151-480: In classical music , a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly (since 1842) a string quartet (i.e., two violins , viola , and cello ). The term also refers to the group of musicians that plays a piano quintet. The genre flourished during the nineteenth century. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, most piano quintets were scored for piano, violin , viola , cello , and double bass . Following
302-472: A harpsichord , and were often led by the lead violinist (now called the concertmaster ). Classical era musicians continued to use many of the instruments from the Baroque era, such as the cello, contrabass, recorder, trombone, timpani, fortepiano (the precursor to the modern piano ) and organ. While some Baroque instruments fell into disuse e.g. the theorbo and rackett, many Baroque instruments were changed into
453-499: A concert tour with Reményi, visiting the violinist and composer Joseph Joachim at Hanover in May. Brahms had earlier heard Joachim playing the solo part in Beethoven's violin concerto and been deeply impressed. Brahms played some of his own solo piano pieces for Joachim, who remembered fifty years later: "Never in the course of my artist's life have I been more completely overwhelmed". This
604-550: A fantasy by Sigismund Thalberg . His first full piano recital, in 1848, included a fugue by Bach as well as works by Marxsen and contemporary virtuosi such as Jacob Rosenhain . A second recital in April 1849 included Beethoven's Waldstein sonata and a waltz fantasia of his own composition and garnered favourable newspaper reviews. Persistent stories of the impoverished adolescent Brahms playing in bars and brothels have only anecdotal provenance, and many modern scholars dismiss them;
755-504: A friend that Agathe was his "last love". Brahms had hoped to be given the conductorship of the Hamburg Philharmonic, but in 1862 this post was given to baritone Julius Stockhausen . Brahms continued to hope for the post. But he demurred when he was finally offered the directorship in 1893, as he had "got used to the idea of having to go along other paths". In autumn 1862 Brahms made his first visit to Vienna, staying there over
906-765: A growing circle of supporters, friends, and musicians. Eduard Hanslick celebrated them polemically as absolute music , and Hans von Bülow even cast Brahms as Beethoven's musical heir, an idea Richard Wagner mocked. Settling in Vienna , Brahms conducted the Singakademie and Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde , programming the early and often "serious" music of his personal studies. He considered retiring from composition late in life but continued to write chamber music, especially for Richard Mühlfeld . His contributions and craftsmanship were admired by his contemporaries like Antonín Dvořák , whose music he enthusiastically supported, and
1057-647: A keen interest in Wagner's music, helping with preparations for Wagner's Vienna concerts in 1862/63, and being rewarded by Tausig with a manuscript of part of Wagner's Tannhäuser (which Wagner demanded back in 1875). The Handel Variations also featured, together with the first Piano Quartet, in his first Viennese recitals, in which his performances were better received by the public and critics than his music. In February 1865 Brahms's mother died, and he began to compose his large choral work A German Requiem , Op. 45, of which six movements were completed by 1866. Premieres of
1208-692: A letter of introduction from Joachim, was welcomed by the Schumanns. Robert, greatly impressed and delighted by the 20-year-old's talent, published an article entitled "Neue Bahnen" ("New Paths") in the 28 October issue of the journal Neue Zeitschrift für Musik nominating Brahms as one who was "fated to give expression to the times in the highest and most ideal manner". This praise may have aggravated Brahms's self-critical standards of perfection and dented his confidence. He wrote to Schumann in November 1853 that his praise "will arouse such extraordinary expectations by
1359-516: A living construct that can evolve with the times". Despite its decline in the last third of the 20th century, there remained at the end of the century an active core of composers who continued to advance the ideas and forms of modernism, such as Pierre Boulez , Pauline Oliveros , Toru Takemitsu , George Benjamin , Jacob Druckman , Brian Ferneyhough , George Perle , Wolfgang Rihm , Richard Wernick , Richard Wilson , and Ralph Shapey . Two musical movements that were dominant during this time were
1510-418: A performer in a private concert including Beethoven 's quintet for piano and winds Op. 16 and a piano quartet by Mozart . He also played as a solo work an étude of Henri Herz . By 1845 he had written a piano sonata in G minor. His parents disapproved of his early efforts as a composer, feeling that he had better career prospects as a performer. From 1845 to 1848 Brahms studied with Cossel's teacher,
1661-530: A pianist in his adulthood, premiering many of his own works. He worked with Ede Reményi and Joseph Joachim and met Franz Liszt in Weimar . With Joachim's assistance, Brahms sought Robert Schumann 's approval, receiving both his and Clara Schumann 's vigorous support and guidance. Amid Robert's insanity and institutionalization, Brahms stayed with Clara in Düsseldorf , to whom he became devoted. After Robert's death,
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#17328517784921812-459: A position as musician to the tiny court of Detmold , the capital of the Principality of Lippe , where he spent the winters of 1857 to 1860 and for which he wrote his two Serenades (1858 and 1859, Opp. 11 and 16). In Hamburg he established a women's choir for which he wrote music and conducted. To this period also belong his first two Piano Quartets ( Op. 25 and Op. 26 ) and the first movement of
1963-634: A process that climaxed in the early 20th century with very large orchestras used by late romantic and modernist composers. A wider array of percussion instruments began to appear. Brass instruments took on larger roles, as the introduction of rotary valves made it possible for them to play a wider range of notes. The size of the orchestra (typically around 40 in the Classical era) grew to be over 100. Gustav Mahler 's 1906 Symphony No. 8 , for example, has been performed with over 150 instrumentalists and choirs of over 400. New woodwind instruments were added, such as
2114-607: A putative tenth symphony of Beethoven). Brahms was now recognised as a major figure in the world of music. He had been on the jury which awarded the Vienna State Prize to the (then little-known) composer Antonín Dvořák three times, first in February 1875, and later in 1876 and 1877, and had successfully recommended Dvořák to his publisher, Simrock. The two men met for the first time in 1877, and Dvořák dedicated to Brahms his String Quartet, Op. 34 of that year. He also began to be
2265-495: A quintet for piano and winds, scored for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon, that are sometimes referred to as piano quintets. In the middle of the 19th century, Robert Schumann 's Piano Quintet in E ♭ major , Op. 44 (1842), composed for piano with string quartet, helped establish that combination of instruments as the typical model for the piano quintet. Schumann's choice of scoring reflected developments in musical performance and instrumental design. By midcentury,
2416-513: A remarkable marriage of boldly distinctive melodic lines weaving in counterpoint yet creating a coherent harmonic logic . The use of written notation also preserves a record of the works and enables Classical musicians to perform music from many centuries ago. Although Classical music in the 2000s has lost most of its tradition for musical improvisation , from the Baroque era to the Romantic era, there are examples of performers who could improvise in
2567-536: A representative of the American inventor Thomas Edison , visited the composer in Vienna and invited him to make an experimental recording. Brahms played an abbreviated version of his first Hungarian Dance and of Josef Strauss 's Die Libelle on the piano. Although the spoken introduction to the short piece of music is quite clear, the piano playing is largely inaudible due to heavy surface noise . In that same year, Brahms
2718-583: A staple of the concert repertoire, continuing to influence composers into the 21st century. Brahms's father, Johann Jakob Brahms, was from the town of Heide in Holstein. Against his family's will, Johann Jakob pursued a career in music, arriving in Hamburg at age 19. He found work playing double bass for jobs; he also played in a sextet in the Alster-pavilion in Hamburg's Jungfernstieg . In 1830, Johann Jakob
