What was going on in the world from
1750 - 1820
• During this time, medical vaccination
was discovered and so was electricity
by Benjamin Franklin.
• The first steamship crossed the Atlantic
and factories used water and steam
powered machinery.
• During the Classical Era three great
revolutions took place: the American
Revolution, the French Revolution,
and the Industrial Revolution.
Classical Era
1750-1820
• Composers changed style of music
from ornamented and intricate to
clean, organized, and uncluttered.
• Simpler texture – homophony.
• Popularity of public concerts
increased popularity of orchestras
making them bigger in size.
• Further development of brass and
woodwind instruments.
• Sonata form became more distinct.
Composers in Classical Era
Joseph Haydn
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Born in 1732 in Austria died in Vienna at
age 77.
• His nickname was “Papa Haydn” which
sums up his affectionate personality.
• Other nickname – Father of the
Symphony.
• He is one of 12 children. A BIG family.
• He married one of his students, though it
was a disaster from the start, and they
soon separated.
• He met Mozart and the two were good
friends who admired each others works.
• Beethoven was one of his students, who
was too free and original to be a good
student.
• For 29 years he worked for Prince
Esterhazy who loved music.
Symphony no. 94 Surprise Symphony
Composers in Classical Era
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Born in 1756 in Salzburg, Germany
and died at age 35 in Vienna, Austria.
He was a child prodigy. He could
compose, and play the violin and piano
by the time he was 6.
He toured Europe with his father and
sister, performing for 3 years straight
until they returned home to his mother.
Mozart married Constance and had
two sons.
He composed more in his short
lifetime than most composers
combined.
He died of a fever just weeks before
his birthday. There was rumor that the
jealous composer Salieri poisoned
him, though it was never proven.
Piano Sonata no. 16
The Magic Flute opera
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sonata form
Mozart’s piano sonata No. 16 K.545 Sonata Facile
Mozart’s Father and Mother
Boy Mozart and Sister
Mozart’s wife and 2 sons
Composers in Classical Era
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Gioacchino Rossini
Born in Italy in 1792 died in Paris in
1868 at age 76.
Both his parents were musicians, his
father a horn player, his mother a
singer.
He was a good-humored man who
enjoyed composing comic operas.
He married Isabella Colbran, though
they were not happy together.
He was a large over-weight man, a
tobacco snuffer, and wore a wig.
He married again when his wife died,
though he never had children.
More than 6,000 people attended his
funeral in Paris.
Barber of Seville
Composers in Classical Era
Ludwig Van Beethoven
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Born in Germany in 1770 died in Vienna,
Austria in 1827 at age 57.
He was an unattractive and clumsy child,
and the only talent he displayed was in
music.
He was eccentric and untidy in his
appearance and lifestyle and was often rude
to everybody.
He never married, and his love life remained
a mystery.
Beethoven had dreamed of studying with
Mozart, though he died the year before. So
instead he studied with Haydn.
At the height of his career he started to lose
his hearing and eventually lost it entirely.
He died of pneumonia during a
thunderstorm; all of Vienna closed for his
funeral.
The Bridge between the Classical and
Romantic Eras
Fur Elise