17. The Enlightenment and an Introduction to the Classical Era

Overview

The dramatic difference between the music of the late Baroque Era and the new Classical Era is brought into high relief when we compare a fugue by J. S. Bach and a piano sonata by Beethoven. The difference is that between the objective and the subjective, between music about process and surface complexity, on the one hand, and vocal lyricism and studied simplicity, on the other. Given that music is a mirror, these dramatic musical differences were a product of societal change. The 18th century saw the evolution of Enlightenment Humanism, cosmopolitanism, the Enlightenment cultural doctrine of accessibility and naturalness, the rise of a new middle class with its Enlightenment-inspired attitude toward music, the growth of musical amateurism, and the emergence of musical Classicism.

Cast