2869-437: A variety of later composers. Max Reger and Alexander Zemlinsky reconciled Brahms's and Wagner's often contrasted styles. So did Arnold Schoenberg , who emphasized Brahms's "progressive" side. He and Anton Webern were inspired by the intricate structural coherence of Brahms's music, including what Schoenberg termed its developing variation . Brahms saw his music became internationally important in his own lifetime. It remains
3020-500: A version of the first movement had been announced by Brahms to Clara and to Albert Dietrich) in the early 1860s. During the decade it evolved very gradually; the finale may not have begun its conception until 1868. Brahms was cautious and typically self-deprecating about the symphony during its creation, writing to his friends that it was "long and difficult", "not exactly charming" and, significantly, "long and in C Minor ", which, as Richard Taruskin points out, made it clear "that Brahms
3171-406: A wider range of chromatic possibilities in hard-to-tune keyboard instruments. Although J.S. Bach did not use equal temperament, changes in the temperaments from the then-common meantone system to various temperaments that made modulation between all keys musically acceptable made possible his Well-Tempered Clavier . Baroque instruments included some instruments from the earlier periods (e.g.,
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#17328517784923322-437: Is in this time that the notation of music on a staff and other elements of musical notation began to take shape. This invention made possible the separation of the composition of a piece of music from its transmission ; without written music, transmission was oral, and subject to change every time it was transmitted. With a musical score , a work of music could be performed without the composer's presence. The invention of
3473-552: Is one of the most frequently performed works of the genre. Subsequent compositions such as César Franck 's Piano Quintet in F minor (1879) and Antonín Dvořák 's Piano Quintet #2 in A major, Op. 81 (1887) further solidified the genre as a "vehicle for Romantic expression." In the twentieth century, the piano quintet repertoire was expanded with contributions by composers such as Béla Bartók , Sergei Taneyev , Louis Vierne , Edward Elgar , Amy Beach , Gabriel Fauré , Dmitri Shostakovich , and Mieczysław Weinberg . However, unlike
3624-405: Is one of the only female composers mentioned." Abbey Philips states that "[d]uring the 20th century the women who were composing/playing gained far less attention than their male counterparts." Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms ( / b r ɑː m z / ; German: [joˈhanəs ˈbʁaːms] ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of
3775-513: Is preserved as a museum. In Vienna Brahms became an associate of two close members of Wagner's circle, his earlier friend Peter Cornelius and Karl Tausig , and of Joseph Hellmesberger Sr. and Julius Epstein , respectively the Director and head of violin studies, and the head of piano studies, at the Vienna Conservatoire . Brahms's circle grew to include the notable critic (and opponent of
3926-570: Is reported to have responded, "As far as the text is concerned, I confess that I would gladly omit even the word German and instead use Human; also with my best knowledge and will I would dispense with passages like John 3:16 . On the other hand, I have chosen one thing or another because I am a musician, because I needed it, and because with my venerable authors I can't delete or dispute anything. But I had better stop before I say too much." Brahms also experienced at this period popular success with works such as his first set of Hungarian Dances (1869),
4077-604: Is required. Performance of classical music repertoire requires a proficiency in sight-reading and ensemble playing, harmonic principles, strong ear training (to correct and adjust pitches by ear), knowledge of performance practice (e.g., Baroque ornamentation), and a familiarity with the style/musical idiom expected for a given composer or musical work (e.g., a Brahms symphony or a Mozart concerto). The key characteristic of European classical music that distinguishes it from popular music , folk music , and some other classical music traditions such as Indian classical music ,
4228-405: Is that the repertoire tends to be written down in musical notation , creating a musical part or score . This score typically determines details of rhythm, pitch, and, where two or more musicians (whether singers or instrumentalists) are involved, how the various parts are coordinated. The written quality of the music has enabled a high level of complexity within them: fugues , for instance, achieve
4379-401: Is typically defined as the era between the formation and the dissolution of common-practice tonality . The term usually spans roughly two-and-a-half centuries, encompassing the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods. Baroque music is characterized by the use of complex tonal counterpoint and the use of a basso continuo , a continuous bass line. Music became more complex in comparison with
4530-617: The Academic Festival Overture (written following the conferring of an honorary degree by the University of Breslau ) and Tragic Overture of 1880. In May 1876, Cambridge University offered to grant honorary degrees of Doctor of Music to both Brahms and Joachim, provided that they composed new pieces as "theses" and were present in Cambridge to receive their degrees. Brahms was averse to traveling to England and requested to receive
4681-579: The Liebeslieder Waltzes , Op. 52 , (1868/69), and his collections of lieder (Opp. 43 and 46–49). Following such successes he finally completed a number of works that he had wrestled with over many years such as the cantata Rinaldo (1863–1868), his first two string quartets Op. 51 nos. 1 and 2 (1865–1873), the third piano quartet (1855–1875), and most notably his first symphony which appeared in 1876, but which had been begun as early as 1855. During 1869, Brahms felt himself falling in love with
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4832-699: The Vier ernste Gesänge (Four Serious Songs), Op. 121 (1896), which were prompted by the death of Clara Schumann and dedicated to the artist Max Klinger , who was his great admirer. The last of the Eleven Chorale Preludes for organ, Op. 122 (1896) is a setting of "O Welt ich muss dich lassen" ("O world I must leave thee") and the last notes that Brahms wrote. Many of these works were written in his house in Bad Ischl , where Brahms had first visited in 1882 and where he spent every summer from 1889 onwards. In
4983-425: The csardas , which was later to prove the foundation of his most lucrative and popular compositions, the two sets of Hungarian Dances (1869 and 1880). 1850 also marked Brahms's first contact (albeit a failed one) with Robert Schumann; during Schumann's visit to Hamburg that year, friends persuaded Brahms to send the former some of his compositions, but the package was returned unopened. In 1853 Brahms went on
5134-453: The Abbey of Saint Gall , the Abbey of Saint Martial and Saint Emmeram's Abbey , while the 11th century saw the development of staff notation and increasing output from medieval music theorists . By the mid-12th century France became the major European musical center: The religious Notre-Dame school first fully explored organized rhythms and polyphony , while secular music flourished with
5285-482: The Baroque flute , Baroque oboe , recorder and the bassoon . Brass instruments included the cornett , natural horn , natural trumpet , serpent and the trombone . Keyboard instruments included the clavichord , the tangent piano , the harpsichord , the pipe organ , and, later in the period, the fortepiano (an early version of the piano). Percussion instruments included the timpani , snare drum , tambourine and
5436-564: The First Viennese School , sometimes called the "Viennese classics", a coupling that remains problematic by reason of none of the three being born in Vienna and the minimal time Haydn and Mozart spent in the city. While this was an often expressed characterization, it was not a strict one. In 1879 the composer Charles Kensington Salaman defined the following composers as classical: Bach , Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Weber , Spohr and Mendelssohn . More broadly, some writers used
5587-519: The German Requiem , the Alto Rhapsody , and the patriotic Triumphlied , Op. 55, which celebrated Prussia's victory in the 1870/71 Franco-Prussian War ). 1873 saw the premiere of his orchestral Variations on a Theme by Haydn , originally conceived for two pianos, which has become one of his most popular works. Brahms's First Symphony , Op. 68, appeared in 1876, though it had been begun (and
5738-646: The Gängeviertel [ de ] quarter of Hamburg and struggled economically. (Johann Jakob even considered emigrating to the United States when an impresario , recognizing Johannes's talent, promised them fortune there.) Eventually Johann Jakob became a musician in the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg playing double bass , horn, and flute . For enjoyment, he played first violin in string quartets . The family moved over
