Classical music

Classical music generally refers to the <a href="/facts/Art_music/50MKosag">art music</a> of the <a href="/facts/Western_world/UQl4e7du">Western world</a>, considered to be distinct from Western <a href="/facts/Folk_music/yFHpeE7k">folk music</a> or <a href="/facts/Popular_music/Q5yhxIwY">popular music</a> traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" can also be applied to <a href="/facts/List_of_classical_and_art_music_traditions/DIKVwkao">non-Western art musics</a>. Classical music is often characterized by formality and complexity in its <a href="/facts/Musical_form/JrnVvFDq">musical form</a> and <a href="/facts/Harmony/Uwagvon2">harmonic organization</a>, particularly with the use of <a href="/facts/Polyphony/obub59bA">polyphony</a>. Since at least the ninth century, it has been primarily a written tradition, spawning a sophisticated <a href="/facts/Music_notation/eubaB0AK">notational</a> system, as well as accompanying literature in <a href="/facts/Music_analysis/Ng3dhy8A">analytical</a>, <a href="/facts/Music_criticism/EAPbDplh">critical</a>, <a href="/facts/Music_history/j9ra826d">historiographical</a>, <a href="/facts/Musicology/jaapApYh">musicological</a> and <a href="/facts/Philosophy_of_music/NRcVGPW1">philosophical</a> practices. A foundational component of <a href="/facts/Western_culture/rPbgAhzI">Western culture</a>, classical music is frequently seen from the perspective of individual or <a href="/facts/Composition_school/gLdzhS2Y">groups</a> of <a href="/facts/Composer/6zrz16FN">composers</a>, whose compositions, personalities and beliefs have fundamentally shaped its history.
Rooted in the <a href="/facts/Patronage/7PwxjCXt">patronage</a> of <a href="/facts/Christian_Church/mXj3F6ED">churches</a> and <a href="/facts/Royal_court/zjbwYtod">royal courts</a> in <a href="/facts/Western_Europe/YmWlV59w">Western Europe</a>, surviving early <a href="/facts/Medieval_music/AC4d5rCy">medieval music</a> is chiefly <a href="/facts/Sacred_music/pFCtAgSU">religious</a>, <a href="/facts/Monophony/2TQJx4x1">monophonic</a> and vocal, with the <a href="/facts/Music_of_ancient_Greece/YIo7CtxV">music of ancient Greece</a> and <a href="/facts/Music_of_ancient_Rome/RX4VzkWc">Rome</a> influencing its thought and theory. The earliest extant music manuscripts date from the <a href="/facts/Carolingian_Empire/kyp74kXx">Carolingian Empire</a> (800–888), around the time which Western <a href="/facts/Plainchant/C1WHYKJp">plainchant</a> gradually unified into what is termed <a href="/facts/Gregorian_chant/hMPR367a">Gregorian chant</a>. Musical centers existed at the <a href="/facts/Abbey_of_Saint_Gall/xHh7rXyb">Abbey of Saint Gall</a>, the <a href="/facts/Saint_Martial_school/dNkqCW3d">Abbey of Saint Martial</a> and <a href="/facts/Saint_Emmeram%2527s_Abbey/F1NHqk4z">Saint Emmeram's Abbey</a>, while the 11th century saw the development of <a href="/facts/Staff_(music)/PldhTGvE">staff notation</a> and increasing output from <a href="/facts/List_of_medieval_music_theorists/JotugvEW">medieval music theorists</a>. By the mid-12th century, France became the major European musical center: the religious <a href="/facts/Notre-Dame_school/1uzX7oa4">Notre-Dame school</a> first fully explored <a href="/facts/Rhythmic_mode/YQUs2Q50">organized rhythms</a> and <a href="/facts/Polyphony/obub59bA">polyphony</a>, while <a href="/facts/Secular/uCj9a25U">secular</a> music flourished with the <a href="/facts/Troubadour/eID3II4I">troubadour</a> and <a href="/facts/Trouv%25C3%25A8re/jbUF9cKB">trouvère</a> traditions led by poet-musician nobles. This culminated in the court-sponsored French <a href="/facts/Ars_nova/GjPfH68J">ars nova</a> and Italian <a href="/facts/Music_of_the_Trecento/Q3e2MzTY">Trecento</a>, which evolved into <a href="/facts/Ars_subtilior/c4t407of">ars subtilior</a>, a stylistic movement of extreme rhythmic diversity. Beginning in the early 15th century, <a href="/facts/Renaissance_music/MvSjNt2G">Renaissance</a> composers of the influential <a href="/facts/Franco-Flemish_School/bSYdK4R3">Franco-Flemish School</a> built on the harmonic principles in the English <a href="/facts/Contenance_angloise/xjMNEKRG">contenance angloise</a>, bringing choral music to new standards, particularly the <a href="/facts/Mass_(music)/kQ7IrmsM">mass</a> and <a href="/facts/Motet/IDx3tc8j">motet</a>. Northern Italy soon emerged as the central musical region, where the <a href="/facts/Roman_School/SkDGP8vu">Roman School</a> engaged in highly sophisticated methods of polyphony in genres such as the <a href="/facts/Madrigal/PKtjQcBu">madrigal</a>, which inspired the brief <a href="/facts/English_Madrigal_School/QsLfjvNS">English Madrigal School</a>.
