Our mind cannot exist without activities and it is almost impossible to imagine our life without directing personal abilities to different spheres of life. Music is an integral part of human well-being and it is a source of giving a state of pleasure which is so important for everyone. Music has been developed for many centuries; the 18th century for the sphere of music is of great significance as the musicians of that time contributed a lot and provided us with a detailed description and outstanding musical composition of their epoch.
Instrumental music is considered to be a vocal beautiful accomplishment or a sound of our soul. The 18th century faced the appearance of important musical instrumental genres which would continue their development and gain recognition for their unique character. Symphony is one of such directions which was viewed with a certain skepticism at the very beginning of its development. It was considered to be devoid of individual features but contained only the reflection of other musical styles. In the 18th century, instrumental music was grounded on the thoughts of French rationalists which meant that this genre was created in order to imitate the sounds of nature.
Composers faced the major problem of creating new terminology and a comprehensive approach conducive for the listeners. It was really important as the audience in the 18th century formed an integral part of the process of instrumental compositions while nowadays the listeners are passive and uninvolved. The instrumental genre became unique and contained individual features and techniques. The symphony as a part of this genre was defined as “the instrumental paradigm of all kinds of music”. At the end of the period, instrumental music became independent and widened its men of expressiveness. 18th century in this sphere is known because of such outstanding composers and musicians as Bach, L. Mozart, J. J. Quantz, Koch, J. A. Hiller, Mattheson, etc.
Together with the development of the instrumental genre of music, great attention was paid to the theater and opera. The development of this musical style was generally based on the activities of such great musicians as Karl Heinrich Graun, Christopher Willibald von Gluck, Nicolo Jomelli, Henry Purcell, Dr. Thomas Arne, and many other outstanding composers. The creation of this genre caused the reaction of Italy concerning the alleged extravagance and this idea was supported by many composers during the whole 18th century. The suggestion of an opera happy ending resulted in numerous misunderstandings among the people involved in this genre. Besides, the composer was not considered to be a dominant figure at opera houses, they were just to suit the acting singers who appeared to be an integral part of the compositional process. With every passing year of the 18th century, the opera structure was renewed.
It developed new forms of the genre; the dominant ones were ballad and comic opera. A serious form of opera turned into more free and imaginative, the importance of chorus was especially stressed and new aria forms appeared in this style. At the end of the century, the structure of the opera was completely changed. Comic opera was characterized by two-act form and the usage of new musical approaches was established. An interest in the development of theaters was caused by the widening of opera as the theater was considered to be a link between the opera genre and the musical sphere. The theaters were used to perform compositions by means of actors and actresses including the opera genre; they were able to express the deep sense of the actions with the help of music being completely involved in the play. The mutual cooperation between the theater and opera spheres brought huge success among the public of the 18th century.
One more important aspect that should be covered in the description of 18th-century music is connected with the activity of such an outstanding musician as Antonio Vivaldi who is known as a famous Italian composer of this period. Venice was the place where Vivaldi was born. He is considered to be the author of many works and concertos, among them the most popular are Four Seasons, Opus 3, and some others. He seemed to be constantly writing new operas and was quite active and successful at his concertos. At the beginning of his career, the economic state of his native city Venice was basically concentrated on the culture and contained a great number of art masterpieces that attracted the attention of new visitors from all around the world. These facts make us consider Vivaldi’s music in Venice as a new musical direction established in Europe. Such a situation in Venice caused some problems in the sphere of economics and politics. The independence was under the threat and the city was considered to be neutral. The character of the city development changed a lot. According to the population statistics she began to suffer losses which were constantly increasing. It is not connected with the high rate of immigration but with the decline of the birth level.
Antonio Vivaldi traveled a lot in order to promote his idea of viewing the music and perform his own character of composing. After his return to Venice, he continued to make concertos and writing operas. But suddenly the operas demand decreased and was not so popular as previously. The quality of his works became worse and was not perceived by the majority of the population. The creativity abandoned him and he put too much effort to write good and successful operas. This fact was an emotional shock for the great composer as all his life was devoted to music and could not imagine it without his concertos and new masterpieces. The melodies he produced before inspired him to continue his creative work though his health put his life at stake. With the completion of their composing career, his life came to an end. According to some researchers, the quality of his works decreased because the demand was very high. He was considered to create under the pressure and it resulted in the rapid change of his creative work. Vivaldi always tried to perform opera and instrumental genres at the same time and contributed a lot to their development. He is considered to be a gifted musician who left a great number of remarkable and notable compositions providing population of the whole world with prominent works of the 18th century.
The research of the 18th century musical genres provides with the full picture of the art of music and with the detail description of the most distinguished and prominent composers of that epoch. One can easily analyze and compare the creative work of the most outstanding musicians and evaluate their contribution to the sphere of music. 18th century left a lot of instrumental, opera, vocal compositions reflecting the peculiarities of their time and expressing the emotional state of the epoch in general. One can easily get a great and unforgettable pleasure from listening to them and becoming completely involved in the atmosphere of magic melodies of the 18th century.
References
Talbot, Michael. Vivaldi’s Venice. The Musical Times, Vol. 119, No. 1622.
Webster, Noah. Moral, Historical, Political and Literary Subjects. Jun. Attorney at law. Printed at Boston, pp. 229-230.
Grout & Donald, Jay. (2000) A Short History of Opera. New York: Columbia University Press.
Slade, Roger. (2003). 18TH CENTURY ENGLISH MUSIC. New York Times, 2001
Christiansen, Keith. (1999) Theater and the Notion of Theatricality.