Bestselling Classical Music CDs

Classical music has its roots in the 9th century although the term itself did not appear until the 19th century in an attempt to ‘canonize’ the period from Johann Sebastian Bach to Beethoven as a golden age. The term covers a wide variety of forms, styles, genres, and historical periods, making it difficult to define the specific characteristics of a classical CD.

The roots of western classical music lie in early Christian liturgical music, and its influences date even further back to the Ancient Greeks. Development of individual tones and scales was done by ancient Greeks such as Aristoxenus and the mathematician Pythagoras. Pythagoras created a tuning system and helped to codify musical notation. Ancient Greek instruments such as the aulos (a reed instrument) and the lyre (a stringed instrument similar to a small harp) eventually led to the modern day instruments of a classical orchestra. The antecedent to the early period was the era of ancient music from before the fall of the Roman Empire (476 AD). Very little music survives from this time, most of it from ancient Greece.

The classical music world has produced a wide range of famous composers - some of the most influential and noted figures in any genre of music. Among the most notable classical musicians are Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Gershwin, Haydn, Mozart, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky - all names which are instantly recognizable even to those without even the slightest liking for or interest in classical music.