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Music Genres
Vocal Vocal music forms a substantial proportion of the Western classical tradition. Singing has been a natural activity within all types of communities since the earliest times, associated with celebration, religious ceremonies or simply entertainment. The twin sources of folk song and music within the Christian church lie behind the huge of variety of work produced in this category over many hundreds of years. Vocal music can range from the solo song to choral works for many voices (with or without instrumental or orchestral accompaniment) to full-scale opera. In the realm of song , the German Lieder tradition -- founded on the works of Franz Schubert , Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms -- has been particularly important. All of these, and also Gustav Mahler , linked songs together by narrative or thematic means to form the song cycle . The cantata (the Italian word means simply something that is sung) can be for solo voice or choirs, or both together, and either secular or sacred in nature. Johann Sebastian Bach was the most significant exponent of the church cantata. Opera is the largest vocal form, and usually involves a number of singers with chorus and orchestra acting out a story with singing replacing speech. Especially notable here have been the contributions of Claudio Monteverdi , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Richard Wagner , Giuseppe Verdi , Giacomo Puccini , Richard Strauss and Benjamin Britten . Other important vocal forms include the motet (usually religious in nature, unaccompanied and for several voices), the Mass (a setting of the words of the Mass, almost always in Latin), and the Requiem (the Mass for the Dead). Starting with Ludwig van Beethoven in his 'Choral' Symphony, composers have occasionally brought voices into the symphony itself: well-known later examples include pieces by Felix Mendelssohn , Gustav Mahler , Dmitri Shostakovich and Benjamin Britten BACK TO THE TOP		Guide to Classical Music Index Music Genres Instrumental Chamber Orchestral Vocal Choral Opera Music Timeline Medieval Renaissance Baroque Classical Romantic Modernism Musical Instruments Strings Woodwind Brass Percussion Electronic Related Links on radio 3 Classical Discovering Music Composer of the Week on bbc.co.uk Essential Guide to Classical Music What's On Classical TV and Radio Classical Reviews Guide to the Orchestra on the web Gramophone Classic FM Concert Diary Classical.com Classical.net The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.

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