by fun_yunchables » Wed Aug 29, 2018 6:37 pm
classical is quite broad and i am by no means an expert on classical music despite having classical training so this is sorta a rough rough sketch of my thoughts
baroque period -- marked by improvisation, ornamentation, and polyphonic (multiple distinct voices) texturing. Bach is a representative composer of this period but i would also look into Handel and Vivaldi as stylistically capturing the baroque movement
classical -- marked by an emphasis on harmony and melody (homophony) and stricter adherence to how music is written. Mozart is the obv representative composer here, as well as early Beethoven (he kinda straddles classicism and romanticism depending on the years).
romantic -- singing melodic lines, big variances in dynamics, rubato (interpretive tempo). more accidentals and chromaticism. Composers to look to are Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Grieg, Saint-Saens
impressionist -- explorations into non functional harmony, including quartal/quintal harmonies. marked use of modality. Composers include Debussy, Satie, Ravel, Scriabin
there's more contemporary/modern/postmodern/etc stuff that has qualities of being increasingly more post-tonal and post-structural, and i definitely haven't really studied it too much but if your goal is easy listening while studying and not actively analyzing music i'd probably say much of this stuff isn't really up your alley. Stravinsky's Rite of Spring is probably a good example though, although with even more modern stuff it can get pretty weird
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