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This outstanding book treating the three most beloved composers of the Vienna School is basic to any study of Classical-era music. Drawing on his rich experience and intimate familiarity with the works of these giants, Charles Rosen presents his keen insights in clear and persuasive language. For this expanded edition, now available in paperback for the first time, Rosen h This outstanding book treating the three most beloved composers of the Vienna School is basic to any study of Classical-era music. Drawing on his rich experience and intimate familiarity with the works of these giants, Charles Rosen presents his keen insights in clear and persuasive language. For this expanded edition, now available in paperback for the first time, Rosen has provided a new, 64-page chapter on the later years of Beethoven and the musical conventions he inherited from Haydn and Mozart. The author has also written an extensive new preface in which he responds to other writers who have commented on his ideas. Charles Rosen is one of the great musicologists of the twentieth century and in The Classical Style he does a marvelous job characterizing the classical style as epitomized by its three great masters, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.

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Of all the formal principles that have defined any period, the elements of classical style are perhaps most amenable to formal analysis. The classical period is principally characterized by sonata form and tonality. We can agree with Sir Donald Tovey that we do violenc Charles Rosen is one of the great musicologists of the twentieth century and in The Classical Style he does a marvelous job characterizing the classical style as epitomized by its three great masters, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Of all the formal principles that have defined any period, the elements of classical style are perhaps most amenable to formal analysis.

The classical period is principally characterized by sonata form and tonality. We can agree with Sir Donald Tovey that we do violence to compositions by interpreting them as if sonata form constitutes a set of binding rules rather than a post-facto abstraction of what the masters of the classical period actually did.

Nonetheless, the principles of tonality may be expressed with an intellectual clarity which is more elusive when characterizing, say, a canon or polyphonic mass. This is a reflection of the ideals of the classical period, whose audiences delighted in elegance and structural economy. Classical composers highlighted the structural contours defining works by emphasizing modulation and calling attention sectional boundaries with an intensified emphasis cadence.

Elegance of structure was taken by the classical masters as an end in itself, and their harmonies glide on a framework they trace and enact. That is in itself a large part of the game of classical composition. An understanding of the classical period is not only relatively easy to acquire, but of central importance to understanding nearly all subsequent composition. With the arguable exceptions of minimalism and some wings of the avant garde, nearly every important composition in the Occident since Haydn is either tonal or a reaction against tonality.

Tonal harmony is the very foundation of our music theory to this day, and understanding its history and development can open up a deeper understanding of everything from Verdi to Schoenberg to Robert Johnson to Kylie Minogue. Rosen makes all of this remarkably evident and comprehensible in dazzling prose that astonishes the reader with his insight on every page.

I'm not a musicologist and browsed through a lot of the close passage analysis that comprises a big chunk of the book, but I still got my money's worth many times over. Originally published on my blog in January 2000. One of the best known works on classical music (in the wider sense as well as the narrower one of the title) written in the second half of this century, The Classical Style has been re-issued in a new edition. Considering what has happened in the last thirty years, remarkably little has been changed; this is partly because Rosen felt (as he says in the foreword) that to revise it would mean a complete rewrite, as the book he would write today Originally published on my blog in January 2000.

One of the best known works on classical music (in the wider sense as well as the narrower one of the title) written in the second half of this century, The Classical Style has been re-issued in a new edition. Considering what has happened in the last thirty years, remarkably little has been changed; this is partly because Rosen felt (as he says in the foreword) that to revise it would mean a complete rewrite, as the book he would write today would be very different. The changes consist mainly of a new foreword and the addition of new footnotes in response to suggestions and criticisms made about the original edition.

The aim of the book is to look for the distinguishing features of the classical style, the music of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Rosen concentrates exclusively on the three composers acknowledged then and now as its greatest exponents: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. He analyses large numbers of works by these composers, to see how the style developed - all three were innovators. The coverage of Beethoven is rather more sketchy than of the earlier composers, concentrating mainly on the works for piano. What is it that marks out the classical style? Most musicians would probably tell you that it is a meticulous adherence to form, especially sonata form, with set modulations occurring at particular points in movements to lead up to the final resolution onto the tonic for the end of the movement.

