A friend just posted this on Facebook:
http://io9.com/listen-to-2-500-year-old-music-brought-back-to-life-1450701727
It's so relevant to this course!
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
The Classical Period
Some characteristics of the classical period included:
-changing musical audience, more middle class
-more flexible, varied approach to the single piece or movement
-increased desired for clarity and transparency in structure, partly as a reflection of a less sophisticated audience.
-extreme development of tonality and harmony and the way it governed melody and phrasing
During this time, the tonal system was firmly established and began to dictate the form of a piece. Harmony was also being expanded beyond the previous simple terms of consonance and dissonance. Jean-Philippe Rameau wrote a treatise on functional harmony and gave names to things we study regularly today such as: tonic, dominant, sub dominant, and modulation. This was a huge development in music. Composers had unlocked the door into the realms of complex harmony and melodic writing. The thought that "melody should be derived from harmony" gave way to a whole new means of expression. Until this realization, the vertical element in music was primarily conceived as the product of simultaneous tones in horizontal melodic lines. This idea became weaker, while the idea of triads and emphasis on a more instrumental skipping motion grew.
The patronage system continued to support most musicians and many musical centers and courts were born throughout Europe. The symphony replaced the concerto grosso and orchestral suite. The string quartet replaced the trio sonata and was the chamber music genre of the classical period. Out of the Baroque concerto grosso and sinfonia concertantae grew the solo concerto, which was basically a three movement version of the sonata form. A new type of work, divertimento, was composed for less formal entertainment, in noble households rather than for concert halls or courts. The model for expression in the classical period was drama. Opera was developed and expanded upon, and contained musical dialogue and lots of drama. Different kinds of opera arose, such as opera buffe, a comedic genre. Another dramatic aspect is created in this music when events come together in a meaningful way. For instance, tonal instability is often highlighted by motivic fragmentation or brilliant passage work, while tonal arrivals are given significance by the simultaneous arrivals of themes, change in dynamics, texture and scoring.
Franz Joseph Haydn is called the 'father of the string quartet. He set the standards on which quartets developed during the classical period and beyond and wrote over 90 quartets. In his Quartet Op. 33 No. 2 (The Joke), he plays with the listener's expectations. The music is filled with humor and an uncalled for ending. By this time, the form and harmonic "flow" of music had been established, so that listeners had certain expectations for where the music was 'going'. Haydn's music sometimes took his audiences by surprise. This is the continued development of emotional expression and affect in music. Composers could let their creativity soar, within the boundaries of harmony at this point of course, and the music created during this period covered every affect and emotion one could think of. Just think about the music created only 300 years earlier. That's a short time in the history of music and a huge jump in the means by which composers could be expressive. The time period between the Baroque and Late-Romantic (about 250 years) showed such a fast rate of development in music compared to the rate of development during the early years of history (music from the 10th-15th centuries). It just shows how quickly history progresses when certain technologies are introduced. Tuesday, October 29, 2013
The Early 18th Century, 1680-1750
The culmination of developments in harmony, instruments combining with voices, and elaborate expressions of text have all come together this week, bringing us some of my favorite music ever....Baroque music! Okay, so I may be bias about this because Baroque music makes up a good chunk of the repertoire I play most often, but aside from that, this music truly is spectacular.
With increased use of instruments, structures arose that created balance, unity, and coherence. These ideals carried through the Baroque and gave its music the characteristics that set it apart from music of the past. Pieces were written in movements, and those movements each had a dominating affect, creating a unifying idea throughout the piece. There were also single musical ideas that were given focus in each of these movements, and were expanded on to create interest in the piece. Key areas were developed and harmonic structure became very clean cut, with specific ways to write in certain genres or styles. (These later became the rules we know today for counterpoint.)
