The Classical Orchestra

 Classical

Period  The Orchestra  Instruments  The Concerto

 Began

around 1750  At that time, composers worked for royalty and aristocrats  Paid to write music for official events, church services, and entertainment  Patrons (employers) had to approve

 Society

changed – middle class people had more money and wanted entertainment  Public concert halls were built  By the 1800s, composers could earn good money from ticket sales  More freedom to compose for the audience instead of pleasing their employers.  WOOO

HOOO!!!

 At

first, composers wrote for small orchestras  Mainly strings, with horns and oboes.

 Later

on, the woodwind section grew

 Clarinets were invented and included  Bassoons were introduced too

 The

brass section grew too

 Trumpets were added

 So

did the percussion section

 Timpanis were also included

 Harpsichord

(remember the Baroque

era?)  Some

early Classical music still had

it  To fill in the harmonies

 But

soon, composers stopped using it because of extra woodwind instruments

 Most

important section in the Classical orchestra is the strings  Dominant sound in most Classical music

 Violins

generally play most of the

tunes  Tunes refer to the melody parts

 Wind

instruments play extra notes

 To fill out the harmony  If they get a tune, they mostly double

the strings  In

later Classical music, woodwinds started to play the tune alone  However, the strings were still really, really, really important though

Healthy Harpsichord

 This

is a typical layout for a later Classical orchestra: