Talk:List of classical music genres

2007

Assume "Walz" should be categorized as a musical form. If anyone more knowledgable than I agrees, I will add it to the list. (Classickol 21:14, 4 June 2007 (UTC))

Shoudn't there be either other genres on there individually (like jazz)or add modern music and add Jazz forms to it like the thirty-two-bar-form and the twelve bar blues 76.166.177.72 (talk) 18:03, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Form vs. type

I raise a substantial objection to much of the material in this list. There is a difference between a musical "form" and a musical "type." A "form" describes the structure of a piece or a movement. Thus, examples of form would be binary, ternary, rondo, sonata-allegro, or going back further, rondeaux, virelai, etc. A "type," on the other hand, describes a piece or movement exhibiting certain compositional traits. Descriptors such as motet, mass, fugue, and sonata are types, not forms. Furthermore, some of the items on this list are neither forms nor types, but genres, such as opera, symphony, suite, requiem, and oratorio. Perhaps this list should be reorganized completely, and new lists created for types and genres? This is important because this list is linked to in the music portal template. —Cor anglais 16 20:35, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Modern Forms (Types)

Why is there no listing of any modern musical forms/types?

Any listing which cannot be used to categorize Enya's "Carribean Blue", Metallica's "...And Justice for All", Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence", Van Halen's "Dreams", Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", Frank Sinatra's "My Way", The Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the U.K.", or Whodini's "Friends" is woefully incomplete. —Preceding =unsigned comment added by Kevin Trumbull (talk • contribs) 20:58, 15 November 2008 (UTC)

I agree. There is absolutely no reason why non-modern music would be all that would be considered. Also, what of forms of non-Western music? This is supposed to be a global encyclopedia, is it not? --Tim Sabin (talk) 23:00, 30 July 2011 (UTC) I suppose this shows how anti-modern sentiment is rife within the music theory world. This makes me ashamed to call myself a music theorist.

It is difficult to pin down forms in modern music because much of the time composers invent a new form for every piece. There are, however, commonalities and tendencies in composers' forms, and across certain schools of composition. Process (similar to the way fugue maybe more of a process than a form) may be better used in place of "form" in twentieth century and latter art music. Regardless, I'll see if I can link up some stuff from elsewhere to get some more modern content in here...

also, RE: the Western European art music (WEAM) focus problem, we could either A) create a page specifically for WEAM forms/genres or B) create a subsection for WEAM among other cultures. I would favor B, personally, but I wonder what the consensus of the Wikipedia music theory community is. The problem is actually institutionalized - music theory at universities the US and the West is obviously focused on music of the West, typically. Therefore, I suppose we should try to attract some ethnomusicologists and popular music theorists to this page. Phembree (talk) 20:05, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

It's not some kind of conspiracy: modern music simply doesn't tend to adhere to a traditional form like earlier eras did. Most pop songs employ a verse-chorus-verse structure, maybe adding in an intro, bridge, and outro, but it's nowhere near as strict or formally defined as Classical styles. They can switch it around, add sections, repeat verses, etc. There's no prescribed location for a restatement of theme in a dominant or relative minor. Also, the modern section of this list is kind of a mess of forms, genres, movements, and functions. —Torc. ^(Talk.) 09:48, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

Yes, but since there's nothing in the article title that includes genres like "Rock and Roll", "Pop", "Rhythm & Blues", etc., the article is either extraordinarily incomplete as stands, or is inappropriately named. It should perhaps be "List of Genres in Classical Music by Era" (or some other term than "Classical" that is more accurate). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.191.85.34 (talk) 03:05, 2 October 2020 (UTC)

Genre vs. Form (Comment moved from article space)

This article erroneously mixes genre and form together. For instance, the term symphony (genre) describes a large, multi-movement work for orchestra but says nothing about the form of each of the movements. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.148.43.79 (talk) 19:54, 19 January 2009 (UTC)

At least in Western European art music, this is indeed true. This is mostly a list of genres, not forms. Certain genres have movements that typically adhere to forms, but those genres themselves are not forms per se. Phembree (talk) 19:52, 14 December 2012 (UTC)=BGA>-< ik///yuy<·>←≤·≥

Article improvement

I agree with the earlier observations that the article mixes genres and forms which is a bit confusing. Additionally, this article has all these redirects, which adds to the confusion:

• List of musical forms
• List of western art-music genres by era
• List of musical forms by era
• List of musical genres by era
• List of classical musical genres by era

In the coming days I plan to expand this article a little bit, focusing solely on its content and not structure. Any suggestions on how to reorganize or structure it to more clearly distinguish between genre, form, compositional technique... are welcome. Gor1995 𝄞 11:55, 24 December 2023 (UTC)

This article ended up including all genres or composition "types" (including forms that give also give name to the composition, such as rondo).

Currently does not include:

• Other forms that don't give name to the composition (binary form, etc)
• Musical movements, styles, periods... (e.g. Ars nova, Galant music, Serialism, Avant-garde music, etc)

I'll try to work on another list that includes these missing elements, any suggestions would be appreciated. Gor1995 𝄞 16:18, 29 December 2023 (UTC)