Classical Symphony

Music, like other forms of art, evolved from numerous traditions that, when taken together, formed a new way of thinking about, and performing, certain types of works. Audiences change over time, and certain musical compositions that sound odd or strange to one audience are often accepted by others (e.g. The rioting during the premier of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring). When people think of classical music, for instance, they tend to think of the three B's (Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms). Certainly, these three giants of music were part of the evolution from the Baroque to the Romantic, each building upon one another's work over two centuries. However, in that time there were numerous other composers who helped develop and forever change harmony, theory, instrumentation, and all manner of musical interpretation. We will begin with an overview of the Baroque era as a basis for our study of the classical...
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