Many works make use of musical development

Looking back in history, the term ‘classical music’ did not crop up until the early 19th century and it is not referred to English dictionaries until after the period ended. There are various styles of music that fall into the definition of classical; these include symphonies, opera, choral works and chamber music.

Common with its musical characteristics are the use of dynamics and orchestral colour in a thematic way; the use of rhythm, including periodic structure and harmonic rhythm, to provide structure in large-scale forms, along with the use of modulation to build longer spans of tension and release.

This form of music is easily identifiable by its wide use of instruments of varying tones and pitches used to create a deep, rich sound. The development of new and more complicated instruments seriously impacted styles of classical music as they became available. There are no set instruments that had to be used for classical music, composers wrote for different groupings including orchestras, wind ensembles or various combinations of instruments for chamber music. Instruments like the piano, violins, cellos, flutes and trumpets were used. Singers were also used, which invented its own series of classical music, namelythe Opera. Composers also wrote solo pieces for a specific instrument, accompanied by piano.

Classical music composers often aspired to instil in their music a very complex relationship between its affective (emotional) content and the intellectual means by which is it achieved. Many works make use of musical development, the process by which a musical idea is repeated in different contexts or in altered form. Music scholars study this use of form and repetition and seek to unlock the reasons why some composers manage to execute the technique effectively while others simply fall into the trap of further harming their compositions. Some of classical music’s greatest melodies have used the process so well they have remained in the minds of listeners for centuries.

Another identifier of the classical style is the way it is passed on accurately using written music notation rather by oral transmission, which would undoubtedly create numerous variations. This is a very good method of preserving the piece as the written music contains the technical instructions for performing the work. Music notation from the classical era does however leave some interpretation open in several areas like performance, apart from directions for dynamics, tempo and expression; this is left to the discretion of the performers, who are guided by their personal experience and musical education or their knowledge of the work’s idiom.