Melody:
Graceful and elegant melodic ideas and involves the use of sequences.
Texture:
Frequent use of melody-dominated texture, usually with the tune on the top.
Accompaniment:
Accompaniments that clearly outline the harmony, with chords/ broken chord pattern (like Alberti bass).
Dynamics:
Dynamic shaping, with use of crescendo and diminuendo (Obvious contrasting dynamics).
Structure:
Regular, obvious, and generally predictable phrase lengths that are clearly punctuated with cadences. For example: 2+2+4 Bars, or 4+4+8 Bars. Phrase structure usually involves sequences- same pattern, but starts on a different note.
Harmony:
Straightforward tonic-dominant-oriented functional harmony, with harmonic movement (rate of chord change) tending to speed up towars cadence points.
Click the pictures to learn more about the composers of the Classical Period!
Franz Peter Schubert
Domenico Cimarosa
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Franz Joseph Haydn
Niccolò Jommelli
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
