The History Of Music

THE HISTORY OF MUSIC

The Middle Ages 450-1450
Characteristics of Music
Music comes from the Ancient
Greek muses, who were the nine
goddesses of art and science. Music
actually began around 500 B.C. when
Pythagoras experimented with acoustics
and how math related to tones formed
from plucking strings. The main form of
music during the Middle Ages was the
Gregorian chant, named for Pope
Gregory I. This music was used in the
Catholic Churches to enhance the
services. It consisted of a sacred Latin
text sung by monks without
instrumentation. The chant is sung in a
monophonic texture, which means there
is only one line of music. It has a free-
flowing rhythm with little or no set beat.
The chants were originally all passed
through oral tradition, but the chants
became so numerous that the monks
began to notate them.
Music in Society
Towards the end of the Middle
Ages, about the 12 th and 13 th centuries,
music began to move outside of the
church. French nobles called
troubadours and trouveres were among
the first to have written secular songs.
Music of this time was contained among
the nobility, with court minstrels
performing for them. There were also
wandering minstrels who would perform
music and acrobatics in castles, taverns,
and town squares. These people were
among the lowest social class, along with
prostitutes and slaves, but they were
important because they passed along
information, since there were no
newspapers.
Links to Composers of the Middle Ages
Queen Blanche of Castile (1188-1252)
Comtessa Beatiz de Dia (attested 1212)
Herrad of Landsberg (1167-1195)
Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
Leonin (1163-1190)
The Renaissance 1450-1600
Characteristics of Music
During the Renaissance Period,
vocal music was still more important
then instrumental. A humanistic interest
in language created a close relationship
between words and music during this
time. Composers began to write music to
give deeper meaning and emotion to the
words in their songs. They wrote in a
style referred to as word painting, where
the music and words combine to form a
representation of poetic images.
Renaissance music is very emotional
music, although to us it seems to be much
calmer. This is because the emotion is
expressed in a balanced way, without
extreme contrasts of dynamics, tone
color, and rhythm. Renaissance music
has a mostly polyphonic texture, which
means there are many lines of music
being played at the same time. As
opposed to medieval times, this music
has a more full sound, because the bass
register was used, expanding the range
of music to about four octaves. Each line
of melody has rhythmic independence,
giving Renaissance music a more flowing
rhythm and not a sharply defined beat.
The melodies are also easy to sing
because they move along scales with few
large leaps.
Music in Society
Music was becoming more popular
during this time. Much of this was due
to the invention of the printing press,
which could circulate copies of music.
The number of composers also began to
increase. The Renaissance had the ideal
of the “universal man” and believed that
every educated person was to be trained
in music. Musicians still worked in the
churches, courts, and towns. The size of
church choirs grew. But unlike the
Middle Ages where just a few soloists
performed in the church, an entire male
choir would now sing. Music was still
important in the church, although it has
shifted more to the courts. The kings,
princes, and dukes were all fine
composers. One court alone might have
had ten to sixty composers consisting of
vocalists and instrumentalists. There
was a music director for each court that
would compose and direct the court’s
performers. The town musicians would
perform for civic processions, weddings,
and religious services. Musicians now
had a higher status in society with better
pay, and they wanted to be known and
sought credit for their work.
Links to Composers of the Renaissance
Antoine Brumel (1460-1520)
Jean de Castro (1540-1611)
John Dowland (1563-1626)
Thomas Morley (1557-1602)
Claudin de Sermisy (1490-1562)
The Baroque Age 1600-1750
Characteristics of Music
Unlike the previous two periods in
music, the Baroque Age was a time of
unity. Most musical pieces of this time
expressed one mood throughout the
whole piece. These moods were
conveyed through a musical language
with specific rhythms and melodic
patterns. One exception to the unified
mood is vocal music. There would be
drastic changes in emotion, but they
would still convey one mood for a long
period in the piece. One thing that helps
the unity of mood was the continuity of
rhythm of this time. The rhythm is
maintained throughout the entire piece
creating a drive and feel of forward
motion that goes uninterrupted. Along
with mood and rhythm, the melody is
also continuous. The melodies tend to be
varied throughout the piece and many
are elaborate and difficult to sing or
remember. They do not give an
impression of balance and symmetry;
many times a short opening phrase is
followed by a longer one with a flow of
rapid notes. Dynamics are in the same
category with the other characteristics;
they are usually continuous. The
dynamics in Baroque music have a term
called terraced dynamics. This means
that the dynamics usually stay the same
for a while, but shift suddenly. Much of
the Baroque music was played in a
polyphonic texture with multiple melodic
lines. People of this time believed that
music could move the listener in more
ways than one. Opera was a major ideal
for this belief.
