Music History
Music has been a great influence in the lives
of many people through lyrics and
rhythm. There are many different styles
that can be performed by either a male
or female. Music has been around for
many years and is constantly changing.
Music has been divided into six
periods: Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque,
Classical, and Twentieth
Century. Music is written in symbols that represent
musical sounds. The
system of written symbols is called Musical Notation.
"The primary
requirement of any notation is that it be suited to the music
it represents
(Gerboth)." The simplest texture of music is monophonic or
single voiced
texture. Gregorian chant is an example of monophonic texture.
"All music
up to about a thousand years ago, of which we have any knowledge,
was
monophonic (Machlis 295)." Its melody is heard with out a
harmonic
accompaniment or other vocal lines and attention is focused on the
single line (Machlis
295). "To this day the music of the Oriental world -
of China, Japan, India,
Java, Bali, and the Arab nations -is largely
monophonic (Machlis 295)."
Polyphonic or many-voiced texture is when two
or more melodic lines are
combined. Most Medieval polyphonic music is
anonymous, though some composers
were so important that their name was
preserved along with their music
("Historical"). The polyphonic texture is
based on counterpoint: the
art and science of combining in a single texture
two or more simultaneous
melodic lines, each with a rhythmic life of its own
(Machlis 295-96). The
development of counterpoint took place at a time when
composers were mainly
occupied with religious choral music, which was by its
nature, many-voiced (Machlis
296). Polyphony had to be written in a way
that would indicate the rhythm and
pitch precisely. It brought the emergence
of regular meters that enabled
different voices to stay together. Polychoral
music is music for several chiors
singing in answer to each other across the
huge resesses of the church (Frowler
122). Homophonic texture is a
single-melody with chords (Machlis 296).
Homophonic means "same" or
similar sounding. Its texture is based
mainly on harmony. This texture
dominated the Classical style. The Medieval
period was the longest and most
distant period of musical history and consists
of almost a millennium’s worth
of music ("Historical"). One of the
difficulties in studying Medieval music
is that a system for notating music
developed only gradually ("Historical").
A musical notation system was
started in the 12th or 13th century. Notation
in music, for several centuries,
only indicated what pitch (or note) to sing.
The Renaissance (1400-1600) began
in 14th century Italy (Kirshner) and its
name means rebirth. A cultural break
with Medieval tradition was the
Renaissance idea of humanism. "The Renaissance
was a time of brilliant
accomplishments in literature, science, and the arts (Frowler
445)."
During the Renaissance there is an increase in individualism that
is
reflected by the changing role of the composer ("Historical"). In
late
Renaissance instrumental music went toward an independence from
vocal music
(Ulrich). Most of the popular songs were played on the lute. The
Renaissance, in
the arts, was on of the most innovative and active periods in
the history of
Western man, based partly on the philosophic movement
called humanism (Ulrich).
The Baroque period (or Middle Ages) (1600-1750)
is divided into three fifty-year
periods, early, middle, and late Baroque.
Music of the Baroque era was
characterized by the vastness of proportion,
rich counterpoint, great splender
and a highly ornamented melodic line
(Mautz). Baroque music is often highly
ornate, colorful and richly textured
when compared with its predecessors
("Historical"). The term Baroque came
from a French word for an
imperfect or irregular pearl (Frowler 448-49). "The
early baroque was a time
of intense experimentation, led in large part by
Italian composer Claudio
Monteverdi ("Historical")." Many aspects of the
Baroque art were
determined by religion (Sullavin). "The intensity and
immediacy of Baroque
art and its individualism and detail - observed in such
things as the convincing
rendering of cloth and skin textures - make it one
of the most compelling
periods of Western Art (Sullavin)." Major events of
the early 17th century
were related to the invention of a new method of
composition called monodic
style. Monodic style music was for one singer with
an instrumental
accompaniment. It was achieved by a group of Florentene
writers, artists, and
musicians known as the Camerata, a name derived from
the Italian word for"salon" (Machlis 354). Opera was born around 1600, the
beginning of the
Baroque era. Opera was considered by many to be the
single most important
achievement of the Baroque period (Machlis 354). The
first great opera was Orfeo,
("Historical"), by Claudio Monterverdi and was
first performed in
1607. The Classical period (1750-1825) centers about
the achievements of the
four masters of the Viennese school – Haydn, Mozart,
Beethoven, and Schubert (Machlis
228). Vienna was the most important
center of the classical period. The growth
of the public concert was one of
the most important developments of the
classical period ("Historical").
Writing music was much more simpler than it
was in the Baroque period
("Historical"). Composers were now able to
survive with out being the
employee of one person or family and concerts were no
longer limited to place
drawing rooms. Composers also started organizing
concerts that featured their
own music. This would often attract large
audiences. The size of the
orchestra was gradually expanded, by composers, to
accommodate the expanded
musical version. "Although chamber music and solo
works were played in the
home or other intimate settings, orchestral concerts
seemed to be naturally
designed for big public spaces
("Historical")." The popularity of the public
concert had a
strong impact on the growth of the orchestra. During the
Romantic period
(1825-1900) typical symphony’s were extended from thirty
minutes to well over
an hour (Ulrich). Gifted performers - particularly
pianists, violinists, and
singers - became enormously popular. In addition to
seeking the sights and
sounds of other places, composers began exploring the
music of their native
countries. When nationalism became a driving force in
the late Romantic period
composers wanted their music to express their
cultural identity
("Historical"). color was an important feature of Romantic
music
("Historical"). Music has been around for many years and has
been
through many changes, not only in the styles, but also in the way it is
written,
read, and sang. It exists in all known societies and has many uses
(Nettl).
Music plays a role in all societies, and it exists in a large
number of styles,
each characteristic of a geographical region or historical
era (Nettl).
Bibligraphy
Frowler, Charles, "Music! Its Role and
Importance in Our Lives", New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1994: 122, 445, 448-49.
Gerboth, Walter, "Musical
Notation", Encarta 97, CD Rom, 1993-96.
"Historical Periods", Classical
Insites Conservatory, AOL, 1998.
Kirshner, Julius, "Renaissance", Encarta
97, CD Rom, Microsoft, 1993-96.
Machlis, Joseph, "The Enjoyment of Music",
New York: Norton, 1984: 228,
295, 296, 354. Mautz, Nancy B., "Creative
Impulse...Baroque", World Wide
Web, 12 Sept., 1998. Nettl, Bruno,
"Music", Encarta 97, CD Rom,
Microsoft, 1993-96. Sullavin, Edward J.,
"Baroque". Encarta 97, CD Rom,
Microsoft. 1993-96. Ulrich, Homer,
"Music", Encyclopedia Americana, 1979:
Vol. 19.