How did orchestral music develop from the Baroque to the Romantic, and what features identify each period?
Area of Study: Music for Orchestra 1700-1900. The development of the orchestra and orchestral genres across the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods, including the concerto grosso, the symphony, sonata form, the growth of the orchestra, and the stylistic features that identify each period in a listening and score-based exam.
A CCEA A-Level Music answer on the Area of Study Music for Orchestra 1700 to 1900: how the orchestra and its genres developed across the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods, the concerto grosso, the Classical symphony and sonata form, the growth of the orchestra, and the stylistic features used to identify period and date music by ear and from a score.
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What this dot point is asking
This Area of Study covers orchestral music from about 1700 to 1900, spanning the late Baroque, the Classical period and the Romantic period. CCEA wants you to hear and describe how the orchestra and its genres grew over two centuries, to recognise the stylistic features of each period, and to identify and date unfamiliar orchestral music by ear and from a score in the listening and written paper. You should know the concerto grosso, the Classical symphony, sonata form, and the expansion of the orchestra.
The answer
The Baroque orchestra (about 1700 to 1750)
Composers such as Bach, Handel and Vivaldi wrote in this idiom. Movements often use ritornello form, in which a recurring tutti theme alternates with episodes for the soloists.
The Classical orchestra (about 1750 to 1820)
The defining genre is the symphony, typically in four movements (a sonata-form first movement, a slow movement, a minuet and trio, and a lively finale). The harpsichord continuo is abandoned as the wind instruments take over the harmonic filling. Haydn, Mozart and the early Beethoven are the central figures.
Sonata form
The Romantic orchestra (about 1820 to 1900)
The Romantic period expands everything. The orchestra grows much larger, adding trombones, tuba, more woodwind (including piccolo, cor anglais, bass clarinet, contrabassoon), a fuller horn section, harp and an enlarged percussion section. Music becomes more expressive and personal: long, lyrical melodies, rich chromatic harmony, a very wide dynamic range, expressive rubato, and programmatic ideas (music that tells a story or paints a scene). Composers such as Berlioz, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Dvořák wrote symphonies and tone poems for these forces.
Worked example: dating an extract
Examples in context
Example 1. A Baroque concerto grosso. In a Vivaldi or Corelli concerto grosso the small concertino group alternates with the full tutti, the harpsichord continuo drives the harmony, dynamics shift in terraced blocks, and a ritornello theme keeps returning between the soloists' episodes. Every feature points to the Baroque.
Example 2. A Classical symphony first movement. A Haydn or Mozart first movement opens with a tuneful first subject in the tonic, modulates to a second subject in the dominant, develops the material through related keys, then recapitulates both subjects in the tonic. The orchestra of strings, pairs of wind, horns and timpani and the balanced periodic phrasing are unmistakably Classical.
Try this
Q1. Name the orchestral genre that contrasts a small group of soloists with the full ensemble in the Baroque period. [1 mark]
- Cue. The concerto grosso (concertino against ripieno or tutti).
Q2. State two features that distinguish Romantic orchestral music from Classical. [2 marks]
- Cue. Any two of: a much larger orchestra with full brass and percussion, rich chromatic harmony, expressive rubato, a very wide dynamic range, long lyrical melodies, programmatic content.
Q3. In a major-key sonata-form exposition, in which key does the second subject usually appear? [1 mark]
- Cue. The dominant.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of CCEA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
CCEA AS 3 listening10 marksListen to an orchestral extract and identify the period from which it comes. Justify your answer with reference to at least four musical features.Show worked answer →
A strong answer names the period and then evidences it with specific, audible features grouped by musical element.
Suppose the extract is Classical. You would point to: a clear, balanced melody built from regular four-bar phrases with question-and-answer (antecedent and consequent) shaping; mainly diatonic, functional harmony with frequent cadences and an Alberti-bass accompaniment; a homophonic texture of melody and accompaniment; a Classical orchestra of strings, pairs of woodwind, horns, trumpets and timpani, without trombones or a large brass section; clear dynamic contrasts including crescendo and diminuendo; and a moderate, regular tempo with periodic phrasing.
If instead the extract were Baroque, you would cite terraced dynamics rather than gradual changes, a continuous (continuo) bass with harpsichord, more contrapuntal or imitative textures, ornamented melodic lines, and a smaller orchestra centred on strings and continuo. If Romantic, you would cite a larger orchestra with full brass, woodwind and percussion, expressive rubato, rich chromatic harmony, wide dynamic range, and long, lyrical melodies.
Markers reward a correct period, at least four features named with accurate vocabulary, and features drawn from a range of elements (melody, harmony, texture, instrumentation, dynamics) rather than four points about one element.
CCEA AS 3 written8 marksDescribe the structure of a typical Classical sonata-form first movement and explain how the keys move.Show worked answer →
Sonata form has three main sections: exposition, development and recapitulation, often with an introduction and a coda.
In the exposition, a first subject is presented in the tonic, then a transition modulates to a second key, in which a contrasting second subject appears. For a movement in a major key the second key is normally the dominant; for a minor-key movement it is usually the relative major. The exposition was traditionally repeated.
In the development, the themes are fragmented, sequenced, reharmonised and passed through a series of related keys, creating tension and instability away from the tonic. The recapitulation then restates the first subject in the tonic, but this time the second subject also returns in the tonic, resolving the tonal tension of the exposition. A coda may round the movement off.
Markers reward the three named sections, the tonic-to-dominant (or relative major) key scheme in the exposition, the tonally unstable development, and the crucial point that the recapitulation brings the second subject back in the tonic.
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Sources & how we know this
- CCEA GCE Music specification (2016) — CCEA (2016)