Music in Society
There was a new demand for
music now. Churches, aristocratic
courts, opera houses, and municipalities
wanted music. Composers were
pressured to write new music because
audiences did not want to hear pieces of
music in the “old-fashioned” style. The
composers of the courts were paid well
and more prestigious, but they were still
considered a servant of the court. They
could not quit nor vacation without the
patron’s permission. The demand for
music in the church was greater so they
employed musicians, although they were
paid less and had less status than the
court musicians. In the Baroque Age, a
person became a musician usually by
being the son of a musician or an
apprentice. An apprentice would live in
the musician’s home and in return for
instruction the young boy would do odd
jobs for the musician. Orphanages
would give thorough musical training to
both the boys and girls who lived there.
The word conservatory, which today
means a music school, originated from
the Latin word for orphans’ home.
Musicians usually had to pass a difficult
test in order to receive a job. The test
was usually performing and submitting
compositions, but sometimes the test
consisted of nonmusical requirements.
The musician might have had to
contribute to the town’s treasury, or
marrying the daughter of a retiring
musician. The Baroque Age began the
sprout of music in society, and it
continued to blossom further.
Links to Composers of the Baroque Age
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Wilhelm Friedman Bach (1710-1784)
Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687)
Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)
Antonin Vivaldi (1678-1741)
The Classical Period 1750-1820
Characteristics of Music
The Classical Period of music
differs from the Baroque Age in that is
does not value the fluidity and
smoothness of the individual elements of
music. There are contrasts of mood;
many of the pieces in classical music will
convey numerous moods. The moods
may be a gradual change or a sudden
change, depending on the composer, but
the composer always has a firm control.
Rhythm is another element that is varied
in classical music. Unlike the Baroque
Age of fluid rhythm that rarely changes,
classical composers used unexpected
pauses, syncopations, and frequent
changes in length of the notes. The
texture in classical music in mainly
homophonic, meaning there is a main
melody backed with a progression of
chords, although, like the rhythm, it can
also change unexpectedly. The melodies
in classical music have an easy tune to
remember. Although they may be
complex compositions, there is usually a
basic melody to follow. They are often
balanced and symmetrical with two
phrases of the same length. The
widespread use of dynamic change
comes from the composer’s interests in
expressing their different layers of
emotions. The crescendo and
decrescendo became increasingly used to
get the audience more involved. The
gradual shift from using a piano instead
of the harpsichord came from this desire
to have more dynamic changes. Unlike
the harpsichord, the piano allows the
player to adjust the dynamic by pressing
harder or softer on the keys. Most
classical composers began to want to
control their own music, not make music
according to what someone else wanted.
Music in Society
During the eighteenth century, the
economy began rising and people
starting making more money. The
prospering middle class could afford
larger homes, nicer clothes and better
food. They also wanted aristocratic
luxuries such as theatre, literature, and
music. The middle class had a great
impact on music in the Classical Period.
The palace concerts were usually closed
to the middle class, so public concerts
were held. Many people were not
satisfied with always going to concerts to
listen to music; they wanted it in their
homes as well. They wanted their
children to take music lessons and play
as well as the aristocratic children.
Many composers wrote music to appease
the public and their music was often
easy enough for amateur musicians to
play.
Ludwig von Beethoven
Links to Composers of the Classical
Period
Ludwig von Beethoven
(1770-1827)
Franz Joseph Haydn
(1732-1809)
Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart (1756-1791)
Franz Peter
Schubert (1797-1828)
Carl Philip
Stamitz (1745-1801)
The Romantic Period 1820-1900
Characteristics of Music
The Romantic Period was a time
when emotion was poured into the
music. Each composer had an individual
style and expression. Music lovers could
quickly decipher the composer of a piece
of music because of its style. Many of
the compositions convey nationalism
and exoticism. Nationalism is expressed
when a composer writes in the style of
their native homeland. Exoticism was a
style of music in which the composer
was fascinated with a foreign land and
would create music to sound like it.
Composers used exoticism to keep up
with their obsessions with remote,
picturesque, and mysterious things.
