Music appreciation
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[edit] Elements
[edit] Middle Ages
The period of European History between 450 and 1400 A.D. is often called the Middle Ages. The beginning of this era was considered a "dark age" by many Europeans, due to the many migrations, wars, and upheavals therein. The later period of Middle Ages is known for much more cultural growth. Many Romanesque churches and monasteries were established between 1000 and 1150 and, later, the Gothic cathedrals were established (1150-1400). As the cathedrals dominated the medieval landscape and mind, most music was john hillman used in these churches. Boys received musical education in cathedral schools, while women were not allowed to sing (at least not as part of the church service). Most of medieval music was vocal, however some instruments were in common use. After 1100, instruments became more and more common in church. The Organ was very prominent, however it was very primitive and quite different from the modern instruments.
[edit] Gregorian Chant
"Gregorian Chant" is the official liturgical music of the medieval Church. It consists of sacred Latin texts set to melody, and is sung without instrumental accompaniment (a cappella). Gregorian chants convey the calm, meditative atmosphere of the church prayers. The chants are now usually sung in a free-flowing style with notes of equal length, because scholars are unsure if the notation was meant to indicate rhythmic values. Gregorian chant is named after Pope Gregory I. He is known for reorganizing and standardizing the liturgy during the period from 590 to 604. Most of these chants were created between 600 and 1300 CE. The composers of Gregorian chant, like the sculptors who decorated early medieval churches, remain anonymous. Gregorian chant is still used liturgically, and formed the basis for later polyphonic church music.
[edit] Church Modes
G.c. results from the many scales used. These scales are called church modes. These modes consist of 7 different notes, and 8 tones which duplicate higher and lower octaves. They were the basic scales during the Middle Age music both for sacred and secular purposed. A lot of western country music follows these patterns. One example, which is in the dorian mode, is "What Shall We Do With Drunken Sailor?" A perfect example of Gregorian Chant, is a well known Alleluia.
[edit] Secular Music in Middle Ages
In spite of Gregorian Chant domination, secular music was popular too. Most of the secular music were composed by troubadours between the 12th and 13th centuries. Over 1650 troubadour melodies are kept till now. They do not have a rhythm, yet they do have regular meter and definite beat. That's their difference from Gregorian Chant which has no meter at all. During the middle ages wandering minstrels (or jongleurs) performed music and acrobatic tricks in castles, taverns, and town squares. They were lucky enough to work in steady service and ability.
[edit] The development of Polyphony
For centuries the music was mostly monophonic with a single melody line. But the years of 700 to 900 were revolutionary to music. Monks at monasteries started to add second melody line to the melodies. The second line of melody duplicated the melody of the first, with a few tone difference. The music of this kind is also known as Organum. By the 1100 the second line was allowed to become more independent, it was never restricted by note-against-note style. The chant on the bottom was sung in very long notes, and the melody were on top in shorter notes. After 1150 the school of Notre Dame introduced the measured rhythm with definite time value and clearly defined meter. Beat notation had to be introduced.
[edit] 14th Century, the "New Art" in France
In the year of 1337-1453 Europe suffered bubonic plague which destroyed one-fourth of European population. As a consequence, both the feudal system and church were weakened. It is not surprising that secular music became stronger in this period of time. Composers wrote music which was absolutely independent of Gregorian Chants. The works of that time were the drinking songs and pieces which comprised the bird calls, sound of nature, sound of hunting. Music notation was evolved, and composers were able to specify the rhythmic pattern. The beats could be subdivided into two as well as three, Syncopation, rarely used earlier, was becoming a practice. Changes both in music and in the art during this time were so profound, that theorists call them the "New Art" or arts nova. Guillame de Machaut is the most prominent figure of this period.
[edit] Renaissance
The 15th and 16th centuries in Europe are known as "rebirth" or "Renaissance" of human creativity. This period is known for exploration by Christopher Columbus (1492), Vasco da Gama (1498), Ferdinand Magellan(1519-1522). It was the age of remarkable curiosity, and creativity. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was a painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, scientist and musician as well. During the Renaissance the humanism, the dominant intellectual movement was focused on human life and accomplishment. Being activated by pagan cultures and languages of ancient Romans and Greeks, humanists were concerned by the issue of life, rather than afterlife activities. It was accepted to picture the beauty of nude human body. The Catholic church was less powerful in Renaissance than in middle ages, and no longer in monopolized learning. Aristocrats and the upper middle class considered education as a status symbol, and people were hired to teach their children. The invention of printing with movable type (about 1436) accelerated the learning, a lot of 40,000 editions were printed in Europe. As in other forms of arts the horizons of music were greatly expanded. Printing widened the circulation of music, and a lot of scores were spread, as a consequence the number of composers and performers increased. The idea of "universal man" implied that everyone should be educated in music. Church choirs grew in size. Polyphonic church music was usually sung by multiple soloists, and performed by entire male choirs. Kings and dukes competed for finest composers, every court had a number of musicians. Women functioned as virtuoso singers during Late Renaissance.
- Town musicians played both for civic procession and religious services.
- Since humanistic interests in languages and vocal music existed, vocal music was more important. Renaissance composers wrote music to enhance the measure of the text, unlike medieval composers. The term word paintings was much in use, which is the musical representation of word specifics.
[edit] Characteristics of the Music in Renaissance
The most prominent way which distinguishes the Renaissance music from medieval is a much smoother sound, more homogeneous, and less contrast The sound is changed as a result of a compositional technique. The new polyphony style replaced the highly contrasting lines of medieval polyphony.
- Imitation, is a polyphony form, in which the musical phrase is represented by all musical lines, one after another. As line enters, previous ones continue, without any overlapping. This strictest kind of imitation is "round" where all the voices sing exactly the same thing in turn. Only the first few notes are sung by entering voice, then the whole group continues.
