Characteristics+of+the+Classical+Period

The classical period lasted for 70 years, beginning in 1750 and ending in 1820. It came after the Baroque Period (1600-1750) and came before the Romantic Period (1820-1900) and the 20th Century Period (1900-2000).

__**Time line of the musical period:**__



**-__Texture__**
 Classical music is basically homophonic, which means two or more parts coming together in harmony. However texture is treated flexibly like rhythm. Pieces can move smoothly or suddenly between different textures.

__ **-Rhythm** __
In classical music there is a flexibility of rhythm. It includes unexpected pauses, abbreviate and frequent changes of the length of the notes. The change of notes can be both gradual and sudden.

**-__Dynamics__**
composers wanted different shades of emotion to be shown through their pieces, which led to the use of dynamics- crescendo (gradually getting louder) and diminuendo (gradually getting softer). A classical piece of music includes a change of mood which can change gradually or suddenly. This change will show what mood should be felt. It conflicts moods such as elation and depression. Classical melodies are not only tuneful, but easy to remember. A normal melody will often sound balanced or symmetrical because they are made up of two phrases of the same length. The second phrase will more often than not will begin like the first, but end more conclusively.
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**__ structure: __**
Musical structure can be compared to writing out chapters in a story. Without structure, the music would leave the listener completely unsatisfied and the piece would merely be a random set of ideas. With a good structure, the music takes the listener on a musical journey, with a beginning, middle and end. This is why musical structure is one of the fundamentals of music. To continue with the analogy of a piece of music being akin to a story, each piece must consist of hundreds of words. In music, these are called motives.