So many modern songwriting concepts were born from classical music; appreciating and understanding some classics can really help you develop your creative range and style, no matter what kind of songs you write. Furthermore, countless technique and instruments that were first developed hundreds of years ago can be extremely useful in a modern day context. So if you’re a budding musician it’s probably a good idea to investigate the origins of what we listen to today.
But there’s so much classical music, where on earth do you begin? Below is a very short introduction to classical music, which should, I hope, give you a prod in the right direction. After reading this you should be able to roughly guess what period a piece of classical music is from just by listening to it. Once you get listening, you’ll find classical music a rich source of inspiration for your songwriting.
The four main eras of Classical music
There are four pretty clear cut time periods when it comes to describing classical. They are Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern (often called 20th century, a term which is a bit out of date now for obvious reasons). There was, of course, music before the Baroque period, such as medieval and Renaissance music, but it isn’t generally particularly intricate, or even massively popular these days. We’ll concentrate on the main four, starting with…
Baroque (c.1600 – c.1760)
This is a fair while back, and quite a number of modern instruments had not been invented. Violins were a bit bigger, pianos didn’t exist (although there were organs and other types of keyboard, such as the harpsichord and virginal) and woodwind and brass instruments were far more basic than the kind we see today. So, if you’re hearing big, grand brass parts with pianos twinkling over the top you’re not listening to baroque music.
Instead, expect to hear lots of string instruments, quite a lot of harpsichord and slightly shrill-sounding woodwind. If the music is being performed with a high degree of historical accuracy then the strings won’t be using vibrato (an effect produced by wobbling your fingers on the fingerboard). However, vibrato was invented for a reason; it sounds quite nice, so most orchestras nowadays perform Baroque music with vibrato.
The style of the music is quite intricate and frilly, with lots of trills and ornaments. However, the actual structure of the pieces is very rigid. The underlying melodies are fairly basic, and harmonies tend not to vary massively from piece to piece. Dynamics-wise everything was pretty much either loud or quiet, with few crescendos and diminuendos. You’ll notice a lot of ‘call and answer’ figures in baroque music, with a short phrase played loudly then repeated quietly, perhaps by a different set of instruments. Also, baroque composers loved their long sequences of arpeggios, so listen out for that.
Essential composers: Johann Sebastian Bach, Vivaldi, Handel.
Musical attributes: Lots of trills, basic musical structure and melody, small range in pitch, music ‘goes where you expect it to’.
Essential listening: Bach - Double Violin Concerto, Vivaldi - Four Seasons
Classical (1730 – 1820)
Yes, there’s a period in classical music called classical music, and it’s not even the longest! This is the time when the piano started to develop, but was not the steel-framed wide-range instrument we know today. It had a smaller keyboard, so the range of notes you can expect to hear in a classical piano part will be fairly small; you won’t hear big, grand chords and huge scales from the piano in classical music. String players had developed their vibrato techniques, and single reed woodwind instruments (such as the clarinet) were developed and became a more prominent feature. Classical music makes use of what you might consider a normal orchestra, just a bit smaller, minus the large brass section and without a lot of percussion. Harpsichords were still used as well as pianos, so if you hear a harpsichord it could still be classical (or modern pretending to be classical, but that’s another kettle of fish).
The melodies and harmonies became more interesting in the classical period. Devices such as suspensions and interrupted cadences were introduced, adding tasteful clashes in melodies, and (slightly) unexpected chords at the end of phrases. The daddy of the classical period was Mozart, and it was he who was the driving force behind music’s new, more sophisticated direction.
Essential composers:W. A. Mozart, Haydn,
early Beethoven
Musical attributes: The piano (with limited range), more interesting chord structure, still quite predictable and regimented though, more clashes between notes.
Essential listening: Mozart! You’ll recognise Eine Kleine Nachtmusik!
Romantic (1815-1910)
This is when composers really started going for it. The steel frame piano had been invented, with a far bigger range than those used in the classical period. Orchestras were now huge, with big brass sections and full percussion. Much more attention was paid to melody and rhythm, and a far greater range of music was produced as a result. Dynamic range was generally much wider too; romantic composers really made full use of the instruments they had. With fewer musical rules being obeyed a great range of music was produced. Chopin produced some delicate, piano sonatas while Tchaikovsky nearly deafened his audience by using real life cannons in his 1812 overture.
Key characteristics are big orchestral sounds, with huge romantic melodies and striking (yet musical) harmonies. For example listen to Prokofiev’s Montagues and Capulets (sometimes known as ‘The Dance of the Knights’ - it’s the theme to BBC’s Apprentice) with its bold brass and striking melody. The Russians were particularly good at this kind of stirring music - have a listen to Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov.
Essential composers: Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, late Beethoven, Wagner, Chopin.
Musical attributes: Big orchestras, lush melodies, great range in dynamics, pitch and musical structure.
Essential listening: Mendelssohn – Hebrides Overture, Tchaikovsky – 1812 Overture, Rossini – William Tell Overture
Modern (1910 +)
This is when things started to get a bit odd. As popular music and classical music started to divide about a third of the way into the 20th century classical music went in some very strange directions. Electro-acoustic composers emerged, with their music often consisting of bleeps, pops and white noise. An interesting thing about contemporary dance music and electronica is that much of it emerged from the experiments of classically-trained musicians in the middle of the twentieth century - unlike guitar-led pop and rock that had its beginnings in the grassroots movements of traditional jazz, blues and country music.
Quite a lot of recent classical music is pretty way-out and whacky -Karl-Heinz Stockhausen, possibly the most famous avant-garde composer, once wrote a piece for a string quartet that required each member of the quarter to perform in a separate helicopter. John Cage composed a piece comprising absolutely nothing; 4:33 is 4 minutes 33 seconds of silence! People actually perform it too. Here it is in action:
I should probably point out at this point that John Cage did write a number of other works, which are worth investigating! Basically composers were breaking away from the classically musical music that had preceded the period, and the results were often a bit strange. People like Messiaen would use mathematical procedures and things like musical boxes to create their rhythms, which often would result in something that doesn’t really sound like a tune! There was some more traditionally ‘musical’ stuff too of course, try some Stravinsky or Shostakovich. Some of their music is hard to distinguish from romantic music, but it will always have that slight edge of unpredictability.
Essential composers:
Shostakovich, Stockhausen, Cage, Schoenberg.
Musical attributes: Odd, unexpected ‘melodies’, weird and wonderful instrumentation.
Essential listening: Any of Shostakovich’s string quartets, or works by Stockhausen. One of the more approachable modernist composers is Aaron Copland.
In my next post I’ll offer some more tips on getting into classical music and some suggestions on how you can learn from classical composers to improve your songwriting and general musical skills.
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