5889-763: The Renaissance , including the more complex voicings of motets . During the earlier medieval period , the vocal music from the liturgical genre, predominantly Gregorian chant , was monophonic , using a single, unaccompanied vocal melody line. Polyphonic vocal genres, which used multiple independent vocal melodies, began to develop during the high medieval era , becoming prevalent by the later 13th and early 14th century. Notable Medieval composers include Hildegard of Bingen , Léonin , Pérotin , Philippe de Vitry , Guillaume de Machaut , Francesco Landini , and Johannes Ciconia . Many medieval musical instruments still exist, but in different forms. Medieval instruments included
6040-575: The Variations on a Theme of Schumann . Clara continued to support Brahms's career by programming his music in her recitals. After the publication of his Op. 10 Ballades for piano, Brahms published no further works until 1860. His major project of this period was the Piano Concerto in D minor , which he had begun as a work for two pianos in 1854 but soon realized needed a larger-scale format. Based in Hamburg at this time, he gained, with Clara's support,
6191-487: The Western world , and conversely, in many academic histories the term "Western music" excludes non-classical Western music. Another complication lies in that "classical music" is sometimes used to describe non-Western art music exhibiting similar long-lasting and complex characteristics; examples include Indian classical music (i.e. Carnatic Music Hindustani music and Odissi Music ), Gamelan music, and various styles of
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6342-400: The art music of the Western world , considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music , as the term "classical music" can also be applied to non-Western art musics . Classical music is often characterized by formality and complexity in its musical form and harmonic organization , particularly with
6493-449: The art song , symphonic poem and various piano genres were important vessels. During this time virtuosity was celebrated, immensity was encouraged, while philosophy and nationalism were embedded—all aspects that converged in the operas of Richard Wagner . By the 20th century, stylistic unification gradually dissipated while the prominence of popular music greatly increased. Many composers actively avoided past techniques and genres in
6644-745: The birthplace of opera , the soloist centered concerto genre, the organized sonata form as well as the large scale vocal-centered genres of oratorio and cantata . The fugue technique championed by Johann Sebastian Bach exemplified the Baroque tendency for complexity, and as a reaction the simpler and song-like galant music and empfindsamkeit styles were developed. In the shorter but pivotal Classical period (1730–1820) composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Joseph Haydn , and Ludwig van Beethoven created widely admired representatives of absolute music , including symphonies , string quartets and concertos. The subsequent Romantic music (1800–1910) focused instead on programmatic music , for which
6795-474: The castanets . One major difference between Baroque music and the classical era that followed it is that the types of instruments used in Baroque ensembles were much less standardized. A Baroque ensemble could include one of several different types of keyboard instruments (e.g., pipe organ or harpsichord), additional stringed chordal instruments (e.g., a lute), bowed strings, woodwinds, and brass instruments, and an unspecified number of bass instruments performing
6946-421: The contrabassoon , bass clarinet and piccolo and new percussion instruments were added, including xylophones , snare drums , celestas (a bell-like keyboard instrument), bells , and triangles , large orchestral harps , and even wind machines for sound effects . Saxophones appear in some scores from the late 19th century onwards, usually featured as a solo instrument rather than as in integral part of
7097-514: The fall of the Western Roman Empire by 476 to about 1400. Monophonic chant, also called plainsong or Gregorian chant , was the dominant form until about 1100. Christian monks developed the first forms of European musical notation in order to standardize liturgy throughout the Church. Polyphonic (multi-voiced) music developed from monophonic chant throughout the late Middle Ages and into
7248-671: The flute , the recorder and plucked string instruments like the lute . As well, early versions of the organ and fiddle (or vielle ) existed. Medieval instruments in Europe had most commonly been used singly, often self accompanied with a drone note, or occasionally in parts. From at least as early as the 13th century through the 15th century there was a division of instruments into haut (loud, shrill, outdoor instruments) and bas (quieter, more intimate instruments). A number of instrument have roots in Eastern predecessors that were adopted from
7399-458: The guitar , the cittern , the bandora , and the orpharion . Keyboard instruments with strings included the harpsichord and the clavichord . Percussion instruments include the triangle , the Jew's harp , the tambourine , the bells, the rumble-pot, and various kinds of drums. Woodwind instruments included the double-reed shawm (an early member of the oboe family), the reed pipe , the bagpipe ,
7550-416: The impressionist beginning around 1890 and the expressionist that started around 1908. It was a period of diverse reactions in challenging and reinterpreting older categories of music, innovations that lead to new ways of organizing and approaching harmonic, melodic, sonic, and rhythmic aspects of music, and changes in aesthetic worldviews in close relation to the larger identifiable period of modernism in
7701-437: The lyre (a stringed instrument similar to a small harp ) eventually led to several modern-day instruments of a symphonic orchestra. However, Donald Jay Grout notes that attempting to create a direct evolutionary connection from the ancient music to early medieval is baseless, as it was almost solely influenced by Greco-Roman music theory, not performance or practice. Medieval music includes Western European music from after
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#17328517784927852-546: The mass and motet . Northern Italy soon emerged as the central musical region, where the Roman School engaged in highly sophisticated methods of polyphony in genres such as the madrigal , which inspired the brief English Madrigal School . The Baroque period (1580–1750) saw the relative standardization of common-practice tonality , as well as the increasing importance of musical instruments , which grew into ensembles of considerable size. Italy remained dominant, being
8003-562: The patronage of churches and royal courts in Western Europe , surviving early medieval music is chiefly religious , monophonic and vocal, with the music of ancient Greece and Rome influencing its thought and theory. The earliest extant music manuscripts date from the Carolingian Empire (800–888), around the time which Western plainchant gradually unified into what is termed Gregorian chant . Musical centers existed at
8154-460: The standard concert repertoire are male composers, even though there have been a large number of women composers throughout the history of classical music. Musicologist Marcia Citron has asked "[w]hy is music composed by women so marginal to the standard 'classical' repertoire?" Citron "examines the practices and attitudes that have led to the exclusion of women composers from the received ' canon ' of performed musical works". She argues that in
8305-423: The string quartet was regarded as the most prestigious and important chamber music genre, while advances in the design of the piano had expanded its power and dynamic range. Bringing the piano and string quartet together, Schumann's piano quintet took full advantage of the expressive possibilities of these forces in combination, alternating conversational passages between the five instruments with passages in which
8456-465: The systematic notational practices of Ancient Greece centuries before. The musicologist Gustave Reese notes, however, that many Greco-Roman texts can still be credited as influential to Western classical music, since medieval musicians regularly read their works—regardless of whether they were doing so correctly. However, there are some indisputable musical continuations from the ancient world . Basic aspects such as monophony , improvisation and
