Muscial Examples

This is an example of a sonata:
1st Movement

2nd Movement

3rd Movement

An example of a classical composer is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Another composer is Franz Joseph Haydn.

 Another example is Schubert.

The Classical Orchestra

The classical orchestra is composed of many different sections or 'families'. 


-The woodwind family is composed of instruments that produce sound when the player blows air against a sharp edge or through a reed, causing the air within the resonator (usually a column of air) to vibrate. Most of these instruments are made of wood but can be made of other materials, such as metals or plastics.


- The brass family is composed of instruments made from brass,This family of instruments can play louder than any other in the orchestra. Brass instruments are essentially very long pipes that widen at their ends into a bell-like shape. The pipes have been curved and twisted into different shapes to make them easier to hold and play.


-In the Percussion family belongs any percussion instruments that  produce a sound when hit with an implement or when they're shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration. 


-Lastly is the viol family. This consists of violins, violas,cellos and basses.

Classical Period

The classical period was from 1750 to 1810.It followed the Baroque period. 


In the Classical period many new terms and techniques were created and perfected:




Diatonic music- The phrase diatonic means that the piece of music only uses all notes in the same key. This to ensure that there are no clashing sounds, this would be deemed 'unacceptable' in the classical period if there were clashing notes.


 Even phrases- Classical composers made sure all their phrases were balanced an equal. Phrases are measured in bars. They start and end where you would breathe if singing. They are regular chunks of equal lengths of music.  


Homophonic- The term homophonic means that when a melody line moves around the accompanying parts move with it.
As you can tell from the diagram, different parts move the same way, homo meaning 'same'.

The piano became the dominant Keyboard instrument of the era and is the most commonly used instrument in classical music. 


 Alberti bass: This was used in the classical period.It's played on the left hand of the piano, it's very steady and uses a broken chord. Then a melody is played over the top of the alberti bass part.


Concerto: A concerto is piece of music for a solo instrument and orchestra. The Orchestra accompanies the soloist. 


 Symphony:This is an extended musical piece split into movements. It's a Large orchestral piece. Classical composers had specific rules about their music. There were three movements in a symphony. The First mvt. was in Sonata form. The Second mvt. was written in a different contrasting key , it was slower and had a stronger melody line. The Third mvt. was livelier and more light hearted.It was in Rondo form.


 Sonata: A sonata was an instrumental composition, usually in three or more movements, for piano alone (piano sonata) or for any other instrument with or without piano accompaniment (violin sonata, cello sonata)

Baroque composers and Their Music

These are examples of a Baroque composers work:


This is one of my favourite pieces of Antonio Vivaldi. It's entitled 'Storm' and it really shows the essence of Baroque music because it has a lot of ornamentation.

This is a piece of Henry Purcells, another Baroque composer. This  piece is called Chaconne is G minor and in it you can hear the harpsichord which was the dominant instrument of the era.

Johann Sebastian Bach was another Baroque composer. This is my most favourite piece of his. It's well known but still beautiful.

(There are two versions because they both sound different and I like them both!!)