Classical Music and the Development of Orchestra, Harmony and Choral Forms

Music History
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Introduction
Early music greatly influenced the development of classical music in terms of orchestration, harmony, and form. The influence led to the advancement of range, rhythm, harmony, form, and notation in the classical music works. With the incorporation of early music chromatics, the classical music works developed a new face. Composers in the classical period were offered a broad field, from which they could make decisions concerning music. Classical music enthralled techniques such as instrumentals, lyrics and dances from the early music, thus influencing the structural composition of music. Classical music period also evolved from the renaissance period, responding to musical philosophies' advancement, and bestowing further prospects for composers and musicians to reconnoiter. A general view of the classical music works reveals its significant reflections of the musical styles of the early periods. Classical music simply gives reference to the orchestral, harmony and choral forms that distinguish it from the rest of distinct early periods.
Orchestra
The influence of early music on classical music led to the evolution of the orchestra. The classical music orchestra was similar to that of the early music though it was a little bit expanded. The orchestra was grouped into six units. They include; duet, quartet, string quartet, chamber orchestra, symphony, and philharmonic orchestra. The duet orchestra involved two performers in a piece of music. The quartet orchestra involved four performers. The symphony orchestra influenced pre-classical work, which led to its establishment during the classical period. Classical music incorporated a chamber orchestra which consisted of a small orchestra of artists. The chamber orchestra did not include solo instruments as it was the case in the early music. However, it incorporated the guitar, viol and rebec among other string instruments used in the early renaissance period music. An example of an orchestra incorporated by classical music was woodwinds; baroque flute.[Georges, Patrick. "Western classical music development: a statistical analysis of composers similarity, differentiation and evolution." Scientometrics 112, no. 1 (2017): 32.] [Afshari, Farazi. "A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY ON CLASSICAL MUSIC AND COMPARISON WITH OTHER MUSIC STYLES, TYPES, AND GENRES." (Research Gate, 2018), 13]
Musical instrumentation
The early music influence also led the classical music composers to incorporate the basic ensembles in their works. For instance, the use of strings in classical music was an influence from the baroque era. Note that the musical instruments adopted from the early music were refurbished and improved. The advancement in tools forced music composers to learn about instruments since they were the primary elements in the development of music. The progress of instruments forced the music composers to standardize the orchestration. As a result, the use of string instruments was improved, and the tools such as flutes, trumpets, oboes, bassoons, and clarinets were categorized in pairs. The clarinets were also categorized under the woodwind aspects. Music pieces were composed of motives, from one instrument to another, thus giving orchestration a new face.[Uremusic. "Similarities of Classical and Baroque Music." (Uremusic, 2016), 19]
Musical composition and motives
The early music also provided ground for classical music composers to embrace new musical composition methods. While the style of music evolved, more advancement took place. Composers were obligated to study the counterpoint to learn about independent lines through advanced orchestration. The study of counterpoint enabled the composers from the classical period to simplify music and enhance the clarity of the melodies. Just like other aspects, with the help of past experiences, some music elements get refined. An example is the rise in the use of instrumental concerto and musical symphony that were directed to a wider audience. There was an introduction of the chamber music that enabled classical music composers to develop new signatory compositions to fit the new style of music.[America Long Form. "The Evolution of Classical Music." (America Long Form, 2016), 19] [Koshall. "Difference Between Classical and Baroque." (Difference Between, 2011), 8]
Classical era music composers experienced the most significant developments of orchestration. There was significant standardization of the orchestra with the influence of early period musical instrumentation styles. For instance, there was introduction of different strings (such as the instrumental concerto and the symphony) that was a signature composition for new classical composers. With the new developments, there is evidence of classical orchestra style that held on to the early musical and instrumental composition. As a matter of fact, the classical orchestra was a seed of the classical age that was sown by various composers, such as Haydn, Mozart and Schobert, from early periods. These were composers of the early musical eras. During the renaissance period, they were involved in the creation of string instruments including the first and second violin, violas and double basses that spearheaded the rises of the London symphonies. These early compositions could be incorporated in the orchestra as part of the woodwind section of the trumpets that were used independently. Therefore, early music compositions and musical instrumentation had a significant bearing on orchestration in many ways that influence musical motives and consciousness of various classical works.[Matthay, Christopher. "The Classical-Period Development Section: Compositional Strategies of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert." (2019).] [Pepe, Kevin. “History of Music - the Method behind the Music.” (the method behind music, 2019).] [Koshall. "Difference Between Classical and Baroque." (Difference Between, 2011), 9]