They would perhaps say that his form was developed by the sons of J.S. Bach and by Haydn, and that its gradual breakdown which was to lead to the romantic style was begun by Beethoven. To ascribe to the late eighteenth century a rigorous use of schemes not in fact formalised until the mid nineteenth is a ridiculous idea, soon exploded by seeing how frequently Haydn and Mozart fail to conform to the strict dictates of sonata form: the wrong number of themes, the wrong keys, tricks to deceive the ear into thinking the end is approaching, and so on. Instead, Rosen examines hundreds of examples to build up a picture of what these three composers actually did. From a harmonic point of view, the crucial development, he thinks, was that of equal temperament earlier in the century.

This means that instead of one key on a keyboard being exactly in tune and the rest out to one degree or another (making distant keys almost unusable), all keys are equally nearly in tune. This strengthened the relationships between keys, and made the triad the dominant harmonic feature. Earlier harmony was based on the interactions of more or less independent lines of melody, as in a Bach fugue. Bringing in simpler, symmetrical rhythms, as were used in opera buffa, meant that this new type of harmony could be exploited on a large scale, treating modulations as slowly moving dissonances. The ideas which were later codified as sonata form are basically to travel to the dominant as a source of tension, then resolve back to the tonic, and can be seen in many classical movements which it would seem strange to classify as sonata form - slow movements, minuets, rondos. Increasing chromaticism and the tendency to treat all keys as harmonies rather than long term dissonances led to the break up of the classical and the establishment of the romantic style, with longer melodies not lending themselves to the kind of harmonisation fundamental to Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart.

Rosen places the first flowering of the style in Haydn's string quartet set, Op. 33, slightly later than would many historians (but then his definition of the style is slightly different, too). He points to the extra-musical evidence that Haydn described these quartets as new and revolutionary. This is usually dismissed as marketing, but it is impossible to deny that they marked at least a change in Haydn's own style. Rosen points to relatively minor composers such as Hummel for the beginnings of the end, classifying Beethoven as more old fashioned than revolutionary. His works were unprecedented in scale, but reactionary in form, particularly his late works which sought to integrate sonata form with the even more outdated fugue. In some ways, The Classical Style is too overwhelming to be easily assessed.

The vast array of analyses of individual works are convincing, though necessarily sketchy. To summarise a thirty minute work in three pages is a difficult task which Rosen handles superbly, aided by the large numbers of quotations he is able to include. Few amateur musicians would have extensive enough music collections, let alone scores, to check what he has to say in detail or to look for counter examples to his arguments among more obscure works by lesser composers. The book is however hailed as a classic, and the points that have been raised between the editions seem to Rosen only to require minor consideration, and so I suspect that his argument is valid. It would hardly seem worth doubting it, except that I wanted to point out that it would be beyond the means of most amateur musicians, myself included, to properly evaluate it.

Truly mind expanding. A book I have gone back to again and again - partly because I didn't fully understand it the first time that I read it.

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Rosen makes academic musicology accessible to those who are curious but untutored, however you do have to put the book down sometimes to let you brain have a rest. On occasions, as when writing about the pastoral style in Haydn's symphonies, he can become quite poetic. I wish he would write about what the music might be expressing a little more often rathe Truly mind expanding.

A book I have gone back to again and again - partly because I didn't fully understand it the first time that I read it. Rosen makes academic musicology accessible to those who are curious but untutored, however you do have to put the book down sometimes to let you brain have a rest. On occasions, as when writing about the pastoral style in Haydn's symphonies, he can become quite poetic. I wish he would write about what the music might be expressing a little more often rather than just tonic - dominant technicalities, but still a magisterial opus.

