European classical music - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

European classical music - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. The central norms of this tradition, according to one school of thought, developed between 1550 and 1825, focusing on what is known as the common practice period.

The term classical music did not appear until the early 19th century, in an attempt to 'canonize' the period from Bach to Beethoven as an era in music parallel to the golden age of sculpture, architecture and art of classical antiquity, (from which of course no music has directly survived). The earliest reference to 'classical music' recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is from about 1836. Since that time the term has developed in common parlance as a simple opposite to popular music"