8607-495: The third Piano Quartet , which eventually appeared in 1875. The end of the decade brought professional setbacks for Brahms. The premiere of the First Piano Concerto in Hamburg on 22 January 1859, with the composer as soloist, was poorly received. Brahms wrote to Joachim that the performance was "a brilliant and decisive – failure ... [I]t forces one to concentrate one's thoughts and increases one's courage ... But
8758-531: The transverse flute , the recorder , the dulcian , and the crumhorn . Simple pipe organs existed, but were largely confined to churches, although there were portable varieties. Printing enabled the standardization of descriptions and specifications of instruments, as well as instruction in their use. Vocal music in the Renaissance is noted for the flourishing of an increasingly elaborate polyphonic style. The principal liturgical forms which endured throughout
8909-532: The troubadour and trouvère traditions led by poet-musician nobles. This culminated in the court sponsored French ars nova and Italian Trecento , which evolved into ars subtilior , a stylistic movement of extreme rhythmic diversity. Beginning in the early 15th century, Renaissance composers of the influential Franco-Flemish School built off the harmonic principles in the English contenance angloise , bringing choral music to new standards, particularly
9060-433: The ' Three Bs '; in a letter to his wife he wrote: "You know what I think of Brahms: after Bach and Beethoven the greatest, the most sublime of all composers." The following years saw the premieres of his Third Symphony , Op. 90 (1883) and his Fourth Symphony , Op. 98 (1885). Richard Strauss , who had been appointed assistant to von Bülow at Meiningen, and had been uncertain about Brahms's music, found himself converted by
9211-492: The 'New German School') Eduard Hanslick , the conductor Hermann Levi and the surgeon Theodor Billroth , who were to become among his greatest advocates. In January 1863 Brahms met Richard Wagner for the first time, for whom he played his Handel Variations Op. 24, which he had completed the previous year. The meeting was cordial, although Wagner was in later years to make critical, and even insulting, comments on Brahms's music. Brahms however retained at this time and later
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#17328517784929362-431: The 1750s and 1760s, it fell out of use at the end of the century. Brass instruments included the buccin , the ophicleide (a replacement for the bass serpent , which was the precursor of the tuba ) and the natural horn . Wind instruments became more refined in the Classical era. While double-reed instruments like the oboe and bassoon became somewhat standardized in the Baroque, the clarinet family of single reeds
9513-416: The 1800s, women composers typically wrote art songs for performance in small recitals rather than symphonies intended for performance with an orchestra in a large hall, with the latter works being seen as the most important genre for composers; since women composers did not write many symphonies, they were deemed not to be notable as composers. In the "... Concise Oxford History of Music , Clara S[c]humann
9664-487: The Brahms family was relatively prosperous, and Hamburg legislation very strictly forbade music in, or the admittance of minors to, brothels. Brahms's juvenilia comprised piano music, chamber music and works for male voice choir. Under the pseudonym 'G. W. Marks', some piano arrangements and fantasies were published by the Hamburg firm of Cranz in 1849. The earliest of Brahms's works which he acknowledged (his Scherzo Op. 4 and
9815-468: The Classical era forms (even as those were being codified), with free-form pieces like nocturnes , fantasias , and preludes being written where accepted ideas about the exposition and development of themes were ignored or minimized. The music became more chromatic, dissonant, and tonally colorful, with tensions (with respect to accepted norms of the older forms) about key signatures increasing. The art song (or Lied ) came to maturity in this era, as did
9966-453: The Classical era, the composer-performer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was noted for his ability to improvise melodies in different styles. During the Classical era, some virtuoso soloists would improvise the cadenza sections of a concerto. During the Romantic era, Ludwig van Beethoven would improvise at the piano. Almost all of the composers who are described in music textbooks on classical music and whose works are widely performed as part of
10117-676: The French classique , itself derived from the Latin word classicus , which originally referred to the highest class of Ancient Roman citizens . In Roman usage, the term later became a means to distinguish revered literary figures; the Roman author Aulus Gellius commended writers such as Demosthenes and Virgil as classicus . By the Renaissance , the adjective had acquired a more general meaning: an entry in Randle Cotgrave 's 1611 A Dictionarie of
10268-538: The French and English Tongues is among the earliest extant definitions, translating classique as "classical, formall [ sic ], orderlie, in due or fit ranke; also, approved, authenticall, chiefe, principall". The musicologist Daniel Heartz summarizes this into two definitions: 1) a "formal discipline" and 2) a "model of excellence". Like Gellius, later Renaissance scholars who wrote in Latin used classicus in reference to writers of classical antiquity ; however, this meaning only gradually developed, and
10419-400: The Schumanns' daughter Julie (then aged 24 to his 36). He did not declare himself. When later that year Julie's engagement to Count Marmorito was announced, he wrote and gave to Clara the manuscript of his Alto Rhapsody (Op. 53). Clara wrote in her diary that "he called it his wedding song" and noted "the profound pain in the text and the music". From 1872 to 1875, Brahms was director of
10570-728: The Six Songs Op. 3, and the Scherzo Op. 4), whilst Bartholf Senff published the Third Piano Sonata Op. 5 and the Six Songs Op. 6. In Leipzig, he gave recitals including his own first two piano sonatas, and met with Ferdinand David , Ignaz Moscheles , and Hector Berlioz , among others. After Schumann's attempted suicide and subsequent confinement in a mental sanatorium near Bonn in February 1854 (where he died of pneumonia in 1856), Brahms based himself in Düsseldorf, where he supported
10721-599: The Third Symphony and was enthusiastic about the Fourth: "a giant work, great in concept and invention". Another, but more cautious, supporter from the younger generation was Gustav Mahler , who first met Brahms in 1884 and remained a close acquaintance. He considered Brahms a conservative master who was more turned toward the past than the future. He rated Brahms as technically superior to Anton Bruckner , but more earth-bound than Wagner and Beethoven. In 1889, Theo Wangemann ,
10872-465: The achievements of classical antiquity. They were thus characterized as "classical", as was the music of Jean-Baptiste Lully (and later Christoph Willibald Gluck ), being designated as "l'opéra française classique". In the rest of continental Europe , the abandonment of defining "classical" as analogous to the Greco-Roman World was slower, primarily because the formation of canonical repertoires
11023-448: The aforementioned Mahler and Strauss as transitional figures who carried over from the 19th century. Postmodern music is a period of music that began as early as 1930 according to some authorities. It shares characteristics with postmodernist art – that is, art that comes after and reacts against modernism . Some other authorities have more or less equated postmodern music with the "contemporary music" composed well after 1930, from
11174-506: The art of serious music in Germany today" led to a bilious comment from Wagner in his essay "On Poetry and Composition": "I know of some famous composers who in their concert masquerades don the disguise of a street-singer one day, the hallelujah periwig of Handel the next, the dress of a Jewish Czardas -fiddler another time, and then again the guise of a highly respectable symphony dressed up as Number Ten" (referring to Brahms's First Symphony as
11325-487: The arts of the time. The operative word most associated with it is "innovation". Its leading feature is a "linguistic plurality", which is to say that no single music genre ever assumed a dominant position. The orchestra continued to grow during the early years modernist era, peaking in the first two decades of the 20th century. Saxophones that appeared only rarely during the 19th century became more commonly used as supplementary instruments, but never became core members of
11476-713: The basso continuo,(e.g., a cello, contrabass, viola, bassoon, serpent, etc.). Vocal oeuvres of the Baroque era included suites such as oratorios and cantatas . Secular music was less common, and was typically characterized only by instrumental music. Like Baroque art , themes were generally sacred and for the purpose of a catholic setting. Important composers of this era include Johann Sebastian Bach , Antonio Vivaldi , George Frideric Handel , Johann Pachelbel , Henry Purcell , Claudio Monteverdi , Barbara Strozzi , Domenico Scarlatti , Georg Philipp Telemann , Arcangelo Corelli , Alessandro Scarlatti , Jean-Philippe Rameau , Jean-Baptiste Lully , and Heinrich Schütz . Though