I would like to focus on J.S. Bach. A composer who was so influential to, not only this time period in music, but to the entirety of music history itself. It is impossible to appropriately say and learn all there is to know about Bach during a few minutes in class- and even impossible in one semester. I graduated from Baldwin Wallace Conservatory from my undergrad. This music school is very special in that we have the oldest collegiate Bach Festival in the nation. Each year in March and April, the orchestra and choir prepares one of Bach's four main works: "The Christmas Oratorio, The St. John Passion, The B Minor Mass, and The St. Matthew Passion". Professional soloists join the orchestra for a weekend filled with performances of the main work, cantatas and instrumental works by Bach and other works by Bach's contemporaries. I was fortunate enough to perform in three of the main works as well as numerous cantatas by Bach. It was so great being taught how to play in the style in which his music was written. I feel so fortunate to have had that training. It is rare in music schools these days. I also was able to take a semester-long seminar on Bach during my senior year. BW has an extensive Bach Library with a full copy of the Bach Journal and even manuscripts with Bach's original handwriting on them. If you are ever near Cleveland, I highly suggest stopping by campus to see this.
I definitely was taught the importance of Bach simply by attending BW. I had a very large appreciation for Bach before my undergrad, but now it is a full out love affair. Every musician, no matter what genre they specialize in, should learn about Bach and his genius.
Bach held many church jobs during his lifetime and the majority of his music was mainly sacred music. There has always been a debate over whether or not Bach was truly a spiritual person...or if he was in fact just writing music for his employers. My favorite quote (not only by Bach, but by anyone) is:
“The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.”
-J.S. Bach
I don't know if someone would have said that if it weren't part of their beliefs. I'll just settle on the idea that Bach was extremely fortunate to write music in praise of God and also to make money doing so. I'd be content.
He perfected the styles of the time in his music. (Except opera-but his choral/orchestra works are so magnificent that I don't think anyone is whining that he didn't write opera.) His music is pleasing aesthetically, spiritually, analytically, and technically; so that even if one who studies his music is not religious, they can still relate and find unity with it. That was definitely a development of music in itself during music history.
There is so much music of Bach's that I could just go on and on about. I will share some of my favorite movements here. I hope you can find the same joy and excitement in this music as I do. Even simply the feeling it gives me when listening is enough to justify my love for it.
This first piece relates very directly to our studies thus far in class. It is Bach's cantata BWV 80 "Ein Feste Burg". Sound familiar? Yup, it's written based on Luther's chorale tune from 1529.
Enjoy the first movement: (ps: Phillipe Herreweghe's interpretation of Bach is AWESOME...in my opinion..!)
Another piece I absolutely love is his Magnificat BWV 243. I performed this with a Bach Festival in Cochabamba, Bolivia in 2010. It was a great experience to say the least. Here's a picture from that. (I'm in the back left corner....the only blonde...easy to spot....)
Here's a link to the sixth movement....an aria between the tenor and alto.
The text is "et misericordia eius in progenies et progenies timentibus eum." which translates to and "his mercy [continues ] from generation to generation for those who fear him". Note the affect of this movement and how it represents the text. Also, pay attention to the bass line. Note how much it has developed (and also just how plain epic it is. Good speakers are recommended.)
Finally, I want to share an arrangement of a fugue. I first heard this piece when I was a wee child playing an old computer game on my cool Windows 95 computer. It was called Sim Tunes. You basically placed little pixels on a blank screen and assigned different "bugs" to run over them and make different sounds. Does anyone know this game? It was so fun. This fugue was one of the pre-made songs on the game. I had a field day when I realized it was Bach I had been hearing all that time!
Leonard Slatkin – Bach - Fugue a la gigue in G major (arr. of BWV 577)
One last thing. We all know how great the Messiah is and I am glad we were able to discuss it in class. Just wanted to share another one of my favorite albums (another being the Sting John Dowland album). This is an album that I heard during the entirety of my childhood. My parents played it all the time and I have very vivid memories of my siblings and me dancing insanely around my living room to the first piece on the album. The album is entitled "Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration". It was performed by black musicians and the first movement (the equivalent of the Sinfonia) is entitled "Overture: A partial history of black music". Take a listen!
