The century of Bach and Handel and Mozart and Haydn spans two very different styles, those of the late Baroque era and of Viennese Classicism. In the following pages we will define these styles and identify their differences.

You may ask why in spite of these differences we treat the eighteenth century as a unit. The reason is that the eighteenth century as a whole contrasts in one basic criterion from the nineteenth century, covered in Unit IV. This criterion is not musical style, at least not directly, but rather the quality of musical expression. There is a certain objectivity in the feelings that eighteenth-century music seems to express or depict. It keeps some distance from the listener, even when it is powerful and moving. Music of the nineteenth century comes on as more demonstrative, more personal, more obviously intense; it is not accidental that this music is called “Romantic.”

This broad distinction in expressive quality sprang in part from the differing social and economic conditions under which composers worked. In our “Prelude” chapters, Chapters 9 and 12, we look at the cultural background and the social setting of eighteenth-century music and suggest how these factors influenced musical style and expression. The other chapters in this unit look into specific works by leading late Baroque and Classical composers.

Chronology