In the middle of the 18th century, with the development of industrial revolution, science and technology and the impact of the French Revolution, profound changes have taken place in European society. Art is no longer just an elegant art appreciated by nobles, but the newly rising middle class has also become an audience in theaters and concert halls. Therefore, a large number of folk operas and folk and vivid instrumental music have emerged.

the classicism period in western music history runs from the middle of 18th century to the 192s and 193s. There are three classical masters in Vienna: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Their outstanding music works and styles are called "classics" of modern European music art. The formation of classical style experienced a complicated preparation process in the early classical period.

before the French revolution, Europe in the 18th century experienced an extensive ideological revolution-the Enlightenment, which appeared as a cultural movement against the theocracy of the church and feudal autocracy. However, its influence went far beyond the cultural field, involving economy, politics, law, philosophy, science and even social systems and social customs. Enlightenment thinkers opposed traditional religion and advocated deism; Oppose metaphysics and advocate science and common sense knowledge; Oppose authoritarian authority and privilege, and advocate the slogan of freedom, equality and universal education. Voltaire, Montesquieu, Diderot, Rousseau and other French encyclopedias are trying to illuminate the dark and ignorant society with the brilliance of advanced philosophical and cultural knowledge. Enlighteners believe that "rationality" is the basis of people's thoughts and behaviors. Boileau emphasized "conscience" or "rationality" in the classical literary theory classic "Poetry Art", denouncing imagination and fickle emotions. He believes that all natural things are always rational, eternal and true. Writers should love reason and never leave nature alone. The popular style in the Enlightenment is more sensible prose, and the clarity, vitality, appropriateness, symmetry and beauty of excellent prose have also become the criteria for judging other arts. In the art of music, several generations of classical masters have explored a huge form of musical conception full of rationality and logic, and finally made emotions get a moderate and satisfactory performance in it. The period of classicism is an era of knowledge popularization. Philosophy, science, literature and art began to face the emerging bourgeoisie and the public. Novels and plays depict the daily life of ordinary people. Musicians also walked out of the gate of the deep court of the court to conceive and create for the audience of the concert, so the quality of music, such as pleasure, easiness and moving, became the criterion of musical beauty. Under the influence of the humanitarian thought of the Enlightenment, Europe formed a period of enlightened monarchy. At the same time of social reform, culture and art have developed. The extensive marriage of European monarchs weakened the national boundaries. The development of art, especially music, shows the trend of European integration. However, this is a dying society after all. The French Revolution sounded the death knell of the old social regime and heralded the beginning of a new music era.

the history of classicism I. the development of comic opera and Gluck's opera reform

in the first half of 18th century, Opera Baffa appeared in Italy, which was a new opera genre that opposed the affectation of Italian opera and pursued "nature" under the influence of enlightenment. It was developed on the basis of Italian Intermezzo. The characters in the play are often the middle and lower classes in society, and the scenes are mostly the daily life that the public is very familiar with, rather than the luxurious life in the palace. The drama words are humorous and colloquial, and the music is also very vivid. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (171-1736) in Italy is not only a talented composer of orthodox operas, but his Maid as a Wife is regarded as the first Italian comic opera. This independent comic opera was originally performed in two parts interspersed between the scenes of his own three-act opera "Proud Prisoner". The plot is simple, and the characters are only the master (bass, who often plays a more vivid role in comic opera), the maid (soprano) and a dumb servant. The work shows the shrewdness and wit of the maid of the citizen class.

N.Pic-cini (1728-18), a major Italian composer of comic operas in the middle and lower 18th century, wrote "The Gentle Daughter" with some serious lyricism. The Secret Marriage by D.Cimarosa (1749-181) caused a sensation because it vividly showed the change of people's social class values.

In p>1752, an Italian opera troupe brought "Maid as Wife" to Paris to perform, which aroused the "controversy over liking opera" in French cultural circles. Some enlightenment thinkers, such as Rousseau, warmly praised this popular opera genre. Rousseau also synthesized Italian comic opera and traditional French market drama to create the comic opera "Village Prophet", which proved that this new style of music can be written in French language. Due to the tendency of Italian opera in the 18th century to pay too much attention to bel canto and showmanship, and ignore drama, it is incompatible with the principle of "nature" advocated by Enlightenment. Some artists are thinking about reforming opera. One of the successful composers is Gluck. Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) was a German. He studied in Prague and then finished his studies in Italy. In his early years, he mainly composed traditional Italian operas. In the 195s, he settled in Vienna. Influenced by the wave of opera reform, he collaborated with the poet Calca Bigi (1714-1795) to compose Orpheus and Eurydice, Alceste and other operas successively, and practiced some of his ideas on opera reform. He believes that the melody of opera vocal music should be removed from unnecessary decoration, and the music must be briefly stated under the control of drama; The stereotyped back-to-the-beginning aria should not be adopted if it destroys the coherence of the drama words; The tone of the overture should be consistent with that of the whole drama; Conciseness and clarity should always be the principle of opera music. Although the theme of Gluck's opera is still fairy tales, he intends to explore the human nature and ethical significance. He wrote Orpheus and Eurydice from a new perspective of opera aesthetics, in which the aria "I lost Eurydice" and other aria are really beautiful and concise masterpieces, and the scene of Orpheus going to hades to save his wife is touching with the integration of music and drama. In the 197s, Gluck composed operas such as Effigini in Olid, Almeid and Effigini in Torrid for performing in Paris. His aesthetic view of opera inspired the thinking and exploration of many famous opera composers in later generations.