In a broad sense, a musical work is a play (instrumental or vocal), which is the result of composer activity. It is characterized by internal completeness, individualization of form and content, fixation of musical notation for the purpose of subsequent performance.
A musical work can be monophonic (melody and accompaniment) and polyphonic (polyphony, homophony). It can be an independent number, or be part of a specific cinematic or dramatic action. The peculiarity and originality of each composer's creation is achieved by a number of expressive means, such as fret, tempo, harmony, meter, dynamics, rhythm, melody.
The concept of “musical genre” is used to characterize various works depending on their origin and method of performance.
From ancient times, various songs (round dance, ritual, labor, etc.) accompanied the life of the people and inspired soldiers to victory. So there were numerous vocal genres. A characteristic feature of the songs is the repeated repetition of the melody, the main melody.
Romance is a genre of vocal music that appeared in the 19th century. This work is for a singer with instrumental accompaniment.
Unlike the romance, choral compositions are intended for performance by a large singing ensemble accompanied or acapelno (without accompaniment).
A cantata is a rather voluminous piece of music intended for performance by a singer - soloist (or choir) and orchestra. The works of this genre have long been written in honor of a significant date and were solemn. However, there are also lyrical, narrative cantatas.
The oratorio is a large-scale musical and dramatic composition. It does not imply scenic action and is intended to be performed by a choir, soloist and orchestra.
Opera is a musical and dramatic composition in which theatrical action and music are combined. The main feature of this genre is that the colloquial speech of the characters is replaced by singing.
Instrumental genres of works formed later than vocal. They have an applied value. Instrumental music accompanied parades, trips, religious processions, city balls. In the 17th century, new, deeper in meaning and content genres appeared.
Sonata is an instrumental piece that usually consists of three parts that are contrasted in tempo (fast, slow, fast). A little later in the work of L. Beethoven four-part works of this genre appear.
Symphony - a musical composition intended for performance by a whole symphony orchestra. Like the sonata, this work in the classical version consists of three parts. It is distinguished by its large volume, multifaceted content and the availability of a melodic language.
A concert is a piece of music intended for performance by an orchestra and a solo instrument. Most often, compositions of this genre are written in a cyclic three-part form, but sometimes one-part concerts can also be found.
Musical form
This concept is characterized by the ratio of parts in the work. So, the two-part form consists of two sections, usually contrasting in nature. Three-part - out of three, with the first and third parts similar in melodic language and mood, and the middle - in contrast to them. Variations are a modified repetition of the main motive (theme).
There are other musical forms, such as rondo (the theme is periodically repeated unchanged), cyclical (consists of several independent parts, united by a single concept) and free (found in modern music).