Polyphony and counterpoint, the art of writing individual parts that come together to form harmonies, flourished during the Renaissance era, which roughly spanned the years between 1425 and 1600. Liturgical music written for brass instruments as well as Masses and motets were popular forms of composition during the Renaissance period. Madrigals, a secular choral music form, came into being during this period. Important Renaissance composers include Orlando di Lassus, Giovanni Palestrina, William Byrd and Giovanni Gabrieli.
The Baroque movement, roughly from 1600 to 1750, is probably best defined by its two most famous composers, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. Music written for the church is extremely important to the Baroque era. The Mass became an important musical form, as did motets and oratorios. Instrumental music, including works for solo instruments, small ensembles and full orchestras, became popular genres during the Baroque period. Developments in the building of organs and harpsichords allowed the composition of a vast number of works for these instruments.
The Classical Period, from 1750 to 1820, brought music composed for performance to the public in concert halls. The symphony became a standard musical form during this era. Melodies with harmonic accompaniments replaced the complicated polyphonies of earlier musical periods. Although much music was being written throughout Europe and even America at this time, the most important composers, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, came from Germany and Austria.
The Romantic Period saw an explosion of musical self-expression. Romantic composers felt no reason to limit themselves to specific musical forms of the past. Symphony orchestras grew to include large numbers of players to allow orchestral works that not only included symphonies and concerti, but program music that represented various ideas and moods. Italy, Germany and France developed their own stylistic operatic forms. Many composers are associated with Romantic music. However, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Johannes Brahms, Richard Wagner, Giuseppe Verdi and Robert Schumann are considered among the most influential.
A neo-classical movement in the 20th century included compositions by Igor Stravinsky and Aaron Copland. Contemporary classical music includes works by avant-garde composers, including 12-tone serial music by Arnold Schoenberg as well as works by electronic composers such as Milton Babbitt, Vladimir Ussachevsky and Karlheinz Stockhausen.