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This article attempts to characterize Western classical music, particularly in comparison with other forms of music popular in Western societies. Further information on classical music can be found in the cross references given below. For articles on the classical music of other cultures, see classical music (disambiguation)

The Nature of Classical Music

In a Western context, classical music is a somewhat imprecise term, but there are a number of ways that classical music is identified.

First, classical music is a written musical tradition, preserved in music notation, as opposed to being transmitted in recordings or as folklore. Works now considered to constitute classical music have been set down on paper for the last several hundred years. Works that are centuries old can be, and often are, performed far more often than works recently composed. The use of notation is an effective method for classical music because all active participants in the classical music tradition are able to read music. Normally, this ability comes from formal training, which usually begins with learning to play an instrument, and sometimes continues with instruction in music theory and composition. However, there are many passive participants in classical music who enjoy it without being able to read it or perform it.

Another important characteristic of classical music is that it is felt by many to represent a form of "high" culture. Particular works of classical music are often venerated, even to extremes--thus, for instance, the 18th century critic E. T. A. Hoffman loved Mozart's music so much that he changed his middle name to Amadeus. Performances of classical music take place in a relatively solemn atmosphere, with the audience maintaining (ideally) silence during the performance, so that everyone can hear each note and nuance. The performers usually dress formally, a practice which is often taken as a gesture of respect for the music, and performers normally do not engage in casual banter or other direct involvement with the audience.

The other side of concept of "high culture," of course, is snobbery, and participation in classical music has for centuries been, for some, the result of a desire for prestige.

Because classical music represents high culture, parents over the last several centuries have often made sure that their children receive classical music training. They are often motivated by a belief that such training will permit their children to lead richer, fuller lives; or by a belief that such training instills a useful sense of self-discipline.

Written transmission, along with the veneration bestowed on classical works, has important implications for the performance of classical music. To a fair degree, performers are expected to perform a work in a way that realizes the original intentions of the composer, which are often stated quite explicitly (down to the level of small, note-by-note details) in the musical score. Indeed, deviations from the composer's intentions are sometimes condemned as outright ethical lapses. Yet the opposite trend--admiration of performers for new "interpretations" of the composer's work, can be seen, and it is not unknown for a composer to praise a performer for achieving a better realization of the composer's original intent than the composer was able to imagine. Thus, classical music performers often achieve very high reputations for their musicianship, even if they do not compose themselves.

Another consequence of the veneration of the composer's written score is that improvisation plays a relatively minor role in classical music--in sharp contrast to traditions like jazz, where improvisation is central. Improvisation in classical music performance was far more common during the Baroque era, and recently the performance of such music by modern classical musicians has been enriched by a revival of the old improvisational practices. During the Classical period, Mozart and Beethoven sometimes improvised the cadenzas to their piano concertos--but tended to write out cadenzas when other soloists were to perform them.

Art music and concert music are terms sometimes used as synonyms of classical music.

"Classical music" as "music of the classical era"

In music history, a different meaning of the term classical music is often used: it designates music from a period in musical history covering approximately Haydn to Beethoven -- roughly, 1750-1827. When used in this sense, the initial C of Classical music is sometimes capitalized to avoid confusion. An article about this era can be found at Classical Music Era.

Classical vs. Popular Music

The relationship (particularly, the relative value) of classical music and popular music is a controversial question. Some partisans of classical music may claim that classical music constitutes art and popular music only light entertainment. However, many popular works show a high level of artistry and musical innovation and many classical works are unabashedly crowd-pleasing.

It might be argued that, at least on the average, classical works have greater musical complexity. In particular, classical music usually involves more modulation (changing of keys), less outright repetition, and a wider use of musical phrases that are not default length--that is, four or eight bars long. Also, it is normally only in classical music that long works (30 minutes to three hours) are built up hierarchically way from smaller units.

This not to say that popular music is always simpler than classical. Both jazz and rap make use of rhythms more complex than would appear in the average classical work, and popular music sometimes uses certain complex chords that would be quite unusual in a classical music.

Some advocates of classical music may claim that it possesses a greater emotional power than popular music--certain classical works may cause the listener to weep uncontrollably, or cause his heart to pound, or his hair to stand on end. It is likely, however, that all music, with the right listener and the right context, can have these effects.

Classical and popular music are distinguished to some extent by their choice of instruments. For the most part, the instruments used in classical music are nonelectrical and were invented prior to the mid-1800's (often, much earlier). They consist of the instruments found in an orchestra, together with a few other solo instruments (piano, harpsichord, organ). The electric guitar plays an extremely prominent role in popular music, but plays almost no role in classical music, even classical music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Both classical and popular musicians have experimented for the last several decades with electrical or electronic instruments (for instance, the synthesizer), and instruments from other cultures (such as the gamelan).

One last difference between classical and popular music is worth observing. New performers entering the field of popular music are expected, virtually without exception, to be young and sexually attractive. Older performers are sometimes successful, but typically their following consists largely of fans who encountered them when they were young. In the case of classical music, it is likewise a professional advantage for beginning performers to be attractive, but there is no rigid requirement in this regard. Older performers continue to attract new listeners, and indeed, artists such as Vladimir Horowitz and Artur Rubinstein performed before enthusiastic audiences in advanced old age. Further, a number of opera singers attract enthusiastic followings despite being quite stout or even obese.

A phenomenon that arose in the last century, with the advent of film and television, is "cross-over"--the popularity, usually temporary, of certain classical works among people who ordinarily do not listen to classical music. Often this is due to the appearance of a classical work in a film score. Some classical works that achieved crossover status in the twentieth century include the Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel, Symphony #3 by Henryk Gorecki, Joseph Haydn's Trumpet Concerto (popularized by the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis), and the second movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto in C, K. 457 (from its appearance in a 1967 film entitled Elvira Madigan).

An interesting speculation is whether works of popular music are likely to achieve the kind of permanence that works of classical music have achieved. Prior to the advent of audio recordings, this was not a possibility, since popular works are generally identified with the performance of the artist who created them. However, since high-quality audio recordings have now existed for over fifty years, the possibility of popular works achieving some kind of permanent, enshrined, status now presents itself, and is probably happening now in the case of the most outstanding artists.

References

Many articles in the Misplaced Pages are devoted to classical music. Among them are the following:

Some musical terms that come from the study and history of Western Classical music include:

List of classical composers