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Romantic Periods : Musical Composition

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Classical vs. Romantic Periods: Musical Composition
Often times, we hear about different periods in music without any idea how they differ, or how they are similar. This essay aims at showing the differences and similarities between the Classical and the Romantic Periods concerning musical composition, style structure, and content. An unknown author of Music of Yesterday points out a clear understanding of the classical and the romantic periods. He or she argues that "the term ‘classic,' more commonly, ‘classical,' is used to identify music written in a particular style, aiming to capture a certain ideal, the chief element of which is Beauty of Form (Music of Yesterday n.d). In this sense it is contrasted with the term “Romantic,” a term used to designate music which aims at embodying a different ideal that of the vivid and truthful expression of varied and strongly contrasted emotional experiences.
The author above further argues, "In classical music, form is first and content is subordinate; in "romantic" music content is first and form is subordinate. The classical ideal is moreover an intellectual one. Its products are characterized by clearness of thought, by completeness and symmetry, harmonious proportion, simplicity, and repose. Classical works, whether musical or literary, are positive, clear, finished (Music of Yesterday n.d). The following axioms from Aristotle’s” Poetics” (quoted in the New American Cyclopedia, article

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