Originally Posted By: David Snyder
It may surprise you (maybe even disappoint you?) to know that Classical composers were not usually very innovative with their choice of chords

This matches my understanding as well.

With Bach, the melodic movement of voices is always more important than harmonic movement. So while something could interpreted harmonically, an explanation that's closer to how Bach thought about it might be as a passing dissonance caused by melodic movement.

As for classical music in general, it's often more effective to orchestrate using simpler harmonies and focus on creating tonal color. When it comes to writing for an orchestra, most orchestration books I've seen stick with 4-part harmonies, and additional parts beyond that are referred to as non-essential "filler", which doesn't really change the essential harmony.

Quote:
In Mozart's day they would throw rotten tomatoes at you if you tried to rip off someone else and couldn't come up with something more entertaining and original to please the King.

I've read compelling arguments against this "whole cloth" sort of understanding. Rather, classical composers would often "quote" other people's work, incorporating ideas in other popular music into their own.

So the way to please the King apparently hasn't changed that much.

-- David Cuny
My virtual singer development blog

Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?