The <a href="/facts/Baroque_music/UgrJnyTq">Baroque period</a> (1580–1750) saw the relative standardization of <a href="/facts/Common_practice_period/nJ8HnoB2">common-practice</a> <a href="/facts/Tonality/vBJp7QcT">tonality</a>, as well as the increasing importance of <a href="/facts/Musical_instruments/UMSjL1Ks">musical instruments</a>, which grew into ensembles of considerable size. Italy remained dominant, being the <a href="/facts/Origins_of_opera/wTy1umL8">birthplace of opera</a>, the soloist centered <a href="/facts/Concerto/qoPIj1qB">concerto</a> genre, the organized <a href="/facts/Sonata_form/xgVobu3o">sonata form</a> as well as the large scale vocal-centered genres of <a href="/facts/Oratorio/2BHDyCEp">oratorio</a> and <a href="/facts/Cantata/hLyyqTjV">cantata</a>. The <a href="/facts/Fugue/qpUgaHjW">fugue</a> technique championed by <a href="/facts/Johann_Sebastian_Bach/qA71yhEb">Johann Sebastian Bach</a> exemplified the Baroque tendency for complexity, and as a reaction the simpler and song-like <a href="/facts/Galant_music/DIDgevhm">galant music</a> and <a href="/facts/Empfindsamkeit_(music)/9ALN8yw4">empfindsamkeit</a> styles were developed. In the shorter but pivotal <a href="/facts/Classical_period_(music)/HhEDbzVX">Classical period</a> (1730–1820), composers such as <a href="/facts/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart/2X5fm67T">Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</a>, <a href="/facts/Joseph_Haydn/z7NDdYag">Joseph Haydn</a>, and <a href="/facts/Ludwig_van_Beethoven/eusBgBkA">Ludwig van Beethoven</a> created widely admired representatives of <a href="/facts/Absolute_music/nzAsyatX">absolute music</a>, including <a href="/facts/Symphony/mwmt5ndW">symphonies</a>, <a href="/facts/String_quartet/uNhlQCzy">string quartets</a> and concertos. The subsequent <a href="/facts/Romantic_music/Smlk40jm">Romantic music</a> (1800–1910) focused instead on <a href="/facts/Program_music/gVudP0ug">programmatic music</a>, for which the <a href="/facts/Art_song/0rgm4N4j">art song</a>, <a href="/facts/Symphonic_poem/ADXY66pH">symphonic poem</a> and various <a href="/facts/Piano/lRI60lQK">piano</a> genres were important vessels. During this time <a href="/facts/Virtuoso/kB5VRIX6">virtuosity</a> was celebrated, immensity was encouraged, while philosophy and <a href="/facts/Musical_nationalism/rImFds4L">nationalism</a> were embedded—all aspects that converged in the <a href="/facts/Opera/dp0n0ggo">operas</a> of <a href="/facts/Richard_Wagner/XoFH4v69">Richard Wagner</a>. 
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 the lens of <a href="/facts/Modernism_(music)/21xPlM4S">modernism</a>, with some abandoning tonality in place of <a href="/facts/Serialism/LtrCaR2t">serialism</a>, while others found new inspiration in folk melodies or <a href="/facts/Impressionism_in_music/fP8H0xl2">impressionist</a> sentiments. After World War II, for the first time audience members valued older music over <a href="/facts/Contemporary_classical_music/KuzN3elz">contemporary</a> works, a preference which has been catered to by the emergence and widespread availability of commercial recordings. Trends of the mid-20th century to the present day include <a href="/facts/New_Simplicity/I2QsqWrn">New Simplicity</a>, <a href="/facts/New_Complexity/urGqeW56">New Complexity</a>, <a href="/facts/Minimal_music/5c01jljF">Minimalism</a>, <a href="/facts/Spectral_music/5djScbz0">Spectral music</a>, and more recently <a href="/facts/Postmodern_music/IzWb7Nfa">Postmodern music</a> and <a href="/facts/Postminimalism/K8JYFo3n">Postminimalism</a>. Increasingly global, practitioners from the Americas, Africa and Asia have obtained crucial roles, while symphony orchestras and <a href="/facts/Opera_house/Jg14NSRc">opera houses</a> now appear across the world.

Classical music open-in-new

Classical music