Characteristics of classical music 1. Less complicated texture than Baroque (more homophonic). 2. Emphasis on beauty, elegance and balance.

3. More variety and contrast within a piece than Baroque (dynamics, instruments, pitch, tempo, key, mood and timbre). 4. Melodies tend to be shorter than those in baroque, with clear-cut phrases, and clearly marked cadences. 5. The orchestra increases in size and range. The harpsichord fails out of use. The woodwind becomes a self-contained section. 6. The piano takes over, often with Alberti bass accompaniment. 7. Importance was given to instrumental music - sonata, trio, string quartet, symphony, concerto. 8. Sonata form was the most important design. Vocal forms of classical music 1. SACRED VOCAL MUSIC FOR ONE OR MORE SOLO PERFORMERS: there aren't any common examples in this category that I can think of. 2. SACRED VOCAL CONCERTED MUSIC: unaccompanied choral music intended for performance in church or on sacred occasions, such as masses, motets, Anglican services and anthems by such composers as Machaut, Dufay, Lassus, Palestrina, Byrd and Tallis; also examples by later composers such as Lotti and Bruckner. This whole category forms the bulk of sacred music from days of plainchant (around 400AD) until at least 1600, and still constitutes the core repertoire of many smaller choirs, even secular ones - who, of course, perform such pieces in a secular (i.e. concert) context. Much contemporary Christmas music in what might be termed the "classical tradition" also falls into this category, with arrangers and composers including David Willcocks. 3. SACRED INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC FOR ONE OR MORE SOLO PERFORMERS: not a huge category, but includes many of Bach's organ works, as well as Corelli's "Sonatas da chiesa" (i.e. "for the church"), written for one or two solo violins accompanied by a keyboard instrument and (probably) a bass instrument such as a viola da gamba, cello or bassoon. Also includes

Mozart's organ sonatas, which... well, let's be charitable and say that they're not his absolutely best music! 4. SACRED INSTRUMENTAL CONCERTED MUSIC: One of the very few examples I can think of are some of Corelli's concerti grossi (see category 11 below); in parallel with his sonatas da chiesa (see category 3), these are called "concerti da chiesa" - i.e. "concertos for [performance in] church". 5. MIXTURES OF THE PREVIOUS FOUR CATEGORIES: too numerous to mention. Part of the problem is that the earlier the music, the less we know about it. It's not clear, for example, whether some of the lines of masses written in the 13th century were sung or played on instruments. However, clear examples of mixtures are Anglican verse anthems, beginning with Byrd's "Teach Me, O Lord" (choir and solo vocal performers accompanied on an organ) and the Mozart and Haydn masses (orchestra, choir and solo singers). This category began for sure around 1600 when the Gabrielis, uncle and nephew, began to write explicitly for instruments in church. An interesting sub-category of this genre is West Gallery music, hymns and other service music used during Anglican services up until the end of the 19th century in which any available melody instrument (not organs, which weren't apparently as common then as we'd think) was used to accompany vocal lines which could be performed by solo performers or by groups. Other famous examples are Bach's Passions and cantatas and the sacred histories of Heinrich Schuetz. Another problem even with this later Renaissance, Baroque and Classical instrumental music is that it is, for all intents and purposes, secular music called sacred, presumably either to pass it through some kind of "acceptability censorship" or out of habit. Secular compositions could be given different words for a religious context and vice versa. The dividing line between secular and sacred is, in short, not as clear as you might think.