While today you can most commonly hear classical music while listening to National Public Radio, the genre was developed during the years of 1750 to 1810. The most influential composers of early classical music include Ludwig Van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach and Joseph Hayden. In later generations, classical music was further developed with composers such as Franz Schubert.
With the broad range of composers of classical music, the genre itself is comprised of multiple characteristics. Early tendencies of classical music include style galant. This style was primarily featured by Bach in his compositions and was courtly or easy to listen to. Classical styles of the later era focused more on creating balanced and graceful melodies. Along with the style, another characteristic of classical music is that it is generally played with an orchestra or full symphony orchestra.
Contemporary music emerged at the end of the 19th century. This movement was created based on a drive by the musicians and artists of the time to abandon the romantic characteristics of classical music and art. The purpose of the contemporary movement was the idea that art and music should represent the composer or artist's personal interpretation of the subject. With this evolution, composers such as Gustav Mahler and Igor Stravinsky began to incorporate new whole-tone or mode scales, more cultural melodies, alternate rhythms and unresolved dissonances.
The characteristics of contemporary music can be summed up as a range of experiments. With the usage of alternating tones and music effects that created much different music types than the classical period. For example, the music of Gustav Mahler includes instruments such as cowbells, birdcalls and hunting horns. By using these abstract instruments, contemporary music can replicate a scene, area or situation. With these characteristics, contemporary music can be classified as much freer and more open to interpretation than classical music.