(Orchestral) Music Overview

The eras of (orchestral) music.

Baroque [1600-1750]

Please, please, please, do not memorize the exact dates I’m going to include. They are much less important than being able to roughly place different musical ideas in approximate chronology in relation to one another.

But try to remember this one: 1600.

The Baroque period began in 1600. Everything was complicated, ornate, beautiful, detailed. The art, the architecture, the music. An exaggeration of everything. Why do something small if you could do it grandiose? Or perhaps a better way to put it: make even the smallest details grandiose.

Music was for kings and queens and nobility; not for the peasants and the poor and the working class. Therefore the Church (capital C) wanted to blast the world with the inspiring, dazzling nature of music in uplifting God (and the institution of itself). So everything had to be majestic. The architecture and the art and music contained within it.

So Baroque music was complicated and fast and difficult to play.

Baroque people to know

Antonio Vivaldi
Johann Sebastian Bach

Baroque compositions you must hear:

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons
Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier

Classical (1750-1830)

Composers started moving away from the difficult, ornate stylings of Baroque and writing pieces that could be played and enjoyed by everyone of all social and economic stations. They focused more on technique, theory, and simplicity and less on bombastic, majestic performance.

Music began moving out of the palace and church and into “normal places where normal people could enjoy.” There were all kinds of changes taking place in the world during this time; a period known as The Age of Reason. People were thinking and curious and finding rational ways of understanding how the world worked and re-asking fundamental questions. So Classical composers had less thunder and more interest in exploring ideas and original concepts in simple ways.

As music became less driven by the Church, composers found work for the wealthy and the idea of patronage became increasingly important.

Classical people to know

Ludwig van Beethoven
Franz Joseph Haydn
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Classical compositions you must hear:

Beethoven’s Eroica (Symphony No. 3)
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
Haydn’s Symphony No. 101
Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

Romantic (1820-1920)

Composers, led by the bridge of Mr. van Beethoven, integrated the passion of the Baroque and the thoughtfulness of the Classical to create exciting new works that took listeners on dramatic, emotional, and often fantastical journeys.

If the Baroque was driven by the Church, and the Classical was driven by the nobility, then the Romantic was driven by the masses. And this meant that composers and musicians began to become rock stars.

Romantic people to know

Johannes Brahms
Gustav Mahler
Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky
Richard Wagner

Romantic compositions you must hear:

Brahms’ Hungarian Dance
Mahler’s Symphony No. 4
Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty

Modern (1900s-now)

Look at all the opportunities musicians had to learn from the previous periods. Modern composers have grabbed inspiration from disparate sources and genres, ranging from the old Masters to jazz and blues; folk and rock and roll; there’s an almost limitless supply of inspirations to draw from. Despite having been around for hundreds of years, orchestral music remains relevant and beloved. Still.

Modern people to know

Béla Bartók
Leonard Bernstein
Aaron Copland
Claude Debussy
George Gershwin
Arnold Schoenberg
Igor Stravinsky

Modern compositions you must hear:

Bernstein’s West Side Story (score)
Copland’s Appalachian Spring
Debussy’s Arabesque No. 1
Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue
Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring

Sections of the Orchestra

String

The largest section of the orchestra, usually between 60-70 musicians. Most have a deep, rich sound and are plucked or played with a bow. There are five groups and sit in the front, closest to the conductor.

Violins (first and second)
Violas
Cellos
Double basses
Harp
Piano

Percussion

These are instruments that are played by pounding, shaking, or tapping. Oftentimes a percussionist will play multiple instruments during a performance, because different percussive instruments are rarely played simultaneously. They’re usually in the back left or right of the orchestra.

Timpani
Triangle
Snare drum
Bass drum
Tam-tam
Xylophone
Cymbals and gongs
Celesta
Tubular bells

Other instruments

The piano, harpischord, and organ are often used in orchestras, even though they don’t have “official” designations.