11627-432: The combined forces of the strings are massed against the piano. In Schumann's hands, the piano quintet became a genre "suspended between private and public spheres" alternating between "quasi-symphonic and more properly chamber-like elements"—well suited to an era when chamber music was increasingly being performed in large concert halls rather than at private gatherings in intimate spaces. Schumann's quintet helped establish
11778-409: The common practice period, such as traditional tonality, melody, instrumentation, and structure. Some music historians regard musical modernism as an era extending from about 1890 to 1930. Others consider that modernism ended with one or the other of the two world wars. Still other authorities claim that modernism is not associated with any historical era, but rather is "an attitude of the composer;
11929-630: The concerts of the Vienna Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde , where he ensured that the orchestra was staffed only by professionals. He conducted a repertoire noted and criticized for its emphasis on early and often "serious" music, running from Isaac , Bach, Handel, and Cherubini to the nineteenth century composers who were not of the New German School. Among these were Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Joachim, Ferdinand Hiller , Max Bruch and himself (notably his large scale choral works,
12080-412: The conductor Bernhard Scholz : "I am coming with a large beard! Prepare your wife for a most awful sight." The singer George Henschel recalled that after a concert "I saw a man unknown to me, rather stout, of middle height, with long hair and a full beard. In a very deep and hoarse voice he introduced himself as 'Musikdirektor Müller' ... an instant later, we all found ourselves laughing heartily at
12231-572: The court of Imperial China (see yayue for instance). Thus in the later 20th century terms such as "Western classical music" and "Western art music" came in use to address this. The musicologist Ralph P. Locke notes that neither term is ideal, as they create an "intriguing complication" when considering "certain practitioners of Western-art music genres who come from non-Western cultures". Complexity in musical form and harmonic organization are typical traits of classical music. The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED ) offers three definitions for
12382-485: The debate on the future of German music which seriously misfired. Together with Joachim and others, he prepared an attack on Liszt's followers, the so-called " New German School " (although Brahms himself was sympathetic to the music of Richard Wagner , the School's leading light). In particular they objected to the rejection of traditional musical forms and to the "rank, miserable weeds growing from Liszt-like fantasias". A draft
12533-412: The degree 'in absentia', offering as his thesis the previously performed (November 1876) symphony. But of the two, only Joachim went to England and was granted a degree. Brahms "acknowledged the invitation" by giving the manuscript score and parts of his First Symphony to Joachim, who led the performance at Cambridge 8 March 1877 (English premiere). The commendation of Brahms by Breslau as "the leader in
12684-481: The development of medieval musical thought. However, scholars, medieval music theorists and composers regularly misinterpreted or misunderstood the writings of their Greek and Roman predecessors. This was due to the complete absence of surviving Greco-Roman musical works available to medieval musicians, to the extent that Isidore of Seville ( c. 559 – 636 ) stated "unless sounds are remembered by man, they perish, for they cannot be written down", unaware of
12835-436: The dominance of text in musical settings are prominent in both early medieval and music of nearly all ancient civilizations. Greek influences in particular include the church modes (which were descendants of developments by Aristoxenus and Pythagoras), basic acoustical theory from pythagorean tuning , as well as the central function of tetrachords . Ancient Greek instruments such as the aulos (a reed instrument ) and
12986-533: The effort, three weeks before his death, to attend the premiere of Johann Strauss's operetta Die Göttin der Vernunft (The Goddess of Reason) in March 1897. After the successful Vienna premiere of his Second String Quintet , Op. 111 in 1890, the 57-year-old Brahms came to think that he might retire from composition, telling a friend that he "had achieved enough; here I had before me a carefree old age and could enjoy it in peace." He also began to find solace in escorting
13137-525: The end of the century. Prominent composers of this era include Ludwig van Beethoven , Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , Frédéric Chopin , Hector Berlioz , Franz Schubert , Robert Schumann , Felix Mendelssohn , Franz Liszt , Giuseppe Verdi , Richard Wagner , Johannes Brahms , Alexander Scriabin , Nikolai Medtner , Edvard Grieg , and Johann Strauss II . Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss are commonly regarded as transitional composers whose music combines both late romantic and early modernist elements. At
13288-413: The end of the era, of nationalism in music (echoing, in some cases, political sentiments of the time), as composers such as Edvard Grieg , Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov , and Antonín Dvořák echoed traditional music of their homelands in their compositions. In the Romantic era, the modern piano , with a more powerful, sustained tone and a wider range took over from the more delicate-sounding fortepiano. In
13439-417: The entire Renaissance period were masses and motets, with some other developments towards the end, especially as composers of sacred music began to adopt secular forms (such as the madrigal ) for their own designs. Towards the end of the period, the early dramatic precursors of opera such as monody, the madrigal comedy , and the intermedio are seen. Around 1597, Italian composer Jacopo Peri wrote Dafne ,
13590-583: The epic scales of grand opera , ultimately transcended by Richard Wagner 's Ring cycle . In the 19th century, musical institutions emerged from the control of wealthy patrons, as composers and musicians could construct lives independent of the nobility. Increasing interest in music by the growing middle classes throughout western Europe spurred the creation of organizations for the teaching, performance, and preservation of music. The piano, which achieved its modern construction in this era (in part due to industrial advances in metallurgy ) became widely popular with
13741-518: The first three movements were given in Vienna, but the complete work was first given in Bremen in 1868 to great acclaim. A seventh movement (the soprano solo "Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit") was added for the equally successful Leipzig premiere (February 1869). The work went on to receive concert and critical acclaim throughout Germany and also in England, Switzerland and Russia, marking effectively Brahms's arrival on
13892-522: The first work to be called an opera today. He also composed Euridice , the first opera to have survived to the present day. Notable Renaissance composers include Josquin des Prez , Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina , John Dunstaple , Johannes Ockeghem , Orlande de Lassus , Guillaume Du Fay , Gilles Binchois , Thomas Tallis , William Byrd , Giovanni Gabrieli , Carlo Gesualdo , John Dowland , Jacob Obrecht , Adrian Willaert , Jacques Arcadelt , and Cipriano de Rore . The common practice period
14043-537: The former court musician John Banister began giving popular public concerts at a London tavern; his popularity rapidly inaugurated the prominence of public concerts in the London. The conception of "classical"—or more often "ancient music"—emerged, which was still built on the principles of formality and excellence, and according to Heartz "civic ritual, religion and moral activism figured significantly in this novel construction of musical taste". The performance of such music
14194-484: The hissing was too much of a good thing ..." At a second performance, audience reaction was so hostile that Brahms had to be restrained from leaving the stage after the first movement. As a consequence of these reactions Breitkopf and Härtel declined to take on his new compositions. Brahms consequently established a relationship with other publishers, including Simrock , who eventually became his major publishing partner. Brahms further made an intervention in 1860 in
