Ever wondered how we got from Bach to the Beatles?
Buckle up for a whirlwind tour through the captivating evolution of classical music. Forget dusty textbooks – we're diving into the seven distinct eras that shaped the sounds we know and love. From the elegant melodies of the Baroque to the revolutionary harmonies of the Modern period, each era tells a fascinating story of innovation and artistic expression.
Get ready to discover the key characteristics, iconic composers, and defining moments that make each of these musical chapters so unique. Let's explore the vibrant tapestry of classical music history together!
Classical music eras: the early days
1. Early Music (until 1400)
Hear music's ancient roots: pure, often surprisingly vibrant sounds with unique textures and melodies from centuries past.
This actually covers a huge period – essentially everything before and during the Medieval era, right up until the Renaissance when things started to really take off. Religion played a huge role, the church being one of the only arenas for public music-making.
As such, music for the voice is massively important at this time. There were noisemakers, though… percussion and wind instruments can of course be traced back to early humans – actual horns, bone flutes and alike – but they became more advanced. There were bagpipes, too! Around 1400 the earliest harpsichords begin to make an appearance.
Famous Early Music composers
Hildegard von Bingen, Dufay, Pérotin, Machaut
Start here: The Early Music Collection (Naxos)
2. The Renaissance (1400-1600)
Experience flowing melodies, rich harmonies, and vocal beauty; a golden age where music blossomed with elegance and grace.
Second in our timeline of music eras, the Renaissance music period is a bit like the curtains finally being opened in Miss Havisham’s dark, dusty old sitting room, the light streaming in at last. Music is revived, composers allowed to think beyond the church walls. Science, art and mythology all become fair game for inspiring new music.
That said, the church is still massively influential and if Top of the Pops was on, sacred works would continue to dominate the chart. So choral music is king, but stringed instruments are on the rise; viols, lute, cello, etcetera. Organs are cool, too, and the harpsichord comes into its own. Oh, and notated music is becoming a thing now, thanks to to something called printing.
Famous Renaissance composers
Josquin des Prez, Thomas Tallis (try his luminous, 40-part motet Spem in Alium below) and the murderous Carlo Gesualdo. Plus the likes of Monteverdi, Gibbons and Byrd, whose music-making would go on into the next period.
Start here: The Hilliard Ensemble – Renaissance Music (Erato)
3. The Baroque era (1600-1750)
Dramatic, ornamented music with grand gestures, energetic rhythms. Plus, the rise of opera and instrumental virtuosity.
Music really begins to dazzle, composers – and musicians – start to show off a bit. Classical music kind of comes into its own during this time, the forms, structures and techniques we are familiar with today are set out in the Baroque.
Major and minor keys are used (instead of ‘modes’), notation systems are updated, forms (like the fugue) developed and a little thing called the orchestra rears its head. Then there’s opera, that’s new too, along with all manner of other ‘types’ of work such as the related oratorio and cantata (such as Bach's 'Wachet Auf', or 'Sleepers Awake', below).
With the orchestra comes the very early signs of the symphony, while concertos are a popular format for composers. Instrument-wise, strings really come into their own, along with woodwind, valveless horns and trumpets and the timpani. Boom!
Famous Baroque composers
JS Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi. Here are our top Baroque composers.
Start here: Bach: Brandenburg Concertos (English Chamber Orchestra / Benjamin Britten / Decca)
Classical music eras: the middle periods of classical music
4. The Classical era (1750-1830)
Elegant, balanced melodies and clear structures; think Mozart and Haydn – refined beauty and pleasing harmony
Form, structure and clean lines really float people’s boats right now. So, the flowery wallpaper has been stripped and the frilly, trilly bits in music begin to bow out, making way for lighter, clearer musical lines.
Less is more, so instrumental music is on the rise and the piano sonata is popular. The orchestra has come into its own, the symphony and string quartet – largely thanks to Haydn – are things composers aim to conquer, along with more opera and choral music.
