The Classical Era Of Music and the Major Composers of that Time

Getting its name from art history, the Classical period of music began in 1750 and ended in 1820 and includes the music. During these 70 years music changed drastically. The four major composers of the Classical era were Haydn, Mozart, Gluck, and Beethoven.

The classical era began at the end of the Baroque Era. Classical music is different from baroque. The style of music has a much more solid structure and storyline. The classical period made way for different rules in music altogether. Although there are many similarities between classical and baroque music, there are big enough differences to consider it a completely new era.

Even though opera and vocal music were still being written, orchestral writing was performed on a much broader basis. During this period of music clarinets, flutes, oboes, and bassoons became permanent members of the orchestra. The classical period of music coordinated harmony, melody, rhythm, and orchestration more successfully then in the earlier periods of music.

Portrait Ludwig van Beethoven when composing the M...

Mozart, about 1780. Detail of Mozart family portra...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's compositions characteriz...

One of the main composers of this era was Franz Joseph Haydn. He was born and raised in Austria and started out his musical career as a choir boy in Vienna.He started writing music while he was in school. He composed Symphony #1, which was followed by over a hundred more symphonies. After this he then spent thirty years with the family of a prince. During these years, he composed five masses, forty string quartets, sixty symphonies, thirty clavier pieces, one hundred and five cello trios, and many different types of works for funerals, weddings, birthdays, and other celebrations. He is known as one of the greatest composers of all time.

Christoph Willibald Gluck was of Bavarian decent. He was as well, a composer of the Classical period. He was a write of mainly operas. He spent ten years...