Methods of music composition
The early music composition was also responsible for the advancements of the classical era music works. The most important aspect of the development involved the methods of musical composition and how they influenced changes in the orchestra. In this case, music composers from early periods, like Haydn and Beethoven, created the best known musical motives of the western music using the four-note groups of symphonies. These symphony groups became the building blocks for classical period works because it influenced the move from musical instrument, to musical instrument and motives. The shift in focus from the early musical instrumentation, to a more advanced musical instrumentation and motives gave a new facet to the classical orchestration process. In the end, the classical tradition incorporated new slow movements with a combination of orchestra and piano. This art of orchestration resulting from the early percussion and instrumentation has become a key factor in the artistic quality of the classical music. Classical music after the early renaissance period enabled contemporary musicians' to increase accuracy and versatility in pitch and rhythm notation. Therefore, classical era music may be traced back to early renaissance musical institutions that invented the key instruments that shaped various musical bands.[Howell, Gillian. "Harmony." (2018), 10] [Wildridge, Dr Justin, Maykon Carlos Lima, Calvin Ayo, and James Willilam. “Dr Justin Wildridge.” CMUSE, March 7, 2020] [America Long Form. "The Evolution of Classical Music." (America Long Form, 2016), 3]
Harmony
The early music also influenced the harmony of the classical period music. It contained harmonic fantasies and did not concentrate on the structure of the musical piece, axioms, and drives. In classical period music, the harmony was much simpler, and the composers focused on the music structure. Classical music also adopted the early music symphonies and concertos; however, they were independent of vocal voices compared to the early music. For instance, instead of the composer using a single pitch, they could now create several sounds and pitches simultaneously. Early music influenced classical music to adopt part of Baroque era harmony. However, classical music adopted homophony from the baroque's era with different objectives. Classical music aimed to achieve systematic, regular, and modest expression in the melodic tunes and harmonies pulling them down. During the classical period, the purpose of harmony was implemented, whereby the composers were supposed to adhere to the rules enforced on music's harmony.[Bowman, Judith. “Music History/Musicology.” (The Music Professor Online, 2022), 145–74.] [Uremusic. "Similarities of Classical and Baroque Music." 2016. 24] [Weiss, Christof, and Meinard Müller. "Tonal complexity features for style classification of classical music." (2015), 690]
Early music also influenced classical music into adopting various musical genres. Classical music adopted the opera genre, introduced during the baroque period. Later on, opera was classified as the most significant genre in classical music. Opera resulted from musicians and poets coming together and performing musical work. Similarly, the Baroque era influenced tonality by standardizing tonal practice and increasing the significance of musical instruments, which later developed into ensembles of considerable size during the classical period. The music artists during the Baroque era influenced the classical period music artists’ ability to build outright music, which included concertos, symphonies, and string quartets.[Brians, Collins. “Music History from Primary Sources  :  A Guide to the Moldenhauer. The Library of Congress, 2018.] [String Ovation. "The Classical Period of Music." (String Ovation, 2019), 1.]
The influence of early period music on classical music enabled dramatic shifts in music instrumentation, melody, and mode. The classical harmonics were modest with phrases and drives. Composers in this era utilized modulations to differentiate between the keys based on the music ideas. They were able to create music that revolves around tonic and overall harmony. Similarly, through the influence of early music, the classical period composers were motivated to create lucidity and modesty in musical pieces by incorporating homophonic textures that enabled individuals to differentiate the music background. Classical music introduced the fortepiano and took hold of the harpsichord due to the increased reliability that it provided.[Matthay, Christopher. "The Classical-Period Development Section: CompositionalStrategies of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert." (2019).]
The incorporation of the piano later resulted in the development of the sonata musical form. The influence of early music made the classical composers more prescriptive in the notation utilization. During the Baroque era, bass lines were provided with figures that recommended the chords to be incorporated. The classical composers' prescriptiveness influenced the concertos to a degree they were almost written of.[Andrew, "The English piano in the Classical Period: Its Music, Performers, and Influences" (PhD diss., City University London, 2010), 23.]
Intensity of musical expres...