14345-562: The household and dealt with business matters on Clara's behalf. Clara was not allowed to visit Robert until two days before his death, but Brahms was able to visit him and acted as a go-between. Brahms began to feel deeply for Clara, who to him represented an ideal of womanhood. But he was conflicted about their romantic association and resisted it, choosing the life of a bachelor in an apparent effort to focus on his craft. Nonetheless, their intensely emotional relationship lasted until Clara's death. In June 1854 Brahms dedicated to Clara his Op. 9,
14496-500: The hurdy-gurdy and recorder) and a number of new instruments (e.g., the oboe, bassoon, cello, contrabass and fortepiano). Some instruments from previous eras fell into disuse, such as the shawm, cittern , rackett , and the wooden cornet. The key Baroque instruments for strings included the violin , viol , viola , viola d'amore , cello , contrabass , lute , theorbo (which often played the basso continuo parts), mandolin , Baroque guitar , harp and hurdy-gurdy. Woodwinds included
14647-475: The late 20th century through to the early 21st century. Some of the diverse movements of the postmodern/contemporary era include the neoromantic, neomedieval, minimalist, and post minimalist. Contemporary classical music at the beginning of the 21st century was often considered to include all post-1945 musical forms. A generation later, this term now properly refers to the music of today written by composers who are still alive; music that came into prominence in
14798-409: The lens of modernism , with some abandoning tonality in place of serialism , while others found new inspiration in folk melodies or impressionist sentiments. After World War II, for the first time audience members valued older music over contemporary works, a preference which has been catered to by the emergence and widespread availability of commercial recordings. Trends of the mid-20th century to
14949-666: The likes of Jean Sibelius and Vaughan Williams infused their compositions with nationalistic elements and influences from folk songs. Sergei Prokofiev began in this tradition but soon ventured into modernist territories. At the same time, the impressionist movement, spearheaded by Claude Debussy , was being developed in France, with Maurice Ravel as another notable pioneer. Modernist classical music encompasses many styles of composition that can be characterised as post romantic, impressionist, expressionist, and neoclassical. Modernism marked an era when many composers rejected certain values of
15100-534: The medieval Islamic world . For example, the Arabic rebab is the ancestor of all European bowed string instruments , including the lira , rebec and violin . The musical Renaissance era lasted from 1400 to 1600. It was characterized by greater use of instrumentation , multiple interweaving melodic lines, and the use of earlier forms of bass instruments . Social dancing became more widespread, so musical forms appropriate to accompanying dance began to standardize. It
15251-549: The mezzo-soprano Alice Barbi and may have proposed to her (she was only 28). His admiration for Richard Mühlfeld , clarinettist with the Meiningen orchestra, revived his interest in composing and led him to write the Clarinet Trio , Op. 114 (1891); Clarinet Quintet , Op. 115 (1891); and the two Clarinet Sonatas , Op. 120 (1894). Brahms also wrote at this time his final cycles of piano pieces, Opp. 116–119 and
15402-542: The mid- Romantic period . His music is rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of his Classical (and earlier) forebears, including Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Sebastian Bach . It includes four symphonies , four concertos , a Requiem , and many songs, among other music for symphony orchestra, piano, organ, voices, and chamber ensembles. Born to a musical family in Hamburg , he began composing and concertizing locally in his youth. He toured Central Europe as
15553-610: The mid-1970s. It includes different variations of modernist , postmodern , neoromantic , and pluralist music . Performers who have studied classical music extensively are said to be "classically trained". This training may come from private lessons from instrument or voice teachers or from completion of a formal program offered by a Conservatory, college or university, such as a Bachelor of Music or Master of Music degree (which includes individual lessons from professors). In classical music, "...extensive formal music education and training, often to postgraduate [Master's degree] level"
15704-416: The middle class, whose demands for the instrument spurred many piano builders. Many symphony orchestras date their founding to this era. Some musicians and composers were the stars of the day; some, like Franz Liszt and Niccolò Paganini , fulfilled both roles. European cultural ideas and institutions began to follow colonial expansion into other parts of the world. There was also a rise, especially toward
15855-410: The modern day, instruments may be classified as brass, strings, percussion, and woodwind. Brass instruments in the Renaissance were traditionally played by professionals who were members of Guilds and they included the slide trumpet , the wooden cornet , the valveless trumpet and the sackbut . Stringed instruments included the viol , the rebec , the harp-like lyre , the hurdy-gurdy , the lute ,
16006-416: The movable-type printing press in the 15th century had far-reaching consequences on the preservation and transmission of music. Many instruments originated during the Renaissance; others were variations of, or improvements upon, instruments that had existed previously. Some have survived to the present day; others have disappeared, only to be re-created in order to perform music on period instruments. As in
16157-598: The next few years included "dance pieces, preludes and fugues for organ, and neo- Renaissance and neo- Baroque choral works". After meeting Joachim, Brahms and Reményi visited Weimar , where Brahms met Franz Liszt , Peter Cornelius , and Joachim Raff , and where Liszt performed Brahms's Op. 4 Scherzo at sight . Reményi claimed that Brahms then slept during Liszt's performance of his own Sonata in B minor ; this and other disagreements led Reményi and Brahms to part company. Brahms visited Düsseldorf in October 1853, and, with
16308-524: The orchestra, the existing Classical instruments and sections were retained ( string section , woodwinds, brass, and percussion), but these sections were typically expanded to make a fuller, bigger sound. For example, while a Baroque orchestra may have had two double bass players, a Romantic orchestra could have as many as ten. "As music grew more expressive, the standard orchestral palette just wasn't rich enough for many Romantic composers." The families of instruments used, especially in orchestras, grew larger;
16459-556: The orchestra. The Wagner tuba , a modified member of the horn family, appears in Richard Wagner 's cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen . It also has a prominent role in Anton Bruckner 's Symphony No. 7 in E Major and is also used in several late romantic and modernist works by Richard Strauss, Béla Bartók , and others Cornets appear regularly in 19th century scores, alongside trumpets which were regarded as less agile, at least until
16610-526: The orchestra. While appearing only as featured solo instruments in some works, for example Maurice Ravel 's orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky 's Pictures at an Exhibition and Sergei Rachmaninoff 's Symphonic Dances , the saxophone is included in other works such as Sergei Prokofiev 's Romeo and Juliet Suites 1 and 2 and many other works as a member of the orchestral ensemble. In some compositions such as Ravel's Boléro , two or more saxophones of different sizes are used to create an entire section like
16761-695: The other sections of the orchestra. The euphonium is featured in a few late Romantic and 20th century works, usually playing parts marked "tenor tuba", including Gustav Holst 's The Planets , and Richard Strauss 's Ein Heldenleben . Prominent composers of the early 20th century include Igor Stravinsky , Claude Debussy , Sergei Rachmaninoff , Sergei Prokofiev , Arnold Schoenberg , Nikos Skalkottas , Heitor Villa-Lobos , Karol Szymanowski , Anton Webern , Alban Berg , Cécile Chaminade , Paul Hindemith , Aram Khachaturian , George Gershwin , Amy Beach , Béla Bartók , and Dmitri Shostakovich , along with
16912-494: The perfect success of Brahms's disguise." The incident also displays Brahms's love of practical jokes. In 1882 Brahms completed his Piano Concerto No. 2 , Op. 83, dedicated to his teacher Marxsen. Brahms was invited by Hans von Bülow to undertake a premiere of the work with the Meiningen Court Orchestra . This was the beginning of his collaboration with Meiningen and with von Bülow, who was to rank Brahms as one of
