The Musical Instruments and the Classical Music By S. Tolstova and K. Mayman

Classical Music Great Shakespeare wrote: The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils; The motions of his spirit are dull as night. And his affections dark as Erebus. Let no such man be trusted. Mark the Music.

Introduction And indeed music is so powerful that it conquers our souls and enriches our minds. It appeals to our hearts, transforms our feelings and reflects our moods and emotions. Music is beauty in sounds and it is our magic source of inspiration. Musical genres are very various and musical tastes are subjective. But everyone has been admiring classical music for centuries as it promotes loving feelings and awakens souls. Different periods in the history of music gave the priceless gift to the world – the talented outstanding composers and their masterpieces.

The Renaissance. Monteverdi The Renaissance period of classical music endured from the 15th century to the 17th century. It’s connected with such great names as Claudio Monteverdi and Thomas Tallis, who were Italian and English composers respectively. The era is mostly characterised with the church, not secular music, although Monteverdi managed to write the first popular opera. In fact, the first ever opera was written eleven years before his one, but Monteverdi made the opera a widely known genre of music. Claudio Monteverdi

The Baroque Period.Vivaldi The Baroque period lasted from about the 17th century until the mid-18th century, associated with such composers as Antonio Vivaldi and Henry Purcell. Vivaldi was the most important composer in Italy at the end of the Baroque period. He wrote concertos for various instruments, especially for the violin. He also taught at a school for orphaned girls and wrote a lot of music for his pupils to play. Vivaldi’s most popular work is the group of four violin concertos called “The Four Seasons”. Antonio Vivaldi

The Classical Period. Mozart The mid-18th century until around 1820 that was known as the Classical period, presented such world-known composers as Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven and many others. Mozart's music is the very greatest of what is known as the Classical style. At the time he started to compose, tastes were changing in music. Mozart was the first person to write music for the piano, an instrument which had only just become popular. He wrote almost every kind of music, including a lot of religious music, as well as secular music like dances and serenades. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The Classical Period. Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven was an extraordinary German composer. His best-known works are his fifth and ninth symphonies and also the piano piece Für Elise. In a letter Beethoven told a friend in Bonn about a terrible secret he had had for some time. He knew that he was becoming deaf. It was a tragedy for a young man, especially for a musician, but Beethoven decided to live on and cope with the deafness. He was a man of extremely strong character and he even managed to create music which would later become one of world’s wonders and most precious treasures. Ludwig van Beethoven

The Romantic Period. Tchaikovsky The period from 1820 to 1910 was known as the Romantic period. Most memorable musicians of that time are Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Johannes Brahms. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is one of the most popular Russian composers. He wrote melodies which were exciting and dramatic and full of emotions. He learned a lot from studying the music of Western Europe, but his music also sounds very Russian. His world famous ballets such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty have some of the best known tunes in all classical music. Tchaikovsky was a friend of ‘The Five’, or ‘The Mighty Handful’, a group of Russian musicians that included such famous names as Balakirev or Borodin. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

The Romantic Period.Wagner What’s for German music of that period, it was as well rich in talented musicians. Maybe the most famous and well-known of 19th century is Richard Wagner. Being an innovative composer, Wagner was often misunderstood or wasn’t understood at all. Despite of it, today Wagner is a classical composer whose creations are still played. Richard Wagner's musical heritage can hardly be over-emphasized. In fact, he paved the way for modern opera as we know it. Wagner is also unique because his music, while being fantastic-infused and very romantic, was affected profoundly by the state of public opinion of that time. Richard Wagner

Classical Music of the 20th Century. Bartok The 20th century was a fruitful period for classical music, which gave the world not only countless innovations, but also extremely talented composers and musicians. One of them was Bela Bartok. Bela Bartok, talented Hungarian musician, showed the great talent as a pianist. He became very interested in folk music and travelled a lot around Hungary and to other countries listening to the folk songs. Bartok's music was difficult to understand at first. However, his innovations now are widely accepted and he is recognized as one of the greatest composers of modernity. Bela Bartok

Music is my life Music is my laughter that makes me cry Music is the thing that changed my life Music is my happiness I always feel inside Music is my everything.