Classical music - online puzzles

Classical music is art music produced or rooted in the traditions of Western culture, including both liturgical (religious) and secular music. While a more precise term is also used to refer to the period from 1750 to 1820 (the Classical period), this article is about the broad span of time from before the 6th century AD to the present day, which includes the Classical period and various other periods. The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common-practice period. The major time divisions of Western art music are as follows:

the ancient music period, before 500 AD

the early music period, which includes

the Medieval (500–1400) including

the ars antiqua (1170–1310)

the ars nova (1310–1377)

the ars subtilior (1360–1420)

the Renaissance (1400–1600) eras.

Baroque (1600–1750)

the galant music period (1720s–1770s)

the common-practice period, which includes

Baroque (1600–1750)

the galant music period (1720s–1770s)

Classical (1750–1820)

Romantic eras (c.1780–1910)

the 20th and 21st centuries (1901–present) which includes:

the modern (1890–1930) that overlaps from the late- 19th century,

impressionism (1875 or 1890–1925) that also overlaps from the late- 19th century

neoclassicism (1920–1950), predominantly in the inter- war period

the high modern (1930–present)

the postmodern (1930–present) eras

the experimental (1950–present)

contemporary (1945 or 1975–present)

European art music is largely distinguished from many other non-European classical and some popular musical forms by its system of staff notation, in use since about the 11th century. Western staff notation is used by composers to indicate to the performer the pitches (which form the melodies, basslines and chords), tempo, metre and rhythms for a piece of music. This can leave less room for practices such as improvisation and ad libitum ornamentation, which are frequently heard in non-European art music and in popular- music styles such as jazz and blues. Another difference is that whereas most popular styles adopt the song (strophic) form or a derivation of this form, classical music has been noted for its development of highly sophisticated forms of instrumental music such as the symphony, concerto, fugue, sonata, and mixed vocal and instrumental styles such as opera, cantata, and mass.

The term "classical music " did not appear until the early 19th century, in an attempt to distinctly canonize the period from Johann Sebastian Bach to Ludwig van Beethoven as a golden age. The earliest reference to "classical music " recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is from about 1829.