17063-426: The pianist and composer Eduard Marxsen . Marxsen had been a personal acquaintance of Beethoven and Schubert , admired the works of Mozart and Haydn , and was a devotee of the music of J. S. Bach . Marxsen conveyed to Brahms the tradition of these composers and ensured that Brahms's own compositions were grounded in that tradition. In 1847 Brahms made his first public appearance as a solo pianist in Hamburg, playing
17214-472: The piano quintet as a significant chamber music genre during the Romantic period in classical music. It was immediately acclaimed and widely imitated. Johannes Brahms , for example, was persuaded by Clara Schumann (who had played the piano part in the first public performance of her husband's piano quintet) to rework a sonata for two pianos as a piano quintet. The result, the Piano Quintet in F minor (1864),
17365-565: The piano quintets of Johannes Brahms , César Franck , Antonín Dvořák and Dmitri Shostakovich . While the related chamber music genres of the piano trio and piano quartet were established in the eighteenth century by Mozart and others, the piano quintet did not come into its own until the nineteenth century. Its roots extend into the late Classical period , when piano concertos were sometimes transcribed for piano with string quartet accompaniment. Although Luigi Boccherini composed quintets for piano and string quartet, before 1842 it
17516-524: The potential of a wider array of instruments was developed). Chamber music grew to include ensembles with as many as 8-10 performers for serenades . Opera continued to develop, with regional styles in Italy, France, and German-speaking lands. The opera buffa , a form of comic opera, rose in popularity. The symphony came into its own as a musical form, and the concerto was developed as a vehicle for displays of virtuoso playing skill. Orchestras no longer required
17667-656: The predominant music of ancient Greece and Rome , as it was a reminder of the pagan religion it had persecuted and by which it had been persecuted . As such, it remains unclear as to what extent the music of the Christian Church, and thus Western classical music as a whole, was influenced by preceding ancient music . The general attitude towards music was adopted from the Ancient Greek and Roman music theorists and commentators. Just as in Greco-Roman society, music
17818-513: The present day include New Simplicity , New Complexity , Minimalism , Spectral music , and more recently Postmodern music and Postminimalism . Increasingly global, practitioners from the Americas, Africa and Asia have obtained crucial roles, while symphony orchestras and opera houses now appear across the world. Both the English term classical and the German equivalent Klassik developed from
17969-607: The public that I don't know how I can begin to fulfil them". While in Düsseldorf, Brahms participated with Schumann and Schumann's pupil Albert Dietrich in writing a movement each of a violin sonata for Joachim, the " F-A-E Sonata ", the letters representing the initials of Joachim's personal motto Frei aber einsam ("Free but lonely"). Schumann's accolade led to the first publication of Brahms's works under his own name. Brahms went to Leipzig where Breitkopf & Härtel published his Opp. 1–4 (the Piano Sonatas nos. 1 and 2 ,
18120-678: The recipient of a variety of honours: Ludwig II of Bavaria awarded him the Maximilian Order for Science and Art in 1874, and the music-loving Duke George of Meiningen awarded him the Commander's Cross of the Order of the House of Meiningen in 1881. At this time Brahms also chose to change his image. Having been always clean-shaven, in 1878 he surprised his friends by growing a beard, writing in September to
18271-400: The simple songs of all previous periods. The beginnings of the sonata form took shape in the canzona , as did a more formalized notion of theme and variations . The tonalities of major and minor as means for managing dissonance and chromaticism in music took full shape. During the Baroque era, keyboard music played on the harpsichord and pipe organ became increasingly popular, and
18422-494: The song Heimkehr Op. 7 no. 6) date from 1851. However, Brahms was later assiduous in eliminating all his juvenilia. Even as late as 1880, he wrote to his friend Elise Giesemann to send him his manuscripts of choral music so that they could be destroyed. In 1850 Brahms met the Hungarian violinist Ede Reményi and accompanied him in a number of recitals over the next few years. This was his introduction to "gypsy-style" music such as
18573-581: The string quartet, which remained an important chamber music genre for musical experimentation, the piano quintet came to acquire "a somewhat conservative profile, far from major developments" in musical expression. The following is a partial list of compositions for piano quintet. All works are scored for piano and string quartet unless otherwise noted. Classical music Classical music generally refers to
18724-405: The style of their era. In the Baroque era, organ performers would improvise preludes , keyboard performers playing harpsichord would improvise chords from the figured bass symbols beneath the bass notes of the basso continuo part and both vocal and instrumental performers would improvise musical ornaments . Johann Sebastian Bach was particularly noted for his complex improvisations. During
18875-459: The success of Robert Schumann 's Piano Quintet in E ♭ major, Op. 44 in 1842, which paired the piano with a string quartet, composers increasingly adopted Schumann's instrumentation, and it was this form of the piano quintet that dominated during the second half of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. Among the best known and most frequently performed piano quintets, aside from Schumann's, are Schubert's Trout quintet and
19026-432: The summer of 1896 Brahms was diagnosed with jaundice and pancreatic cancer , and later in the year his Viennese doctor diagnosed him with liver cancer , from which his father Jakob had died. His last public appearance was on 7 March 1897, when he saw Hans Richter conduct his Symphony No. 4 ; there was an ovation after each of the four movements. His condition gradually worsened and he died on 3 April 1897, in Vienna at
19177-634: The term "classical music" includes all Western art music from the Medieval era to the early 2010s, the Classical Era was the period of Western art music from the 1750s to the early 1820s —the era of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Joseph Haydn , and Ludwig van Beethoven . The Classical era established many of the norms of composition, presentation, and style, and when the piano became the predominant keyboard instrument. The basic forces required for an orchestra became somewhat standardized (though they would grow as
19328-442: The term "classical" to generally praise well-regarded outputs from various composers, particularly those who produced many works in an established genre. The contemporary understanding of the term "classical music" remains vague and multifaceted. Other terms such as "art music", "canonic music", "cultivated music" and "serious music" are largely synonymous. The term "classical music" is often indicated or implied to concern solely
19479-411: The turn of the century, music was characteristically late romantic in style with its expressive melodies, complex harmonies, and expansive forms. This era was marked by the works of several composers who pushed forward post-romantic symphonic writing . Composers such as Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss continued to develop the western classical tradition with expansive symphonies and operas, while
19630-540: The two remained close, lifelong friends. Brahms never married, perhaps in an effort to focus on his work as a musician and scholar. He was a self-conscious, sometimes severely self-critical composer. Though innovative, his music was considered relatively conservative within the polarized context of the War of the Romantics , an affair in which Brahms regretted his public involvement. His compositions were largely successful, attracting
19781-521: The use of polyphony . Since at least the ninth century it has been primarily a written tradition, spawning a sophisticated notational system, as well as accompanying literature in analytical , critical , historiographical , musicological and philosophical practices. A foundational component of Western culture , classical music is frequently seen from the perspective of individual or groups of composers , whose compositions, personalities and beliefs have fundamentally shaped its history. Rooted in
19932-405: The versions still in use today, such as the Baroque violin (which became the violin ), Baroque oboe (which became the oboe ) and Baroque trumpet, which transitioned to the regular valved trumpet. During the Classical era, the stringed instruments used in orchestra and chamber music such as string quartets were standardized as the four instruments which form the string section of the orchestra:
