The Styles of Classical Music
by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra

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Music is an auditory experience, intended to be heard and re-heard. Music worthy of new performances over time becomes part of our culture. Eastern and Western societies commonly classify a portion of music under the general heading of "classical."

Music history is divided into style periods to facilitate the understanding in the development over centuries:

• Medieval (c.14th-15th centuries)
• Renaissance (c.15th to 16th centuries)
• Baroque (c.17th to early-18th centuries)
• Classical (c.18th to early-19th centuries)
• Romantic (c.19th century)
• Post-Romantic (late 19th to early 20th centuries)
• 20th Century and Contemporary (now meaning 21st century)

Basically, style refers to the handling of musical sounds, and the comprehension of this concept of style aids the listener. Knowledge of what to expect when listening to past centuries of music with "twentieth-century ears" reduces the element of surprise. Hundreds of years of development must be considered before musical evolution is intelligible. This doesn't mean that musical enjoyment is dependent on historical information, but it adds, without question, a special dimension to one's appreciation.

The designation of style periods can be made only after the actual years have passed, because such categorizing requires historical perspective. As always with historic and artistic trends, all beginning and ending dates are approximate. Even after a style has passed, so to speak, its height of popularity, composers of a later time may return to it, often centuries later, in order to achieve a desired effect. A style of music is not restricted to a particular time and place, though it is generally labeled for the historical period with which it is predominantly associated.

Text (c) Lynne S. Mazza

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