Famous Classical composers
Time to bring out the big guns… Haydn, Beethoven (or early Beethoven, at least), Mozart.
Start here: Haydn: London Symphonies (Concertgebouw Orchestra / Colin Davis)
5. The Romantic era (1800-1900)
Expressive, passionate music full of emotion, drama, and soaring melodies; think big feelings and personal stories in sound
Passions ran high in the Romantic era; drama, expression, poetry and tall tales were the order of the day. The shining marble columns of the Classical era began to dull, crack even, as composers just wanted to loosen their collars.
Music really began to ‘say’ something directly to audiences, works began to have more meaning, or at least were more extrovert, and their connections to art and literature were clear for all to hear. Lieder, art song and chamber music really came into their own – the French salon scene was popular with a thriving middle- and upper-middle class.
Opera and ballet also boomed, with the likes of Wagner, Verdi, Rossini, Puccini and Tchaikovsky on the scene. The piano evolved into the instrument we know and love – Steinway was founded in the 1850s.
Famous Romantic composers
Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Brahms. Robert Schumann, Chopin, Berlioz, Dvořák. Later, Elgar, Debussy and Fauré would go on to dominate the early 20th-Century period. Here are our top Romantic composers.
Start here: Brahms: The Symphonies (Staatskapelle Berlin / Daniel Barenboim / DG)
Classical music eras: the most modern periods of classical music
6. The 20th century (1900-2000)
Bold, diverse, and experimental sounds; challenging conventions and exploring new sonic landscapes beyond traditional harmony
The dawn of a new century! The world’s increasingly complex political landscape inspired a lot of artists and composers. So the first decades of this era include responses to conflict, political oppression and the atomic age.
Stylistically it’s a case of ‘anything goes’, with the Second Viennese School (Schoenberg, Berg, Webern…) aiming to show the world that tonal music ain’t all that. Patterns, pictures and abstract sounds float to the surface; Impressionists are doing their thing in France, as are the Minimalists in the US.
Brand new art forms emerge, with the cinema offering composers new opportunities. Technology evolves at an astonishing pace and in no time we have strange new sounds competing with (and joining) the orchestra – from the sound waves of the theremin to the Moog synthesiser and beyond. The sky is really the limit for music by the end of the period.
Famous 20th century composers
Elgar, Debussy, Fauré (told you they’d be back), plus Holst, Britten, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Bernstein, Copland, Satie, Vaughan Williams, Philip Glass, John Adams, John Williams… we could go on, and on.
Start here: Shostakovich: Symphonies 5 & 9 (Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Vassily Petrenko / Naxos)
7. The 21st century (2000-present)
An eclectic mix of styles, blending traditions with new technologies; diverse voices and fresh sonic explorations continue.
Today, musical boundaries are beginning to blur, as technological and stylistic attitudes shift. ‘Post-Classical’ music (another confusing term, with plenty of overlap with the ambient genre) often refers to the quasi-Minimalism of Max Richter and Ludovico Einaudi.
Recognisable classical elements fuse with designed soundscapes, either created with the aid of a computer, or actual musicians. Film music has inspired a whole generation of composers and musicians, so new music can be ‘cinematic’ without ever going near a film. Then there’s music for videogames, which came into its own in the last 20 years.
Periods change, composers influenced by all that came before. Whatever your view, today is really no different. Composers are still writing operas, symphonies, concertos, but they’re also writing film scores, game scores, music for art installations. Composers can be rock stars (haven’t they always been, to someone?), rock stars/DJs/producers can be composers. It’s all music.
Famous 21st century composers
(Deep breath...) Philip Glass, Thomas Adès, Jennifer Higdon, Karl Jenkins, Ludovico Einaudi, Ólafur Arnalds, Max Richter, Hans Zimmer, Caroline Shaw
Start here: Ludovico Einaudi: Islands (Decca)
All pics: Getty Images
