classical
pronunciation
How to pronounce classical in British English:
UK [ˈklæsɪkl]
How to pronounce classical in American English:
US [ˈklæsɪkl]
-
- Adjective:
- of or characteristic of a form or system felt to be of first significance before modern times
- of recognized authority or excellence
Word Origin
- classical (adj.)
- 1590s, "of the highest rank" (originally in literature), from classic + -al (1). Classical music (1836) was defined originally against romantic music. [I]n general, as now used, the term classical includes the composers active in instrumental music from somewhere about 1700 to say 1830. Hence the list includes among the great names those of Bach, his sons, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Clementi, Dussek, Pleyel, Cramer, etc. The next step beyond the term classical is "modern romantic," the composers of which school may be taken to include all the writers for pianoforte from about 1829 (when Mendelssohn published the first "Songs without Words") down to the present. The term romantic in this sense means strongly marked, extraordinary, intending to tell stories and the like. ["Music, Its Ideals and Methods," W.S.B. Mathews, 1897] But already by 1880s it was acknowledged the term had a double sense: Music that had withstood the test of time, as well as music of a style contrasted to "romantic." Later (early 20c.) it was contrasted to jazz (in this sense more often with reference to the orchestras than to the music itself). Still later in contrast to popular music generally (mid-20c.).
Synonym
Example
- 1. Her introduction to the classical canon came much earlier .
- 2. Classical hollywood had the star system and fan magazines .
- 3. Some classical liberals make the rule of law their central doctrine .
- 4. Pasok purports to be a socialist party but it owed little to classical socialism .
- 5. This is a classical description , perhaps the classical western description , of ascent to the causal level .