Editing History of music (section)

====Classical====
{{Main|Classical period (music)}}
{{see also|List of Classical-era composers}}
{{multiple image
| perrow            = 2
| total_width       = 300
| image1            = Joseph Haydn.jpg
| image2            = Wolfgang-amadeus-mozart 1.jpg
| image3            = Joseph Karl Stieler's Beethoven mit dem Manuskript der Missa solemnis.jpg
| image4            = Franz Schubert by Wilhelm August Rieder 1875 larger version.png
| footer            = The principal composers of the [[Classical period (music)|Classical]] period and the [[Transition from Classical to Romantic music|transition to Romanticism]], collectively known as the [[First Viennese School]]. Clockwise, from top left: [[Joseph Haydn]] ([[Thomas Hardy (English painter)|Hardy]], 1791); [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] ([[Johann Nepomuk della Croce|della Croce]], 1781); [[Ludwig van Beethoven]] ([[Joseph Karl Stieler|Stieler]], 1820); and [[Franz Schubert]] ([[Wilhelm August Rieder|Rieder]], 1875).
}}

The music of the [[Classical period (music)|Classical period]] is characterized by [[homophonic texture]], or an obvious [[melody]] with [[accompaniment]]. These new melodies tended to be almost voice-like and singable, allowing composers to actually replace singers as the focus of the music. Instrumental music therefore quickly replaced [[opera]] and other sung forms (such as [[oratorio]]) as the favorite of the musical audience and the epitome of great composition. However, opera did not disappear: during the classical period, several composers began producing operas for the general public in their native languages (previous operas were generally in Italian).

Along with the gradual displacement of the voice in favor of stronger, clearer melodies, counterpoint also typically became a decorative flourish, often used near the end of a work or for a single [[Movement (music)|movement]]. In its stead, simple patterns, such as arpeggios and, in piano music, [[Alberti bass]] (an accompaniment with a repeated pattern typically in the left hand), were used to liven the movement of the piece without creating a confusing additional voice. The now-popular instrumental music was dominated by several well-defined forms: the [[sonata (music)|sonata]], the [[symphony]], and the [[concerto]], though none of these were specifically defined or taught at the time as they are now in [[music theory]]. All three derive from [[sonata form]], which is both the overlying form of an entire work and the structure of a single movement. Sonata form matured during the Classical era to become the primary form of instrumental compositions throughout the 19th century.

The early Classical period was ushered in by the [[Mannheim School]], which included such composers as [[Johann Stamitz]], [[Franz Xaver Richter]], [[Carl Stamitz]], and [[Christian Cannabich]]. It exerted a profound influence on [[Joseph Haydn]] and, through him, on all subsequent European music. [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] was the central figure of the Classical period, and his phenomenal and varied output in all genres defines our perception of the period. [[Ludwig van Beethoven]] and [[Franz Schubert]] were transitional composers, leading into the Romantic period, with their expansion of existing genres, forms, and even functions of music.