Classical Music From Medieval To Present

Classical music, as we know it now, has gone through many changes since the middle of the 11th century. From a one line chant to the lovely “Brahm’s Lullaby,” was a journey of many centuries.

In the mid 11th century, the Medieval period, with its one-line Gregorian chants, and following later in the 13th century, with two or three separate lines of notes, marking the beginnings of harmony in choral music, generally associated with religion.

The 15th century arrived with the Renaissance period. Harmony, at last, came into its own with composers writing mostly choral compositions, but very few instrumental pieces. At the end of the 16th century, instrumental music, finally, was accepted, and the division of classical composition from the popular became obvious.

The Baroque period ushered in the idea of the orchestra concept, and operas were beginning to emerge. By the Classical era the compositions of Haydn and Mozart were listened to by many, and later Beethoven and Schubert became widely known by the classical music lovers.

In the late Romantic period, 1860 to 1920, Brahms appeared along with operatic composers Wagner and Verdi. By this time some of the most popular composers of the time were: Liszt, Schumann, Mendelssohn, and Chopin.

Post World War I to the present: Classical music has evolved into many styles. The lovers’ of classical music will, no doubt, find it necessary to listen to several of the great composers’ music, before deciding which of the many classical compositions are to their liking.