Classical Music: Opera, Orchestra, Forms, and Spanish Influence

Posted on Jan 9, 2025 in Music

Differences Between *Opera Seria* and *Opera Buffa*

*Opera Seria*

  • Initiated by Gluck’s reform.
  • Employs simpler music.
  • Avoids contrasts between aria and recitative.
  • Simple plots.
  • Three acts.
  • Mythological themes with heroic endings.

*Opera Buffa*

  • Uses the language of each country.
  • Everyday themes.
  • Comic and sentimental characters.
  • Notable composer: Mozart.

Differences Between Baroque and Classical Orchestras

Baroque Orchestra

  • Its splendor is due to the evolution of instruments and the appearance of the orchestra.
  • All instrumental families appear: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.
  • Works are based on improvisation, variation, imitative counterpoint of voices, and dance.

Classical Orchestra

  • New instruments are introduced, such as the piano and clarinet.
  • The orchestra evolves.
  • The orchestra’s sonority is broadened by adding new instruments.
  • The timbral element plays a significant role in the orchestra.

Fugue, Sonata, and Suite

Sonata

  • Term meaning “music to be sounded.”
  • Played by instruments.
  • Divided into four movements that contrast in fast and slow tempos, with different textures and rhythms.
  • Similar to the sonatina.
  • Pieces of reduced dimensions, short pieces that do not flaunt complexity.
  • Structure: slow, fast, slow, fast.

Fugue

  • Simple, contrapuntal texture.
  • Systematically based on the use of imitation.

Suite

  • Complex instrumental form.
  • Composed of a succession of dances of different character and a variable number.
  • In the same key and in binary form.
  • Notable composer: Johann Sebastian Bach.

Classical Music in Spain

  • **Opera:** Still dominated by Italian influence, which it tries to counteract.
  • **Zarzuela:** Replaces opera, substituting mythological themes with popular, everyday topics.

*Ballet de Cour*

  • Ballet began its golden age as a result of the collaboration of King Louis XIV and great dance artists.
  • A play that begins with a musical overture and ends with a grand ballet, in which the king himself participated.
  • Performed with elaborate sets, costumes, and masks.

Differences Between Symphonies and Sonatas

Sonata

  • A complex instrumental form for one or two solo instruments.

Symphony

  • A complex instrumental form for a full orchestra.
  • Consists of four movements: allegro, adagio, minuet, allegro.

Differences Between Baroque and Classical Concertos

Baroque Concerto

  • “*Concertare*” means to bring together.
  • A complex form comprised of a succession of three contrasting movements: fast, slow, fast.
  • Can be for a group of soloists or a single instrument that contrasts with the orchestra.

Classical Concerto

  • A complex instrumental form for orchestra and solo piano, violin, or wind instruments.
  • Has three movements: allegro, adagio, allegro.

Musical Instruments in Spain During Classicism

  • The Royal Chapel continued as the main musical center, with Italian musicians arriving at the court.
  • Notable author: Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga, called the “Spanish Mozart.”

Differences Between Baroque and Classical Sonatas

Baroque Sonata

  • Means “music to be sounded.”
  • Played by instruments.
  • Divided into four movements contrasting in fast and slow tempos, with different forms and rhythms.

Classical Sonata

  • Becomes the most widespread model of composition.
  • Applied to the first movement of all instrumental forms.
  • Consists of exposition, development, and recapitulation.