[edit] Texture
The texture of the Renaissance music was chiefly polyphonic. Typical choral pieces had four to five parts.
- The bass register is used for the first time, expanding the pitch range for more the four octaves. Bass line lead to a good harmony, so the term of chords became more popular. Composers became chord oriented, yet thought of some melodic lines.
- The rhythm of Renaissance music is a more gentle flow than a sharply defined beat. Melodic line is rhythmically independent. It is possible for one singer to start in the middle of the piece. Renaissance music is both for pleasure and challenge. But pitch patterns are easy to sing. The melody moves in a scale with a few leaps.
[edit] Sacred music in Renaissance
[edit] Motet
is a polyphonic choral work set to sacred Latin text.
[edit] Renaissance mass
Also known as liturgical music, is a polyphonic choral composition, which comprised five sections:
- Kyrie
- Gloria
- Credo
- Sanctus
- Agnus Dei
Palestrina's music was very widely used in mass music.
[edit] Secular Songs
[edit] The High Renaissance
The unifying the full use of imitation was established. Composers experimented by drawing musical materials from a single source. The source melody usually appeared in tenro voice, but other voices often derived from it as well.
- The most versatile and gifted composer of this period was Josquin Desprez (c.1450-1521) He composed music in three major genres of Renaissance, which are:Masses, Motets, and secular songs. He brought the imitation to the new heights of clarify and flexibility. The examples are Pange Lingua Mass, and Pange Lingua Geoli, which is a plainchant hymn.
[edit] Late Renaissance
The sixteenth century is known for remarkable achievements, the balance beauty and exquisite sound of the imitative polyphony was fully explored by all European composers. In addition, the music became more and more homogeneous. There was fewer contrasts between the lines. One technical change of the Renaissance is the sound of the last chord by the end of the sections. The Renaissance composers thought of full chord by the end of piece. The chord was supposed to be tonic, fifth and octave. The distinction between fifth, full, and root chords are apparently heard.
[edit] Baroque
[edit] Classicism
[edit] Romanticism
[edit] National Music Traditions
[edit] French Impressionism
French Impressionism (in music) is credited to French composer Claude Debussy, although Mahler had used some impressionistic idioms in some of his later music before. The main other composer in this movement was Maurice Ravel, although his view on music is often considered to be more 'neo-classical'. Impressionism in music is characterised by excessive use of ninth chords and a turn toward ancient church music (e.g. church modes, gregorian chants, etc.)for an almost archaic 'mood'. Overall, Impressionism was meant to, as Debussy said: 'Be supple enough to adapt itself to the lyrical effusions of the soul and the fantasy in dreams'. Basically, although Debussy and the Impressionist composers rejected Romanticism, they were essentially still composing under a romantic idiom. Romanticism is macabre, passionate and active, but still tries to connect music as much as possible with the real world (e.g. Tone Poems, Program music, etc.). Impressionism is quiet, floating and passive, but both still share the same basic goal, they simply express the human soul in different ways.
Another strong influence on Impressionism is non-western music Gamelan ensembles. Use of pentatonic scales, chromatic scales and the 'whole-tone scale' are found throughout the harmony and melody of French Impressionism.
[edit] German Expressionism
Arnold Schoenberg (German spelling: 'Schönberg')
German Expressionism was characterised by extremely wide melodic leaps and the expirimentation with extreme registers of musical instruments. One of the main composers in this field was Arnold Schoenberg.
Schoenberg was born in Vienna on 1874. Even before his atonal days, Schoenberg's harmonies were very advanced, extending chromaticism to its limit in a Post-Wagnerian manner. His gigantic song-cycle 'Gurrelieder' (also: 'Gurre-Lieder') shows considerable Wagnerian influence in its harmonies, sometimes stretching chromaticism past its tonal limits into a 'pre-atonal feel'.
Although the first piece Schoenberg consciously composed using the twelve-tone system is considered to be Op. 19 "Sechs kleine Klavierstücke" ("Six small pieces for Piano") from 1911, Schoenberg composed some earlier pieces that already have a 'pre-atonal feel' to them. Another example for this is the String Sextet 'Verklärte Nacht' (translated as 'Transfigured Night'). In this context, 'pre-atonal' merely states that those pieces already show Schoenberg's unique rhetoric, although he had not finished his idea about the twelve-tone system yet.
It is important to note that Schoenberg did not use the term "atonality" in the first place. As a matter of fact, he rather liked to speak of his music being "pantonal" (gr. "pan" = "every"), since "atonal" was first used by his critics and can refer to music that literally "lacks tone".
The twelve-tone System/Atonality
The twelve-tone system is a method of atonal* composition developed by Schoenberg. The basic underlying rule of this system is in the use of a 'tone row'. A tone row usually includes all twelve chromatic notes, arranged in any conceivable order. Variations of a tone row often use techniques like transposition, retrograde, inversion, augmentation and diminishment. The strive in atonality is to create a music that has no principal tone. Each tone in the chromatic scale is treated equally. This is similar in idea to the Impressionistic idiom of "free[ing] it [i.e. music] from barren traditions that stifle it" (Claude Debussy) (i.e. dissolving the major-minor system that had dominated music since the baroque-era). It would be wrong, however, to treat atonality and Impressionism as the same genre because of their role in 'the emancipation of dissonance'.
The Second Viennese School (Schoenberg, Berg & Webern)
[edit] Italian School
[edit] Russian School
[edit] Modernism
[edit] Jazz and Rock
[edit] Bibliography
Music An Appreciation, by Roger Kamien.
The Enjoyment of Music (Ninth Edition), by Joseph Machlis & Kristine Forney
