Once considered the masterpiece of expression, classical music today occupies around four percent of the recorded marketplace. Since classical formats disappear from the airways and orchestras continue cutting budgets, some viewers blame this situation on the era of rock-n-roll explosion that took place in 1950’s. Other observers argue that the blame lies on modern classical music that tends to reject traditional composition elements. However, the main difference between classical and modern music genres may lie in how they are perceived and marketed today. Modern and classical music, both being parts of the cultural frame of reference of the majority of Americans, combine and share different aspects of musical language.
Modern and classical music differ in various ways. The main and most obvious way is the respective time periods of the music genres. Classical music is typically referred to the music made before the 19th century and modern genre is the music that appeared after the 19th century. Both styles vastly differ in such ways as form, purpose, style, instrumentation and method of creation.
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"Difference between Classical and Modern Music".
When considering instrumentation, classical music genre is performed by the set of acoustic instruments. The group of instruments includes the viola, violin, cello, upright bass, flute, piccolo, tuba, French horn, trumpet, oboe, saxophone, trombone, clarinet and bassoon. It is worth mentioning that all of these instruments usually appear in large orchestras, while smaller chamber ensembles engage only some of them. Typical chamber ensembles include brass quintets, string quartets and woodwind quintets. Modern music genre exploits such instruments as the electric bass, electric guitar and keyboard. While both music genres use percussion instruments, classical music often uses its drumming section with several players each performing on separate instruments. On the other hand, modern music often involves a musician performing the drum set, at times accompanied by one or two percussionists playing exotic instruments.
Classical music mainly consists of instrumental compositions of a variety of sections. Symphony is a typical example of classical genre that consists of four movements. Other forms of classical music are the rondo, concerto, mass, sonata and oratorio. These compositions may last anywhere from minutes to several hours. In comparison to classical, modern music genre uses much shorter forms primarily lasting several minutes. There exist fewer forms of modern music with the songs consisting of a sequence of verses and choruses in different orders.
Classical music has more nuances to style than modern. In classical genre, accent is placed on the interpretation and emotion players put into a written piece of music. Classical music is also known for its wide dynamic range and often speeds up and slows down at various movements. While modern music often reflects emotion through the singer to the audience, there tends to be more emphasis on variation and improvisation than in classical music genre.
Another way that sets classical music apart from modern is its purpose. Classical music sees its purpose in entertaining the audience and stimulating the listeners intellectually and emotionally. While modern music is also developed to stimulate its public, it greatly differs from classical in several ways. Majority of modern music is created merely for dancing, which is unusual for classical music genre outside of the ballet. Even though both modern and classical genres have been used commercially, modern music appears in advertisements and jingles much more often than classical.
The composition of both types of music varies greatly. Keeping in mind long forms of classical music genre, it was not unusual for composers to take years or decades to finish the work. Classical music is usually formed by introducing many motifs and themes that are created gradually throughout a piece. On the contrary, modern music genre often exploits much fewer ideas and motifs. Also modern music is usually centered on a singer and often it is the first instrument for which a composer starts creating. On a contrary, in classical music, it is often more common for a musician to write at a piano, imagining all the instruments of the orchestra performing various parts.
Every epoch brings novelty and innovations that are often resisted by traditionalists, but with time become accepted and normal. Why different people develop particular attachments to certain genres and pieces of music is a question taste, background and numerous other reasons. But, nevertheless, all music genres deserve to exist, entertain and satisfy diverse music tastes of its audience.
