CLASSICAL (1700-1820)

“What a picture of a better world you’ve given us, Mozart.” – Franz Schubert

THE SOCIETY

This was the Age of Enlightenment. The French Revolution began 1789; the U.S. Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.
The pendulum swung back from the extravagance and complexities of the Baroque to a preference for restraint and tasteful balance.

It was thought that music should resonate with and be accessible to the greatest number of people possible.
The purpose of music was simply for music’s sake—not anything external—and it should please the ear: absolute music.

Something that is “classic” reflects the clarity of line, beauty, balanced proportions, and aesthetic purity of ancient Greek art.
The musical style of the time followed these “classic” ideals, stressing beautiful, memorable melody, clear structure, emotional restraint, and good taste.
Melody, harmony, form, and expression were in perfect balance with each other.

The symphony, string quartet, and piano concerto evolved.
Invented around 1700, the piano replaced the harpsichord and became hugely popular.

When Haydn was 17, he got expelled from boarding school for cutting off a fellow student’s ponytail with scissors. Despite this, he was one of the only major composers who actually seemed mentally healthy.
After Haydn died, grave robbers stole his head. His skull wasn’t reunited with its body until 1954!
Mozart had quite the potty mouth. He also broke with his father’s wishes, quit his job, and became one of the first relatively successful freelance composers…setting the stage for Beethoven.
Mozart died at age 35 while in the middle of writing a Requiem Mass. As he was getting sick, he began to think he was writing his own funeral music. After his death, he was buried in an unmarked grave, as was typical for people of the middle class.
A Musical Joke (Ein musikalischer Spaß): Mozart and his father had such a bad relationship that after his father died, Mozart composed this piece as an insult to his dad. The beginning is overly simple and intentionally poorly written, mocking his father’s compositional skill. The final few chords of the work are basically a musical metaphor for “good riddance.”