Understanding Classical Music - Is It Worth The Time?

Understanding classical music is something most people think is far too lofty a goal, one best left for music scholars and academics in their ivory towers. It's the epitome of stuffiness; black ties and diamond earrings must be worn at all times.

Classical music should be heard and appreciated by all people. Composers were and are real people who struggle with the same problems we all do, including paying bills, satisfying their clients, and just existing from one day to the next.

It's not necessary to understand composition techniques, orchestration principles, and the intricacies of arranging music to be awed by its beauty. Just let it wash over you and absorb the feelings!

The genius of Bach, the magnificence of Beethoven, the sheer beauty of Chopin, and the power of Prokofiev are all waiting to be discovered by you, no matter how much you know or don't know about music theory and history.

Classical Music and the New London Middle Class

One thing I've puzzled over in London is why classical music is losing out in the 'new middle class cultural feeding frenzy.' London's a rich city and there's been an explosion of wealth in the last twenty years: hence the term 'new' or 'expanded' middle class.

A large group of young, educated, new-media savvy people - the product of the expanded universities - live and work in London, have cash in their pockets, and want to spend some of it on art. They're not experts but want more, in cultural terms, than Harry Potter and a night in the pub.

You see them, in huge numbers, in the London art galleries, particularly the cleverly branded Tate Modern. They join Facebook en masse and chatter about art on the internet. Many of my neighbours in the trendy district of London where I live (I went to live there before it became trendy) are very much part of this new, young, culturally hungry, wealthy, liberal, (small L) middle class.

Yet, except for the Proms, you seldom see them at classical music concerts. It's not on their radar. They won't buy tickets and dilute the grey-haired, traditional, ageing, rather stuffy and snobby, audience. Why?

If you study the cultural environment in which 18th century court music was performed it was obviously for the upper class alone. The middle class, and certainly the working class - God forbid! - didn't get a look in except as composers, performers, technicians and servants. But it was very much less stuffy than a London concert today.

The Development of Classical Music

There were two times in this century. The first era was called the baroque era. This era was around 1600 to 1750. Baroque was the beginning of modern music because it has experienced the revolution from both theory and technique of its cultivating.

The key characteristics of this era included the merger of major and minor scales, many dissonan tones, the development of the orchestra, and the regular structures, but monotony. They also included the use of violin, harpsichord, organ, and flute.

In this era, people also knew basso continuo technique, namely the bass accompaniment that brought harmony. There was repetition in the structure of music.

Composers who lived in this era were Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Friedrich Handel, Antonio Vivaldi, Claudio Monteverdi, and Henry Purcell.

The second era was called the classical era. Sonatas and chamber music grew with more dynamic melodies. All of the classical era rules were applied intelligently by the composers.

The key characteristics of this era were the development of musical harmony, a very strong element of the dynamics that colored the composition, and a dynamic atmosphere that was expressed through the tempo, melody, and harmony. In this era, people also knew the pattern of 'question and answer'. Piano, with its ability to create dynamic, became a very important instrument.