The Development of the Classical Symphony: Haydn

The Development of the Classical Symphony: Haydn (1793) – Beethoven (1801 – 1824)

Background

Music, like other forms of art, evolved from numerous traditions that, when taken together, formed a new way of thinking about, and performing, certain types of works. Audiences change over time, and certain musical compositions that sound odd or strange to one audience are often accepted by others (e.g. the rioting during the premier of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring). When people think of classical music, for instance, they tend to think of the three B's (Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms). Certainly, these three giants of music were part of the evolution from the Baroque to the Romantic, each building upon one another's work over two centuries. However, in that time there were numerous other composers who helped develop and forever change harmony, theory, instrumentation, and all manner of musical interpretation. We will begin with an overview of the Baroque era as a basis for our study of the classical symphony, a form that still today tends to define symphonic music for many people. We will then turn to an overview of the transition to the classical era, focusing on Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven in both biographical and stylistic evaluation, and then a brief individual analysis of some of their major works in the symphonic tradition, particularly focusing on their importance to the Viennese "Classical" School, how history, philosophy and politics were reflected in music, and the development and evolution of the symphonic form.

The Baroque

Of the many artists of the Baroque, the music of Johann Sebastian Bach seems to epitomize the era more than any other composer. Bach composed at a time in which the entire philosophical framework of the arts and culture was rapidly changing; worlds had been discovered in faraway places, philosophers and politicians were positing new thoughts, and a radical idea of individual rights and the ability to intellectually transcend the ordinary into the sublime. Many times this was in tandem with religion, but there was also new secularization within the constructs of culture. To understand the composers who came after Bach, we must understand Bach's style – for it was Bach that began the tradition that would later be embellished by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.

We must keep in mind that the historical view of eras is an artificial way of linking trends in art, architecture, and philosophical thought. The Baroque was a style that began to arise out of the Renaissance in the later part of the 16th century, and depending on the medium, lasted until the early 18th century. Most describe it as more florid, dynamic, more emotional and a move away from