music
listen

formsMUSICAL FORMS

INSTRUMENTAL FORMS
- SONATA: it was the most popular chamber music form in the Classicism. It had 4 movements and it was composed for 1, 2 or 3 instruments (1-2 melodic instruments and a piano accompaniment).

- STRING QUARTET: it is a musical ensemble of four string players (two violin players, a violist and a cellist) and a piece written to be performed by this group. The string quartet is one of the most prominent chamber ensembles in classical music.
Quartets written in the classical period usually have four movements with a large-scale structure similar to that of a symphony.

- WIND QUINTET: it is a group of five wind players (most commonly flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon) and the musical form composed for this group.

- CLASSICAL CONCERT: it composed for a solo instrument and orchestra.

- SYMPHONY: it is an extended musical composition scored for orchestra. A symphony usually has a four-movement structure:
    1st movement: an opening sonata or allegro
    2nd movement: a slow movement, such as adagio
    3rd movement: a minuet or scherzo with trio
    4th movement: an allegro, rondo, or sonata

All these musical pieces usually contain at least one movement composed according to the SONATA FORM (first movement form of the Sonata):
sonata



VOCAL FORMS
- OPERA
In the Classicism there were two types of opera:


     - OPERA SERIA:opera
           - Higher social classes (monarchs and aristocrats)
         - Texts related to the Mythology, great lyric-heroic tragedies
         - Language: Italian


      - OPERA BUFA:
           - Lower social classes
        - Simple argument, collected the most important folk melody easy construction
       - National versions written in local languages and with dialogue instead of recitatives: the German Singspiel , Zarzuela in Spain and the Opéra-Comique in France.


go