When Haydn and Mozart began composing, symphonies
were played as single movements between other works,
and many lasted only 10 or 12 minutes, instrumental
groups had varying standards of playing and the
"continuo" was a central part of music making. In
the intervening years, music had seen a dramatic
change, international publication and touring had
grown explosively, concert societies were beginning
to be formed, notation had been made more specific,
more descriptive, schematics for works had been
simplified, and yet made more varied in their exact
working through. In 1790, just before Mozart's
death, his reputation was spreading rapidly, and
Haydn was poised for a series of successes,
including his late oratorios and "London"
symphonies. Composers in Paris, Rome and all over
Germany turned to Haydn and Mozart for their ideas
on form.
The moment was ripe for a dramatic shift. The decade of the 1790's saw the emergence of a new generation of composers, born between around 1770, who while they had grown up with the earlier styles, found in the recent works of Haydn and Mozart a vehicle for greater expression. In 1788 Luigi Cherubini settled in Paris, and in 1791 composed "Lodoiska", an opera that shot him to fame. Its style is clearly reflective of the mature Haydn and Mozart, and its instrumentation gave it a weight which had not yet been felt in the grand opera. His contemporary Étienne Méhul extended instrumental effects with his 1790 opera "Euphrosine et Coradin", from which followed a series of successes. Of course, the most fateful would would be Ludwig van Beethoven, who launched his numbered works in 1794 with three Piano Trios, which remain played even today. Somewhat younger than these, though equally accomplished because of his youthful study under Mozart and virtuosity, was Johann Nepomuk Hummel, who studied under Haydn and Mozart, was friends with Beethoven and Schubert, and a teacher to Franz Liszt. He concentrated more on the piano than any other instrument, and his time in London in 1791 and 1792 saw the composition, and publication in 1793 of a three piano sonatas, opus 2, which idiomatically used Mozart's techniques of avoiding the expected cadence, and Clementi's sometimes modally uncertain virtuoso figuration. Taken together, these composer can be seen now as the vanguard of a broad change in style and the center of gravity in music. They would study each others works, copy each others gestures in music, and on occasion behave like quarrelsome rivals.
The crucial differences with the previous wave can be seen through the shift in gravity of the melody downward, the increasing length, the acceptance of Mozart and Haydn as paradigmatic, the greater and greater use of keyboard resources, the shift from "vocal" writing to "pianistic" writing, the growing pull of the minor and of modal ambiguity and the increasing importance of varying accompanying figures to bring "texture" forward as an element in music. In short - the late classical was seeking a more complex music internally. The growth of concert societies, amateur orchestras and the importance of music as part of middle class life contributed to a booming market for pianos, piano music, and virtuosi who could provide examples. Hummel, Beethoven, Clementi were all known for their improvising.
One explanation for the shift in style was advanced by Schoenberg and others: the increasing centrality of "theme and variations" in compositional thinking. Schoenberg argued that the classical style was one of "continuing variation", where a development was, in effect, a theme and variations with greater continuity. In any event, theme and variations replaced the fugue as the standard vehicle for improvising, and was often included, directly or indirectly as a movement in longer instrumental works.
The influence of the baroque directly continued to fade: the figured bass grew less prominent as a means of holding performance together, the performance practices of the mid 18th century continued to die out. However, at the same time, complete editions of baroque masters began to become available, and the influence of baroque style, as the classical period understood it, continued to grow, particularly in the more and more expansive use of brass. Another feature of the period is the growing assumption that the composer would not be present at many performances: and therefore more and more would have to be written down. There were fewer and fewer "optional" parts that stood separately from the main score.
The force of the shift would be made abundantly apparent with Beethoven's 3rd Symphony, subtitled "Eroica". As with Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, it may not have been the first in all of its features, but its aggressive use of every part of the classical style set it apart from its contemporary works: in length, ambition and harmonic resources.
The moment was ripe for a dramatic shift. The decade of the 1790's saw the emergence of a new generation of composers, born between around 1770, who while they had grown up with the earlier styles, found in the recent works of Haydn and Mozart a vehicle for greater expression. In 1788 Luigi Cherubini settled in Paris, and in 1791 composed "Lodoiska", an opera that shot him to fame. Its style is clearly reflective of the mature Haydn and Mozart, and its instrumentation gave it a weight which had not yet been felt in the grand opera. His contemporary Étienne Méhul extended instrumental effects with his 1790 opera "Euphrosine et Coradin", from which followed a series of successes. Of course, the most fateful would would be Ludwig van Beethoven, who launched his numbered works in 1794 with three Piano Trios, which remain played even today. Somewhat younger than these, though equally accomplished because of his youthful study under Mozart and virtuosity, was Johann Nepomuk Hummel, who studied under Haydn and Mozart, was friends with Beethoven and Schubert, and a teacher to Franz Liszt. He concentrated more on the piano than any other instrument, and his time in London in 1791 and 1792 saw the composition, and publication in 1793 of a three piano sonatas, opus 2, which idiomatically used Mozart's techniques of avoiding the expected cadence, and Clementi's sometimes modally uncertain virtuoso figuration. Taken together, these composer can be seen now as the vanguard of a broad change in style and the center of gravity in music. They would study each others works, copy each others gestures in music, and on occasion behave like quarrelsome rivals.
The crucial differences with the previous wave can be seen through the shift in gravity of the melody downward, the increasing length, the acceptance of Mozart and Haydn as paradigmatic, the greater and greater use of keyboard resources, the shift from "vocal" writing to "pianistic" writing, the growing pull of the minor and of modal ambiguity and the increasing importance of varying accompanying figures to bring "texture" forward as an element in music. In short - the late classical was seeking a more complex music internally. The growth of concert societies, amateur orchestras and the importance of music as part of middle class life contributed to a booming market for pianos, piano music, and virtuosi who could provide examples. Hummel, Beethoven, Clementi were all known for their improvising.
One explanation for the shift in style was advanced by Schoenberg and others: the increasing centrality of "theme and variations" in compositional thinking. Schoenberg argued that the classical style was one of "continuing variation", where a development was, in effect, a theme and variations with greater continuity. In any event, theme and variations replaced the fugue as the standard vehicle for improvising, and was often included, directly or indirectly as a movement in longer instrumental works.
The influence of the baroque directly continued to fade: the figured bass grew less prominent as a means of holding performance together, the performance practices of the mid 18th century continued to die out. However, at the same time, complete editions of baroque masters began to become available, and the influence of baroque style, as the classical period understood it, continued to grow, particularly in the more and more expansive use of brass. Another feature of the period is the growing assumption that the composer would not be present at many performances: and therefore more and more would have to be written down. There were fewer and fewer "optional" parts that stood separately from the main score.
The force of the shift would be made abundantly apparent with Beethoven's 3rd Symphony, subtitled "Eroica". As with Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, it may not have been the first in all of its features, but its aggressive use of every part of the classical style set it apart from its contemporary works: in length, ambition and harmonic resources.
