Music History Crash Course
The scope of this crash course is restricted to "western art music". Loosely defined, western art music is music written in the european countries for the pursuit of art as such. Thus, a piece such as the Ballad of North Henan Province—though certainly artistic—will not be featured here. Furthermore, I plan to restrict this course to the three largest periods of classical music: the baroque era (1650-1750), The classical era (1750-1820), and the romantic era (1820-1910). As this is a crash course, I intend to focus on the biggest names from each era, and their most popular works.
The Baroque Era
We will look at three composers from the Baroque Era: Vivaldi, Handel, and Bach.
Antonio Vivaldi (March 4, 1678–July 27 1741)
Vivaldi is easily the most well known Italian composer (though Scarlatti is a close second). He was instrumental in establishing what is the italian style. To see what the italian style is, I encourage you to listen to more Vivaldi and you'll begin to get a sense for yourself.
Most Famous Works:
My Personal Recommendations:
Handel (February 23, 1685–April 14, 1759)
Handel is an oddity in the music sphere; he is not only the most well-known English composer, but also the only English composer of any prominence that I know of! He is most well known for his oratorio the Messiah. An oratorio is more or less an opera without the sets, acting, and costumes. Handel was extremely well known in his time for his operas, but during lent operas were banned, so to continue working Handel invented oratorios instead.
Most Famous Works:
Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah
Johann Sebastian Bach (March 21, 1685–July 28, 1750)
Bach is without question the most influential composer of the Baroque era. So inflential that the year of his death marks the end of the Baroque era. A prolific composer for the lutheran church, his work languished for many years after his death until Mendelsohn revived it in the romantic era. Bach was known to be an extremely skilled improviser and said to play the organ pedals (played with the feet) better than most could play the manuals (played with the hands).
Most Famous Works:
My Recommendations: