Discover Classical Music

"Classical music" reflects music that was created in Europe starting around 600 A.D. and continues to the present not only in Europe but elsewhere as well.   While classical music is not folk music, as such, compositions often incorporate elements of folk melodies into larger portions of the work.   Opera and classical music share both composers and style of composition, and while opera is story-based, classical music can also be as well.  

There are generally considered to be five major periods of classical music beginning with the Renaissance (1450-1600), to Baroque (1600-1750), to Classical (1750-1825), to Romantic (1800-the 1900s), and to Modern.   These periods are less tied to chronological years than to styles, and focus, and often are driven by the times for civilization in which certain music was composed.   There exists considerable overlap of composers across periods based on their various compositions.  

Classical music took a dramatic step forward in the early 1600s with the invention of the printing press as works could be more easily reproduced, and more widely distributed for performance.   It was also at this time that violin-making became quite prominent, and music became a well-supported activity for the courts as a source of entertainment.  

For many people works composed after 1600 until almost modern times reflect the music they most-often think of as “classical”, and it is against this backdrop that the more modern compositions must compete with the tried and true favorites that concertgoers are present to hear.

                                                        - Tom Johnson

“Music is that which cannot be said, but upon which is impossible to be silent.”

                                          – Victor Hugo -