Classical music is the art music produced

[suneetha]

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 9th century to present times.[1] The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common practice period.

European music is largely distinguished from many other non-European and popular musical forms by its system of staff notation, in use since about the 16th century.[2] Western staff notation is used by composers to prescribe to the performer the pitch, speed, meter, individual rhythms and exact execution of a piece of music. This leaves less room for practices such as improvisation and ad libitum ornamentation, that are frequently heard in non-European art music (compare Indian classical music and Japanese traditional music) and popular music.

 

[Montefalco]

Hi suneetha, welcome to the forum.
I agree that there weren't really any elements of improvisation in 'classical music', however I seem to remember reading somewhere about a chance system that Mozart used. He would prepare extra variations and sections for his music, and judge people's interest in his music by the number of coughs he heard from the audience. He would then play the extra parts if people found the performances stimulating. He would also sometimes have to play a movement two or three times over in a performance before moving into the next movement because the audience enjoyed it so much.

 

[superhorn]

Improvisation was in fact a key part of Western Classical music in the past. Composers such as Mozart and Beethoven frequently improvised at concerts at he keyboard, making up the music as they went along. However,this practice gradually disappeared, for a variety of reasons which are probably too complex to discuss here.
In 18th century opera, singers were expected to freely ornament their parts in arias. Handel's opera,for example, consist mainly of sequences of arias and recitatives, with an occaisional chorus or duet or larger ensemble.
The so-called Da Capo aria was standard then. It consisted of a main body ,with a middle section with a contrasting melody. The composer always put the sign D.C.,or Da Capo after the middle section,indicating that the singer is to repeat the first part of the aria.
However, singers would never merely repeat the aria as written; they were expected to apply lavish embellishments to the melodic line.
To fail to do so would have been unthinkable for a singer, and they audience would have howled its disapproval.
Earlier in the 20th century,before extensive research had been applied to performance practice, revivals of these long-neglected Handel operas featured singers who would merely repeat the first half literally, and conductors did not know enough about performance practice to have them embellish .
There is currently a movement to revive the practice of improvisation in classical music, and some conservatories are featuring classes in this for students.

 

[Montefalco]

Now I think about it, superhorn's right. My bad.