The Classical Era (1730s-1810s)

By e_onti
  • Period: to

    Jean-Philippe Rameau

    French composer and theorist. Tried to establish a rational foundation for harmonic practice
  • Period: to

    Pietro Metastasio

    Court poet in Vienna: primary librettist for opera seria in the late Baroque and Classic periods. Incredibly famous as a librettist: set the standard for opera style circa 1750
  • Period: to

    Giovanni Battista Sammartini

    Invented the symphony in Milan, Italy.
  • Period: to

    Franz Xaver Richter

    The inventor of the string quartet genre.
  • Period: to

    Frederick the Great

    Achievements included:
    Military victories
    Reorganization of Prussian armies
    Patronage of Prussian Arts
    A gifted musician: played flute.
    Composed at least 100 sonatas and 4 symphonies
    Spoke German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English, Latin, ancient and modern Greek, and Hebrew
  • Period: to

    Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

    The primary composer of the Empfindsamkeit style. Also the eldest son of J.S. Bach
  • Period: to

    Christoph Willibald Gluck

    lyric dramatic opera - brought about operatic reform in Italian opera seria
  • Period: to

    Niccolò Piccinni

    The founder of opera buffa
  • Period: to

    The Rococo Style

    “Rococo” derives from the French word, “rocaille” meaning “scroll”.
    Ornate style: scrolls were often featured
  • Period: to

    Franz Joseph Haydn

    Credited as the primary mover within the new classic style concerning instrumental music but he did not invent the style.
  • Period: to

    Franz Joseph Haydn

    One of the most original and inventive composers
  • Period: to

    Johann Schobert

    Simulated orchestra effects in harpsichord writing. Influenced Mozart.
  • Period: to

    J.C. Bach

    Influenced Mozart. Bach’s style used beautiful melodies and bits of chromaticism; he wrote Italian operas, church music, and orchestral works. Bach used contrasting themes in concertos and sonata-form movements
  • Invention of Symphony

    Invented by Giovanni Battista Sammartini in the 1740s, it was one of the new genres to emerge in the Classic era in the middle of the 18th century
  • Period: to

    William Billings

    One of the first American composers, he was self-taught
  • The First String Quartets

    Invented by Franz Xaver Richter in the 1750s, it was a prestigious chamber music genre; appealed to aristocratic social life.
  • Period: to

    Antonio Salieri

    One of the successful court composers in Vienna; very popular and talented. Composed many operas in Italian, German, and French
  • Period: to

    Maria Anna Mozart

    Mozart’s older sister: often described as equal in talent and skill
    Toured with Mozart during her childhood
  • Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen

    C.P.E. Bach’s keyboard treatise -Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard- stated that music’s main aims were to touch the heart and move the affections (emotions)
  • Period: to

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    A prolific and influential composer of the Classical period.
  • Period: to

    Maria Theresa von Paradis

    Excellent pianist and organist, renowned for her remarkable musical memory (60 concertos at a time). She was also blind.
  • Period: to

    The Industrial Revolution

    Significant advances in science and ideas, made mass production possible
  • Symphony No. 29 in A Major, K. 201

    A symphony by Mozart. Memorable melody with a descending octave leap at the beginning. Created a first movement that exhibits a fiery and clever personality
  • Period: to

    The American Revolution

    The insurrection fought between 1775 and 1783 through which 13 of Great Britain's North American colonies threw off British rule to establish the sovereign United States of America, founded with the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
  • Piano

    First patented version of a Piano was in London
  • Idomeneo

    An opera that Mozart was commissioned to compose for Munich
  • Piano Concerto in G Major, K. 453

    Composed by Mozart for a student of his named Babette (Barbara von Ployer)
  • Le nozze di Figaro

    A famous opera buffa composed by Mozart
  • Don Giovanni

    This opera was considered the best opera ever composed.
  • Period: to

    The French Revolution

    A period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799.
  • Mozart Requiem

    Requiem in D Minor, Mozart passed during the composition of this requiem.
  • Symphony No. 100 in G Major

    One of the London (Salomon) Symphonies, used trumpet fanfares.
    Turkish military percussion instruments:
    Triangle
    Cymbals
    Bass drum
    Bell tree
    Riq
  • Period: to

    Ludwig von Koechel

    The earliest cataloguer of Mozart's works aside from Mozart himself.
  • Invention of Metronome