One of the best books on music I've read. I would have given it five stars but for the Haydn chapters, and that's my fault: you really have to know the music to get very much from this book, and I'm not very well versed in Haydn. This is an academic book. Rosen is a musicologist and he makes no special effort to write for the layman. As a result, his prose is full of esoteric technical jargon, some of which went over this layman's head.

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Still, some of his analyses of favorite pieces strike with One of the best books on music I've read. I would have given it five stars but for the Haydn chapters, and that's my fault: you really have to know the music to get very much from this book, and I'm not very well versed in Haydn. This is an academic book. Rosen is a musicologist and he makes no special effort to write for the layman.

As a result, his prose is full of esoteric technical jargon, some of which went over this layman's head. Still, some of his analyses of favorite pieces strike with the force of lightning. Last night I had one of those excellent moments. when you can't even continue reading because you have to allow yourself time to absorb what was just said.For any fellow geeks out there, said moment was his point that early in Beethoven's fourth piano concerto the tonic G chord is made, by sheer rhythmic force, to become in effect a dissonance that must be resolved to D.

Fucking unbelievable. This book was brilliant!

I highly recommend it to all musicians. Charles Rosen is an amazing musicologist. Not only does he have a lot of insight into music, but he is able to express himself with a great deal of intelligence and clarity.

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His understanding of the classical style is inedible. From this book I have gained a better understanding not only of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, but also of music in general. I now know why these three composers are considered to be among the greatest. In ad This book was brilliant! I highly recommend it to all musicians. Charles Rosen is an amazing musicologist. Not only does he have a lot of insight into music, but he is able to express himself with a great deal of intelligence and clarity.

His understanding of the classical style is inedible. From this book I have gained a better understanding not only of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, but also of music in general. I now know why these three composers are considered to be among the greatest. In addition, my whole understanding of sonata form is much deeper and complete than ever before.

In fact, my sense of musical structure has been greatly enriched. Reading this book is pretty much the equivalent of a really good advanced college music course, without being too obscure or esoteric for anyone who can read music and has a decent grasp of basic tonal harmony. I just can't say enough good things about this book. Just a quotation - pp.162-63 The pretension of Haydn’s symphonies to a simplicity that seems to come from Nature itself is no mask but the true claim of a style whose command over the whole range of technique is so great that it can ingenuously afford to disdain the outward appearance of high art. Pastoral is generally ironic with the irony of one who aspires to less than he deserves, hoping he will be granted more. But Haydn’s pastoral style is more generous, with all its irony: it is the true h Just a quotation - pp.162-63 The pretension of Haydn’s symphonies to a simplicity that seems to come from Nature itself is no mask but the true claim of a style whose command over the whole range of technique is so great that it can ingenuously afford to disdain the outward appearance of high art.

Pastoral is generally ironic with the irony of one who aspires to less than he deserves, hoping he will be granted more. But Haydn’s pastoral style is more generous, with all its irony: it is the true heroic pastoral that cheerfully lays claim to the sublime, without yielding any of the innocence and simplicity won by art.

In his prize-winning book 'The Classical Style', Charles Rosen says of sonata form: 'It is not definite form like a minuet, a da capo aria, or a French overture; it is, like the fugue, a way of writing, a feeling for proportion, direction, and texture rather than a pattern.' In the present study, he takes a close look at the subject and it's history, acknowledge the inadequacy of the nineteenth-century definitions and accounting for their formulation.

Rosen rejects the established methods of defining form; that is, by using masterpieces as models or by surveying the general practices of a period. Instead, the form is related briefly to the new social conditions it had to face in the eighteenth century and describe in terms of the functions it was expected to fulfill. Rosen carries his study up to the present day, delineating the changes that have occurred along the way.

Numerous music examples, ranging from Scarlatti to Bartok, many of considerable length, accompany the text. For this revised edition, the text has been enlarged in several places and entirely new chapter on codas has been added. Rating: (not yet rated) Subjects. More like this.