Composers and Musical Periods

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This musical period had an emphasis on subjective and emotional possibilities in music, and includes genres such as character pieces and tone poems.

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Romantic

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This musical period had an emphasis on clear-cut musical structures and genres such as string quartets and symphonies. An important characteristic of this musical period includes the sonata-allegro form.

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Classical period

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This musical period had an emphasis on musical colors and manipulation of melodic fragments. Claude Debussy is credited as the founder of this period.

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Impressionism

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This musical period used the figured bass, terraced dynamics and had genres such as the cantata and fugue.

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Baroque

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Which musical period's defining feature is polyphony which has two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody? It also introduced madrigals and motets.

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Renaissance

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Born in Germany in 1685, this composer is from the Baroque era. His most famous works include The Brandenburg Concerto and Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. His death in 1750 marked the end of the Baroque era.

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Johann Sebastian Bach

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Who was born in 1685 in Germany, spent most of his life in England, and is most famous for his English oratorio The Messiah and his composition Water Music?

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George Frideric Handel

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Who is the composer known for his 4 violin concertos known as The Four Seasons (Winter, Summer, Spring and Autumn), born in 1678 in Venice, Italy during the Baroque era?

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Antonio Vivaldi

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Who was born in 1770 in Germany, active in the Classical period, spent much of his life in Vienna, became famous despite gradual deafness, and is known for his 9 symphonies (especially #5 and #9) and the piano solo Fur Elise, as well as the opera Fidelio?

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Ludwig van Beethoven

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Who was born in 1732 in Austria, active in the Classical era, friends with Mozart, a mentor to Beethoven, considered the originator of the string quartet, and best known for The Surprise Symphony and The Clock Symphony?

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Joseph Haydn