Expert: Pat G - 10/31/2010

Question
hi i'm lisa and i would appreciate it if you could answer my questions ASAP.
1: Where & when did classical music originate from?
2: When it was most popular during(years)
3: The instruments it uses
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THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP

Answer
Hello, lisa,

That SOUNDS like a homework question! We're not really supposed to answer homework questions, so I won't talk about what you might expect. Instead, I'll tell you a few other things. Classical music developed out of the music of the Renaissance in Europe. Thus, there isn't a time when it "started". The first music that is generally called "classical" is in the Baroque style, often characterized by counterpoint (a single melody woven around itself). There have been other styles since then. The classical period includes a composer you may be familiar with: Mozart. This was when the symphony developed. Then came Romantic and Impressionistic music, and then many different styles developed at the same time, in the 20th Century.

I can't say when classical music was most popular. That's rather of an opinion, I think. Is it more popular when more people are listening to it, or when a greater percentage of the population is listening to it? How do you compare its popularity before sound recordings with its popularity after sound recordings? What about before and after radio? What about its popularity in Asia, in Japan, for instance, where Beethoven has been a special favorite for many years, and more recently, the Japanese have fallen in love with Bach?

For the instruments it uses, Google "symphony". Most of the instruments are in a symphony orchestra. So I won't name those here. Instruments also include keyboard: harpsichord, clavichord, fortepiano, the modern piano, organ. And there are mandolins, guitars, harp, celesta (used in Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker), glass harmonica (which Mozart sometimes used), and so forth. There were quite a few instruments that were used for awhile and then nobody used them anymore. For example, Schubert wrote a piece for arpeggione and since this instrument is rarely used anymore, it is generally played on the modern viola.

And other instruments are in a few compositions, such as saxophone, alphorn, harmonica, accordion, and others. There are forms of classical music from Asia, some from before western influence, and some from after. This music uses a variety of Asian musical instruments, including sitar (for example, sitar and violin appear in the same composition together, because eastern and western performers made a recording). And the human voice is also a musical instrument. Then there are various electronic instruments. The first was the theremin, which was used primarily in movie music. Then there was the Moog synthesizer (Walter/Wendy Carlos did recordings of Bach pieces and others on synthesizer). And nowadays, the Midi keyboard is used a lot. There are many different percussion instruments as well, and some of them are only used occasionally. For example, Gershwin's An American in Paris uses French taxi horns! Real ones, if an orchestra can rent them.

I realize that this probably doesn't directly answer your question. But I'm interested in getting you to think outside the box, and to become fascinated (if you aren't already). :) I hope it helps.