It's so great.
Also, listen to the first minuet of this:
And then listen to this:
And with that, welcome back to the 90's. Handel and Bach...they live on.
Thanks for reading!
With increased use of instruments, structures arose that created balance, unity, and coherence. These ideals carried through the Baroque and gave its music the characteristics that set it apart from music of the past. Pieces were written in movements, and those movements each had a dominating affect, creating a unifying idea throughout the piece. There were also single musical ideas that were given focus in each of these movements, and were expanded on to create interest in the piece. Key areas were developed and harmonic structure became very clean cut, with specific ways to write in certain genres or styles. (These later became the rules we know today for counterpoint.)
I would like to focus on J.S. Bach. A composer who was so influential to, not only this time period in music, but to the entirety of music history itself. It is impossible to appropriately say and learn all there is to know about Bach during a few minutes in class- and even impossible in one semester. I graduated from Baldwin Wallace Conservatory from my undergrad. This music school is very special in that we have the oldest collegiate Bach Festival in the nation. Each year in March and April, the orchestra and choir prepares one of Bach's four main works: "The Christmas Oratorio, The St. John Passion, The B Minor Mass, and The St. Matthew Passion". Professional soloists join the orchestra for a weekend filled with performances of the main work, cantatas and instrumental works by Bach and other works by Bach's contemporaries. I was fortunate enough to perform in three of the main works as well as numerous cantatas by Bach. It was so great being taught how to play in the style in which his music was written. I feel so fortunate to have had that training. It is rare in music schools these days. I also was able to take a semester-long seminar on Bach during my senior year. BW has an extensive Bach Library with a full copy of the Bach Journal and even manuscripts with Bach's original handwriting on them. If you are ever near Cleveland, I highly suggest stopping by campus to see this.
I definitely was taught the importance of Bach simply by attending BW. I had a very large appreciation for Bach before my undergrad, but now it is a full out love affair. Every musician, no matter what genre they specialize in, should learn about Bach and his genius.
Bach held many church jobs during his lifetime and the majority of his music was mainly sacred music. There has always been a debate over whether or not Bach was truly a spiritual person...or if he was in fact just writing music for his employers. My favorite quote (not only by Bach, but by anyone) is:
“The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.”
-J.S. Bach
I don't know if someone would have said that if it weren't part of their beliefs. I'll just settle on the idea that Bach was extremely fortunate to write music in praise of God and also to make money doing so. I'd be content.
He perfected the styles of the time in his music. (Except opera-but his choral/orchestra works are so magnificent that I don't think anyone is whining that he didn't write opera.) His music is pleasing aesthetically, spiritually, analytically, and technically; so that even if one who studies his music is not religious, they can still relate and find unity with it. That was definitely a development of music in itself during music history.
There is so much music of Bach's that I could just go on and on about. I will share some of my favorite movements here. I hope you can find the same joy and excitement in this music as I do. Even simply the feeling it gives me when listening is enough to justify my love for it.
This first piece relates very directly to our studies thus far in class. It is Bach's cantata BWV 80 "Ein Feste Burg". Sound familiar? Yup, it's written based on Luther's chorale tune from 1529.
Enjoy the first movement: (ps: Phillipe Herreweghe's interpretation of Bach is AWESOME...in my opinion..!)
Another piece I absolutely love is his Magnificat BWV 243. I performed this with a Bach Festival in Cochabamba, Bolivia in 2010. It was a great experience to say the least. Here's a picture from that. (I'm in the back left corner....the only blonde...easy to spot....)
Here's a link to the sixth movement....an aria between the tenor and alto.
The text is "et misericordia eius in progenies et progenies timentibus eum." which translates to and "his mercy [continues ] from generation to generation for those who fear him". Note the affect of this movement and how it represents the text. Also, pay attention to the bass line. Note how much it has developed (and also just how plain epic it is. Good speakers are recommended.)
