The Library Of Classical Music

This book covers the rich musical period that followed Baroque and preceded Romantic. The era saw some of Europe's greatest composers exploring new musical possibilities, establishing a fresh Classical style with clearer divisions between parts, brighter contrasts and simplicity instead of ornateness. Structural clarity was in vogue, instrumentation was changing and composers placed a new emphasis on homophony in direct contrast to the polyphonic effects of Baroque music. The Classical period would span some 70 years starting in the mid-18th century. If C.P.E Bach and Gluck were among its pioneers, Joseph Haydn would become one of its most influential innovators with his numerous symphonies and many other works spanning six decades. Overshadowed by Mozart, Haydn can still be said to have exerted greater influence over the development of Western music during one of its richest and most exuberant periods. The spirit of Classicism would last until the new preoccupations of Romanticism defined the next major period of Western music.