What are the major periods of “classical” music?
What the public generally calls “classical” music is actually many different styles of music that come from many historical periods. The usual classifications are: Medieval music, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern. The precise dates of the beginning and end of each period are a source of major academic debate, and many argue (and perhaps correctly) that there is no precise date but rather a long overlap. It is also quite accurate to say that styles changed in different places at different rates, so one date isn’t necessarily valid for every region of Europe. With that disclaimer, here are *approximate* dates that distinguish each period. Some of them overlap, as you can see, since certain composers adopted the new styles before others.