Program music was a huge part of the
Romantic Period. This is when the
composer would write music to follow a
story, poem, idea, or scene. The
instruments would represent the
emotions, characters, and events of a
particular story; it would also convey
sounds and motion of nature. One of the
greatest program music composers was
Hector Berlioz, who wrote the
Symphonie fantastique, a story about an
artist who overdoses on opium. Timbre,
or tone color, was used more now than
ever before. It was extremely important
to the composer to obtain their specific
mood or atmosphere that they wanted
the audience to feel. Along with new
tone colors, composers also sought new
harmonies for greater emotional
intensity. They began using the
chromatic harmony, which uses chords
from the twelve tone scale as opposed to
the major and minor eight tone scales.
By doing this they could use more
tension and release methods. They
would play extremely dissonant chords,
and then release it with a more stable
consonant chord to create feelings of
yearning, tension, and mystery. To
follow the expansion of timbre, and
harmonies, dynamics, pitch, and tempo
were also expanded. Composers used
extreme dynamics ranging from pppp to
ffff , which is extremely soft to extremely
loud. Composers experimented with new
instruments, such as the piccolo and
contrabassoon to expand the pitches of
the orchestra. The other thing they
varied was tempo. Accelerandos and
ritardandos were used more for variety
along with the rubato, a hesitation or
pushing of the tempo.
Music in Society
In the earlier periods of music,
composers had specific jobs, such as
writing for churches or courts. In the
Romantic Period, more composers
became freelancers; Beethoven was one
of the first. He inspired many others to
freelance and compose for their own
pleasure. Much of the music of this time
was written for the middle class because
they prospered due to the industrial
revolution. Because of this demand from
the middle class, public orchestras and
operas became more popular.
Conservatories began forming in the
first half of the nineteenth century
throughout Europe. The United States
also welcomed conservatories in Chicago,
Cleveland, Boston, Ohio, and
Philadelphia during the later nineteenth
century. Music became a big part of the
home; many families had pianos of their
own. Much of the orchestra music was
transcribed for the piano for private
use. Many composers did not have
financial wealth; only a few had money
to support them in their suffering times.
Felix Mendelssohn
Links to Composer of the Romantic
Period
Arrigo Boito
(1842-1918)
Johannes Brahms
(1833-1897)
Frederic Chopin
(1810-1849)
Claude Debussy
(1862-1918)
Antonin Dvorak
(1841-1904)
Felix Mendelssohn
(1809-1847)
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
(1840-1893)
The Twentieth Century 1900-1945
Characteristics of Music
During the Twentieth Century, tone
color became more important than ever
before. Many techniques that were
considered uncommon before were
being used during this time. Many
composers used noiselike and percussive
instruments. The glissando, a rapid slide
up or down the scales, was used more.
The percussion instruments became a
major part of twentieth century music.
They helped give variety of rhythm and
tone colors. The music did not blend as
well as it did during the Romantic times
because the composer often wrote for
each different section of the orchestra to
have a different tone color. Prior to
1900, chords in music were either
considered consonant of dissonant.
Dissonant chords were becoming just as
common as consonant chords. The
composer was no longer tied down to
using traditional chords; what they did
was up to them and what sound they
wanted to achieve. Another key element
of the Twentieth Century was the sway
from the traditional tonal system. From
the 1600’s up to the 1900’s, songs had a
central tone, and were based on a major
or minor scale. Many composers now
were getting away from the major and
minor scales, and would sometimes have
more than one central tone. Just as
composers were expanding their tonal
abilities, they expanded their rhythmic
patterns. Many emphasized irregularity
and unpredictability. The different
rhythmic patterns were drawn from all
over the world. The time signature
would often change in the middle of
piece. Accents and other rhythmic
irregularities would come unexpectedly.
Composers also wrote polyrhythmic
music, where more than one rhythm
would be played at the same time by
different sections. With all the different
tone colors, tonal systems, and varied
rhythms, melodies of the twentieth
century became unpredictable.
Music in Society
Music has become an even greater
part of society now, because of
recordings, radio broadcasts, and the
ability to mass print copies of music for
anyone to play in the convenience of
their home. At the beginning of the
twentieth century, though, many people
did not accept these outrageous new
styles of music, so the composers mostly
performed their less dramatic pieces in
concerts. Women became more active in
the music world as composers, virtuoso
soloists, and educators. During the wars,
women joined the orchestras as players
and conductors. During Hitler’s reign in
Europe, many composers moved to the
U.S. to look for work. The United States
became a powerful force for twentieth
century music. Jazz, country, and other
popular music swept the world.
American colleges and universities have
expanded music throughout the nation,
educating countless numbers of
students. These colleges and universities
now are what the churches and nobility
were in the past.