Classic period

The Classic Period (1740s-1810s)

  • Period: to

    Pietro Metastasio

    Court poet in Vienna; most important author of librettos for the 18th century
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    Giovanni Battista Sammartini

    Galant Italian composer and innovator of the symphony in Milan, 1730s+
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    Farinelli (Carlo Broschi)

    One of the most famous castrati in the 18th century; trained by Porpora
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    Franz Xaver Richter

    German composer/ teacher/ singer and innovator of the string quartet
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    Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

    Galant; eldest son of J.S. Bach; wrote in both baroque and classic styles
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    Christoph Willibald Gluck

    German opera reform composer
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    Johann Stamitz

    Galant, symphonic innovator in Mannheim that helped to establish the symphonic genre
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    Dr. Charles Burney

    Music historian, author, and organist who traveled Europe and wrote about his observations
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    Franz Joseph Haydn

    A primary Austrian composer who served as an innovator and mover within the new classic style and composed over 100 symphonies
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    Johann Christian Bach

    Worked in Milan and London, son of J.S. Bach, friend and influence to Mozart
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    Luigi Boccherini

    Italian composer and cellist; prolific
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    William Billings

    Most prominent composer in the New America; singing teacher; not a strong composer
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    Domenico Cimarosa

    Italian Composer; a central figure in opera in the late 18th century, very successful
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    Lorenzo Da Ponte

    Italian librettist and poet that collaborated with Mozart
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    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

    German poet and writer; Romanticism
  • Period: to

    Antonio Salieri

    Italian composer and teacher; transitioned galant to classic period and classic to romantic; extremely successful
  • Period: to

    Muzio Clementi

    English composer of Italian birth
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    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Austrian composer; child prodigy; wrote in all genres; best innovations in opera; epitome of the classic styles; one of the best musicians and composers of all time
  • Industrial Revolution (1760-1820)

    The world was changing and innovating rapidly- in music as well
  • Revolutionary War (1775-1783)

    American war for independence from the British empire
  • The French Revolution (1789-1799)

    Dissatisfaction with the monarchy