A comparative statistical analysis of music styles (seventeenth–nineteenth centuries)

Abstract

This article is devoted to the study of instrumental sonatas by composers of Baroque, Classicism, and Romanticism periods. Within the study, the overall number of notes, number of repeated, lowered and raised notes, maximum interval, and range of musical passage are examined. Six subhypotheses are tested to learn the differences in musical works. The analysis is carried out by Student's t-test and Kruskal-Wallis test. The analysis results manifest that four of the six analysed parameters depend on the era of composing. Therefore, these parameters can be used to identify the period of writing a musical piece.