Throughout History, Music Has Mirrored Society’s Beliefs and Values. This Is Most Notable During the Shift from the Baroque to the Classical Era in Western Europe. This Was a Time of Revolution, Ingenuity, and

Throughout history, music has mirrored society’s beliefs and values.   This is most notable during the shift from the Baroque to the Classical era in Western Europe.   This was a time of revolution, ingenuity, and enlightenment.   During the Eighteenth Century and the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, an exceptional amount of social, political, religious, and musical change occurred.   This was the time leading up to the French Revolution, which had everyone considering that the sociopolitical values of the past needed to change.   The Industrial Revolution was also taking place, which altered the structure of the economy in Western Europe.   (Brainard) The whole political structure of the world was quickly transforming into what we now know today.  
During all of the social and political reinvention, music began to come away from what everyone had been accustomed to.   The public was actually able to watch performances from the composers themselves just by paying a small fee.   This created an opportunity for composers to bend the rules a little and write music for the common people.   The changes being made in society began to appear in the music being performed.   From the Baroque to the Classical era, music reflects the vast changes in society through this time frame, which is evident through comparing and contrasting the beliefs, careers, lifestyles, and styles of composition of two of the most famous composers of this time, Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig Van Beethoven.
Religion and God were the driving forces of music and society from Bach to Beethoven, although the perspectives of both were very different.   Before and during the Baroque era, the majority of music was commissioned by churches and contained purely sacred content.   As musical styles changed from Baroque to Classical and then finally to Romantic, the subject matter of music shifted from theological to personal.   In J.S. Bach’s time, God was something to be feared.   If one committed a sin, he/she... [continues]

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