FLUTEKIDS

Like pop music has different styles (rock, metal, trance etc.) classical music has different styles as well. These styles in classical music are connected to certain periods in history. You will know get a short introduction about three important style periods in music history and you will see that these periods merge in each other.

Barock era (1600-1760)

During the barock era instrumental music became more important. There were now more pieces composed for instruments and many pieces were written for the flute. During the barock era feelings became more important and music was ornamented with grace notes and trills. From now on music had a clear melody and a bass line, and music became polyphonic. You can think of a fugue in which several parts switch to the melody and themes.

Most of the time music was composed for special occasions, like for services in church or royal celebrations. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) wrote many of his compositions for church services and Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773) wrote many pieces on request of the king Frederick the Great from Prussia.

This king loved the flute and music so much that he was a flute player and composer himself. As the composer J.J. Quantz was a very good flautist, he came to the court of Frederick the Great on special demand of the king himself. The king now had new flute music during his celebrations, music to play by himself and he had a very good flute teacher in his own court.

J.J. Quantz composed about 300 concertos and 200 works of chamber music for flute when he was at the court of the king.

You can listen to: Allegro ma non tanto from the Concerto in G for 2 flutes by J.J. Quantz. 

Did you know that operas developed during the barock era, that since the barock music is mainly played in major and minor scales and that composers sometimes used dissonants (tones which do not sound well together) on purpose?

Classical era (1730-1820)

During the classical era the melody became more important and the accompaniment had mostly chords. The harpsichord disappeared over time and the pianoforte (predecessor of the modern piano) came in return.

In the barock era the orchestras were mainly string orchestras, but in the classical era wind players got their places in the orchestras. The orchestra of Mannheim was one of the first orchestras with winds. This developed into the symphonic orchestras we know nowadays. In the classical era people for the first time had the possibility to buy a ticket for a concert. Till then music was only performed in the church or in the courts.

Important composers of the classical era are: Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827).

W.A. Mozart (1756-1791) Did you know that W.A. Mozart wrote the opera Die Zauberflöte (The magic flute) with an important part for the flute in the story, that he composed several of his pieces for flute on the request of a rich businessman from Holland, Ferdinand Dejean, and that L. van Beethoven kept composing even when he couldn't hear anymore?

You can listen to a piece from the Adagio from the flute quartet in D by W.A. Mozart 

Romantic era (1815-1910)

In the romantic era composers used stories, fairy tales and nature as inspiration for their pieces. They used this to compose operas and ballets for example.

During the romantic era the symphony orchestras became larger and there came new instruments in the orchestras, such as English oboe or the clarinet in e flat. The scores were also larger, symphonies and operas took longer. The parts became more difficult and musicians had to be able to make big differences in dynamics. To show feelings in music was very important in the romantic era.

You can see Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer's apprentice. The sorcerer's apprentice is composed by Paul Dukas.

In the romantic era performing music became more and more something for professional musiciens. There were written easier pieces for amateur musicians, this music is also known as salon music.

Thanks to the inventions by Theobald Boehm the flute was easier to play and the flute became more and more important in the orchestras. The flutes with the Boehm-mechanism sounded better, were better in tune, you could play faster on these flutes and you could play higher notes on them as well.

In the romantic era there were many important composers all over in Europe. A couple of these composers are: Hector Berlioz (1803-1869), Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847), Robert Schumann (1810-1856), Richard Wagner (1813-1883), Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), Pjotr Iljitsch Tschaikowsky (1840-1893).

Did you know that composers were no longer employed by the kings and that conductors started conducting with a baton in the romantic era? Till then they were conducting with their hands or a roll of paper.