalist: Phillip Glass, John Adams, Michael Nyman

    The Wagner School: Mahler, Richard Straus, Lizst, Humperdink

  • Anonymous
    8 years ago

    Don't forget Ars Antiqua, Ars Subtilior, Ars Nova and Rococco

  • ?
    Lv 7
    8 years ago

    Yes, but not in that order.

    All of this seems very homework like.

    ... Hoping that petr b's answer is more than adequate to get you that A you so richly deserve for your research.

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