Finally, I want to share an arrangement of a fugue. I first heard this piece when I was a wee child playing an old computer game on my cool Windows 95 computer. It was called Sim Tunes. You basically placed little pixels on a blank screen and assigned different "bugs" to run over them and make different sounds. Does anyone know this game? It was so fun. This fugue was one of the pre-made songs on the game. I had a field day when I realized it was Bach I had been hearing all that time!
Leonard Slatkin – Bach - Fugue a la gigue in G major (arr. of BWV 577)
One last thing. We all know how great the Messiah is and I am glad we were able to discuss it in class. Just wanted to share another one of my favorite albums (another being the Sting John Dowland album). This is an album that I heard during the entirety of my childhood. My parents played it all the time and I have very vivid memories of my siblings and me dancing insanely around my living room to the first piece on the album. The album is entitled "Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration". It was performed by black musicians and the first movement (the equivalent of the Sinfonia) is entitled "Overture: A partial history of black music". Take a listen!
It's so great.
Also, listen to the first minuet of this:
And then listen to this:
And with that, welcome back to the 90's. Handel and Bach...they live on.
Thanks for reading!
Thursday, October 24, 2013
1600-1700
The biggest development in music history from this time period was that of the 'seconda practica', the idea that the forbidden dissonances from the earlier style are justified by the affections in the text. Galilei (a member of the Florentine Camerata) believed that music should "move the affect of the soul". This could not be achieved completely if composers were to continue in the old style. Because of the revival of Greek ideas of rhetoric, they began composing more freely, in terms of consonances and dissonances, to represent the text in the way they felt proper. Here we see the continued development of text painting. During 1600-1700, it began to develop into the technique we know today.
Another great development was the use of voices and instruments together. Composers were interested in combining different timbres rather than using homogenous sounds. Gabrileli was a leader in this technique with his many early concerted works. These pieces were often performed in giant churches with choirs stationed on all sides of the balconies and on the main floor. Here's an example.
http://youtu.be/EjoAKIxlT5A
We also see the beginning of early opera during this time. Because of the ability composers had to express texts (seconda practica), they began to write music in a new way. The leader in this development was Guilio Caccini. He coined the idea of "speaking musically" which became known as "recitative". Here composers would imitate speech in their music...another Greek ideal. Writing arias, composers could overload the music with representation of the affections, in turn, moving the audience's own affections during performance. This was one of the main ideals in the Baroque Era (ornamented, eccentric).
An example of Caccini arias: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar-VSZxQllY
All of these new ideas lead to the music we know today. The journey continues...!
Another great development was the use of voices and instruments together. Composers were interested in combining different timbres rather than using homogenous sounds. Gabrileli was a leader in this technique with his many early concerted works. These pieces were often performed in giant churches with choirs stationed on all sides of the balconies and on the main floor. Here's an example.
http://youtu.be/EjoAKIxlT5A
We also see the beginning of early opera during this time. Because of the ability composers had to express texts (seconda practica), they began to write music in a new way. The leader in this development was Guilio Caccini. He coined the idea of "speaking musically" which became known as "recitative". Here composers would imitate speech in their music...another Greek ideal. Writing arias, composers could overload the music with representation of the affections, in turn, moving the audience's own affections during performance. This was one of the main ideals in the Baroque Era (ornamented, eccentric).
An example of Caccini arias: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar-VSZxQllY
All of these new ideas lead to the music we know today. The journey continues...!
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
The Reformation, Counter-Reformation, and Late Humanism
Change continued throughout music during the 1500s. The use of instruments became more popular and many new genres of secular music came to be across different parts of Europe.