20083-417: The violin family of stringed instruments took the form generally seen today. Opera as a staged musical drama began to differentiate itself from earlier musical and dramatic forms, and vocal forms like the cantata and oratorio became more common. For the first time, vocalists began adding ornamentals to the music. The theories surrounding equal temperament began to be put in wider practice, as it enabled
20234-417: The violin, viola, cello, and double bass. Baroque-era stringed instruments such as fretted, bowed viols were phased out. Woodwinds included the basset clarinet , basset horn , clarinette d'amour , the Classical clarinet , the chalumeau , the flute, oboe and bassoon. Keyboard instruments included the clavichord and the fortepiano . While the harpsichord was still used in basso continuo accompaniment in
20385-479: The winter. Although Brahms entertained the idea of taking up conducting posts elsewhere, he based himself increasingly in Vienna and soon made it his home. In 1863, he was appointed conductor of the Wiener Singakademie . He surprised his audiences by programming many works by the early German masters such as Heinrich Schütz and J. S. Bach, and other early composers such as Giovanni Gabrieli ; more recent music
20536-472: The word "classical" in relation to music: The last definition concerns what is now termed the Classical period , a specific stylistic era of European music from the second half of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century. The Western classical tradition formally begins with music created by and for the early Christian Church. It is probable that the early Church wished to disassociate itself from
20687-538: The world stage. Baptised into the Lutheran church as an infant and confirmed at age fifteen in St. Michael's Church , Brahms has been described as an agnostic and a humanist. The devout Catholic Antonín Dvořák wrote in a letter: "Such a man, such a fine soul – and he believes in nothing! He believes in nothing!" When asked by conductor Karl Reinthaler to add additional explicitly religious text to his German Requiem , Brahms
20838-412: The years to ever better accommodation in Hamburg. Johann Jakob gave his son his first musical training; Johannes also learnt to play the violin and the basics of playing the cello. From 1840 he studied piano with Otto Friedrich Willibald Cossel. Cossel complained in 1842 that Brahms "could be such a good player, but he will not stop his never-ending composing." At the age of 10, Brahms made his debut as
20989-436: Was appointed as a horn player in the Hamburg militia. He married Johanna Henrika Christiane Nissen the same year. A middle-class seamstress 17 years his senior, she enjoyed writing letters and reading despite an apparently limited education. Johannes Brahms was born in 1833. His sister Elisabeth (Elise) had been born in 1831 and a younger brother Fritz Friedrich was born in 1835. The family then lived in poor apartments in
21140-531: Was considered central to education; along with arithmetic, geometry and astronomy, music was included in the quadrivium , the four subjects of the upper division of a standard liberal arts education in the Middle Ages . This high regard for music was first promoted by the scholars Cassiodorus , Isidore of Seville , and particularly Boethius , whose transmission and expansion on the perspectives of music from Pythagoras , Aristotle and Plato were crucial in
21291-432: Was either minimal or exclusive to the upper classes. Many European commentators of the early 19th century found new unification in their definition of classical music: to juxtapose the older composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Joseph Haydn , and (excluding some of his later works ) Ludwig van Beethoven as "classical" against the emerging style of Romantic music . These three composers in particular were grouped into
21442-470: Was for a while subordinate to the broader classical ideals of formality and excellence. Literature and visual arts—for which substantial Ancient Greek and Roman examples existed—did eventually adopt the term "classical" as relating to classical antiquity, but virtually no music of that time was available to Renaissance musicians, limiting the connection between classical music and the Greco-Roman world . It
21593-564: Was in 18th-century England that the term 'classical' "first came to stand for a particular canon of works in performance." London had developed a prominent public concert music scene, unprecedented and unmatched by other European cities. The royal court had gradually lost its monopoly on music, in large part from instability that the Commonwealth of England 's dissolution and the Glorious Revolution enacted on court musicians. In 1672,
21744-696: Was leaked to the press, and the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik published a parody which ridiculed Brahms and his associates as backward-looking. Brahms never again ventured into public musical polemics. Brahms's personal life was also troubled. In 1859 he became engaged to Agathe von Siebold. The engagement was soon broken off, but even after this Brahms wrote to her: "I love you! I must see you again, but I am incapable of bearing fetters. Please write me ... whether ... I may come again to clasp you in my arms, to kiss you, and tell you that I love you." They never saw one another again, and Brahms later confirmed to
21895-717: Was more common for the piano to be joined by violin, viola, cello and double bass. Among the best known quintets for this combination of instruments are Franz Schubert 's "Trout" Quintet in A major (1819) and Johann Nepomuk Hummel 's Piano Quintet in E-flat minor , Op.87 (1802). Other piano quintets using this instrumentation were composed by Jan Ladislav Dussek (1799), Ferdinand Ries (1817), Johann Baptist Cramer (1825, 1832), Henri Jean Rigel (1826), Johann Peter Pixis (ca.1827), Franz Limmer (1832), Louise Farrenc (1839, 1840), and George Onslow (1846, 1848, 1849). Mozart (in 1784) and Ludwig van Beethoven (in 1796) each composed
22046-449: Was named an honorary citizen of Hamburg . Brahms and Johann Strauss II were acquainted in the 1870s, but their close friendship belongs to the years 1889 and after. Brahms admired much of Strauss's music and encouraged the composer to sign with his publisher Simrock. In autographing a fan for Strauss's wife Adele, Brahms wrote the opening notes of The Blue Danube waltz, adding the words "unfortunately not by Johannes Brahms". He made
22197-456: Was not widely used until Mozart expanded its role in orchestral, chamber, and concerto settings. The music of the Romantic era , from roughly the first decade of the 19th century to the early 20th century, was characterized by increased attention to an extended melodic line, as well as expressive and emotional elements, paralleling romanticism in other art forms. Musical forms began to break from
22348-669: Was represented by works of Beethoven and Felix Mendelssohn . Brahms also wrote works for the choir, including his Motet, Op. 29. Finding however that the post encroached too much of the time he needed for composing, he left the choir in June 1864. From 1864 to 1876 he spent many of his summers in Lichtental , where Clara Schumann and her family also spent some time. His house in Lichtental, where he worked on many of his major compositions including A German Requiem and his middle-period chamber works,
22499-515: Was specialized by the Academy of Ancient Music and later at the Concerts of Antient Music series, where the work of select 16th and 17th composers was featured, especially George Frideric Handel . In France, the reign of Louis XIV ( r. 1638–1715 ) saw a cultural renaissance, by the end of which writers such as Molière , Jean de La Fontaine and Jean Racine were considered to have surpassed
22650-626: Was taking on the model of models [for a symphony]: Beethoven's Fifth ." Despite the warm reception the First Symphony received, Brahms remained dissatisfied and extensively revised the second movement before the work was published. There followed a succession of well-received orchestral works: the Second Symphony Op. 73 (1877), the Violin Concerto Op. 77 (1878; dedicated to Joachim, who was consulted closely during its composition), and
22801-465: Was the beginning of a friendship which was lifelong, albeit temporarily derailed when Brahms took the side of Joachim's wife in their divorce proceedings of 1883. Brahms admired Joachim as a composer, and in 1856 they were to embark on a mutual training exercise to improve their skills in (in Brahms's words) "double counterpoint , canons , fugues , preludes or whatever". Bozarth notes that "products of Brahms's study of counterpoint and early music over
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