Classical

Classical music is normally used to describe a variety of western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, especially the sixteenth and seventeenth to the nineteenth. However the classical period falls between the Baroque and Romantic periods. The texture is clearer than Baroque music and less complex. It is mostly homophonic melody above the chordal accompaniment, but has no counterpoint. The variety and contrast within a piece becomes more pronounced than before. The melodies tended to be shorter than the ones that were seen in the previous period the importance was given to instrumental music, the main type were the sonata, trio, string quartet, symphony, concerto, serenade and divertimiento. All though the sonata developed and became the most important form, being used to build up the first movement of most large-scale works, as well as single pieces.