Prior to the period of classical music, composers were often the employee of one person or family. Classical music was written for a broader audience, in a period when more of the general public was beginning to attend concerts. Classical composers also wrote music composed with greater balance and simplicity and less ostentation than that of the baroque period.
The period between 1750 and 1820 is considered approximate, as music styles and time frames overlapped.
Europe was the hub of most classical music composition, specifically Vienna. The most famous classical composers spent at least some part of their lives in Vienna
Instrumental music became more important than vocal music in the classical period, with significant focus on the concerto, the symphony and the sonata. Concerto features one soloist with an orchestra. Symphony means "sounding together," which implies a full orchestra playing together. Sonata is one instrument or two playing together.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven were all classical music composers, although Beethoven was the bridge. He began his career in the classical period and his later works are considered romantic.