# Genres / Eras



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

What Genres were mastered in what eras?

I'd say Fugues/Masses in Baroque.
Sonatas in Romantic.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The fugue is certainly quintessentially Baroque. The idea of "sonata" -the very meaning of the word - evolved with the changing times, but what we identify most closely with the term, a piece in "sonata-allegro" form, was mastered in the period of its invention, the Classical, and then carried to imaginative heights in Beethoven, who was his own "period" running parallel with early Romanticism.

Opera will be controversial because of Mozart, who achieved so much in the genre all by himself, but the greatest quantity of masterworks certainly came in the Romantic period, which as far as opera is concerned considerably overlapped the 20th century Modernist era.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Woodduck said:


> The fugue is certainly quintessentially Baroque. The idea of "sonata" -the very meaning of the word - evolved with the changing times, but what we identify most closely with the term, a piece in "sonata-allegro" form, was mastered in the period of its invention, the Classical, and then carried to imaginative heights in Beethoven, who was his own "period" running parallel with early Romanticism.
> 
> Opera will be controversial because of Mozart, who achieved so much in the genre all by himself, but the greatest quantity of masterworks certainly came in the Romantic period, which as far as opera is concerned considerably overlapped the 20th century Modernist era.


Good points!


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

This is more opinion than fact, of course.


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## Tallisman (May 7, 2017)

Captainnumber36 said:


> What Genres were mastered in what eras?
> 
> I'd say Fugues/Masses in Baroque.
> Sonatas in Romantic.


I'd put masses into the classical era, with all the numerous great ones by Mozart and Haydn as well as others.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

I'd put the pavan and galliard in Renaissance. The lai in medieval. The polytope in the late 20th century.


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## mathisdermaler (Mar 29, 2017)

Symphonies in the romantic era, certainly. There are a handful of truly great classical symphonies and a few handfuls of truly great modern ones, but the Romantic era, from Beethoven to Schubert to Schumann to Brahms to Bruckner to Mahler is basically packed. I actually think the subject of concertos is way more complex.


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## Boston Charlie (Dec 6, 2017)

I would say that the symphony peaks out during the Classical Era with Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven (though it can be argued that Beethoven had one foot in the Romantic Era). While the High-Romantic, Late-Romantic and Early Modern Era certainly have wonderful symphonies from Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Tchaikovsky on through to the likes of Bruckner, Mahler, Sibelius, Nielsen, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Vaughan Williams, Ives and many others; it's Haydn's spirit of pure joy (not to mention Haydn's role as the "Father of the Symphony"), Mozart's sense of balance and seamless beauty and Beethoven's raw power and breadth of imagination that pushed the symphony to the limits; that makes Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven the summit of symphonic greatness. Along this line, it's hard for me to imagine that the symphony as it has been passed down by any of the other above mentioned luminaries would exist at all, had it not been for Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Most "genres", once developed, tend to go on into succeeding eras as new composers find the form suitable for saying striking new things. If the symphony was developed to perfection in the Classical era (and I think that is the case) this didn't stop composers in the Romantic era, and then the 20th Century, developing it further to say new things. It has probably been in decline since 1950, though. The concerto for solo instrument and orchestra has had more longevity and, having been perfected in the Baroque, it has proved to be a form that has enabled Classical, Romantic, "Modern" (say, 1914 to 1960) and contemporary composers to each say new things. It had a real flowering in the Modern era. I am not sure when Song Cycles were perfected but I think they were probably a Romantic invention that continues to prove a fertile form today.


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