Some major events that happened during this time were:
Breaking away from the church and shifting to the vernacular were inevitable, I think. It would have happened no matter what point of the development of music composition was in. I would like to focus on the compositional style of this period instead. It is of most interest to me and seems like the most important outcome of this century when looking at the entire scope of the history of music. I also think the style was affected by the points listed above. It's all related.
It is exciting to finally see (and hear) the development of text painting as we know it today. Composers began to choose more emotional texts so that they could use striking melodies and harmonies. Gesualdo was especially known for this. Marenzio's use of chromaticism is especially striking. Acradelt's subtleties to represent certain words in the text are the beginnings of text painting.
Madrigals gained increasing popularity, as they gave composers to write music that was very secular and satirical. Because of the newness of printing music, these pieces could be spread to different parts of Europe and performed by anyone-no matter how professional or amateur.
Regarding the religion during this time, I see it as:
Random tidbit: my dad wrote a great arrangement years ago of "A Mighty Fortress" for our church. I will try and find a recording to post....definitely one of those tunes you should have burned in your brain as a musician...no matter if you do church music or not!
Some major events that happened during this time were:
- The advent of music printing and publishing
- Breaking away from the Catholic church
- Shift from Latin to vernacular
- Shift from symbolism to early 'text painting'
Breaking away from the church and shifting to the vernacular were inevitable, I think. It would have happened no matter what point of the development of music composition was in. I would like to focus on the compositional style of this period instead. It is of most interest to me and seems like the most important outcome of this century when looking at the entire scope of the history of music. I also think the style was affected by the points listed above. It's all related.
It is exciting to finally see (and hear) the development of text painting as we know it today. Composers began to choose more emotional texts so that they could use striking melodies and harmonies. Gesualdo was especially known for this. Marenzio's use of chromaticism is especially striking. Acradelt's subtleties to represent certain words in the text are the beginnings of text painting.
Madrigals gained increasing popularity, as they gave composers to write music that was very secular and satirical. Because of the newness of printing music, these pieces could be spread to different parts of Europe and performed by anyone-no matter how professional or amateur.
Regarding the religion during this time, I see it as:
- The splitting from the Catholic Church
- The start of different denominations, which came with different liturgies and music to go along with them
- ie: Lutheranism and Calvinism
- This initiated the use of the vernacular so that all people could worship regardless of their knowledge of Latin. Many of these aspects still remain in different denominations of Christianity. (ie: the liturgy created by Luther and hymn settings from Calvinism are still used)
Random tidbit: my dad wrote a great arrangement years ago of "A Mighty Fortress" for our church. I will try and find a recording to post....definitely one of those tunes you should have burned in your brain as a musician...no matter if you do church music or not!
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Humanism and its Musical Superstars
Dunstable....Dufay...des Prez...their names in lights....
Well, sort of...if there were 'lights' back then.
These are the people we study during the development of music in 1400-1500s. Why? Well, they must have done something important if we still talk about them.
The following developments were made in polyphony during this time:
- equality of voices
- free structure based on text
- sensitivity to text declamation
- persuasive consonance
- variety in sonority and rhythm
- strong tonal center
Humanism was the freeing of the imagination from authority. This meant that the church was losing it's grip on people...but this isn't always a bad thing. This allowed composers to begin composing freely...the way we think of composers today. Thinking was challenged and there was a revival of pre-Christian civilization ideas (ie: the Greeks).
The way I see it is that artists, composers, philosophers, and the like were able to express themselves more easily and .. well, freely. They still composed mass movements, but they no longer used the same conventions of the past.
des Prez's Kyrie (from Missa L’homme armé Sexti toni) uses the new developments listed above. I think the most important development from this period was the use of a specific cantus. In this case it is the L'homme arme cantus. I think this was the beginning of the concept of motives and having one idea to unify a piece between its different movements. It will be cool to see how the idea is developed further during the next period.
On another note, here is L'homme arme by Karl Jenkins (living composer). It's the full performance, so it's over an hour long.... but it's so cool to hear another composers way of using L'homme arme.
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