Medieval Music

1. Medieval Music • Two main types : 1) Sacred (Church); 2) Secular (ordinary) • Broken into 8 modes (like the 8 notes in the Western scale) • Music first written down during this period • Gregory I standardized church music • Guido d’Arezzo creates the Western scale with names for notes (similar to do, re mi, fa ..etc) • Sacred types: • 1) Church Modes – 6 main modes :Dorian, Phrygian, Aeolian, Ionian, Mixolydian, Lydian • 2) Gregorian Chant (plainchant) – no instruments • 3) Organum – addition of a second melodic line (polyphony) • 4) Masses – Parts of the church’s service that included song; the 5 main prayers that were sung were : Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and the Agnus Dei.

2. Medieval Music • Secular Medieval • Performed by troubadours and jongleurs • As popular as ‘pop’ music is today • Notated and written down • Ars Nova – new art style; secular music became more popular than church music as it added rhythm and syncopation • Chanson – the French innovation of popular songs

3. Renaissance Music • The Main Characteristics of Renaissance Music: • Music still based on modes, but gradually more accidentals creep in. • Richer texture in four or more parts. Bass part is added below the tenor. • Blending rather than contrasting strands in the musical texture. • Harmony. Greater concern with the flow and progression of chords. • Church music. Some pieces were intended for 'a cappella' performance. Mainly contrapuntal. Lots of imitation. Some church music was accompanied by instruments - for example polychoral pieces in antiphonal style (Antiphonal - Questions and Answers, Stereo Effect). • Secular music (non-religious music) There was lots of vocal pieces and dances, and lots of instrumental pieces (However a lot of the instrumentals were in a vocal style) • The timbres of Renaissance musical instruments caused many forming families like: woodwinds, strings, keyboards, percussion, etc. • Famous Renaissance composers were Palestrina, Josquin,Weelkes, Byrd & Monteverde

4. Renaissance Music • Opera was invented in the Renaissance • The first opera was titled Orfeo and was composed by Monteverde • During the Renaissance, vocal music was more important than instrumental music and composers during that period wrote music to enhance the meaning and emotion of the text • Renaissance music is mostly polyphonic, and imitation among the voices is common, with each voice presenting the same melodic idea • Renaissance choral music did not need instrumental accompaniment and was thus also known as the "golden age" of a capella choral music.

5. Baroque Key Terms • Virtuoso – master musicians, especially singers, who perform with great technical skills and had vivid personal styles • Opera – originated in Italy in the 16th century, it consists of a drama or play which is set to music, usually with an orchestra accompanying the vocalists, including scenery, dancing and sets • Bel canto – “beautiful song” in Italian, a form of brilliant singing which stresses purity, ease and evenness of tone in opera • Clavier – any musical instrument that has a keyboard • Fugue – a composition in music for several instruments in which a theme is introduced by one instrument and then repeated by each instrument that enters the piece so that a complicated interweaving of themes, variations, imitations and echoes result

6. Baroque Key Terms • Subject – the main theme in music • Countersubject – in music, in the fugue, a contrasting variant to the subject; played in tandem with the subject, either below or above it • Episode – a short transitional section played between the subject and the countersubject; used in fugal composition • Trill – the rapid alternation of two notes, a step apart; used as a musical embellishment • Oratorio – a choral work based on religious events or scripture employing singers, choruses and orchestra but without scenery or staging and performed usually in a church or a concert hall

7. Baroque Key Terms • Refrain – a recurring musical passage or phrase; called ritornello in Italian • Sonata – an instrumental composition, usually in 3 or 4 movements • Concerto – a composition for one or more soloists and orchestra, usually in a symphonic form in 3 contrasting movements • Program music – instrumental music that depicts a narrative, portrays a setting, or suggests a sequence of events; often based on other sources, such as a poem or play • Tremolo – the rapid repetition of two pitches in a chord so as to produce a tremulous effect

8. Baroque MusicNotes • Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi are more familiar composers that earlier ones and some of their music has been used in movies and television commercials • The birth of the orchestra with @ 20 members • The full development of opera • The organ was the key instrument • Instrumental music becomes as important as vocal music in the Baroque period

9. Age of Reason Key Terms • Mezzotint – also called half tone; early type of color print, made with a metal plate, characterized by subtle changes in color and shading; with clear definition of lines • Aquatint – early type of color print, made with a metal plate, which attempted to replicate the effect of watercolors • Solipsism – the sense that only one’s self exists or can be known • Causality – the idea that one event causes another; the relation between cause and effect • Style galant – a style of music developed by French Rococo composers and characterized by graceful and simple melodies

10. Age of Reason Key Terms • Sonata form – a musical form that consists of 3 or 4 sections that vary in key, tempo and mood • Symphony – a long and complex sonata, usually written in 3 or 4 movements, for large orchestras; the first, third and fourth movements are traditionally fast while the 2nd is slow • Key – a tonal system consisting of 7 tones in fixed relationship to a keynote or tonic. (do,re,mi,fa,so,la,ti) • Tempo – the speed at which a composition is to be played • Mood – the emotional impact of a composition on the feelings of a listener

11. Age of Reason Key Terms • Scherzo – Italian for joke; a quick and lively instrumental composition or movement found in sonatas and symphonies • Theme and variations – a technique in which a musical idea is stated and then repeated in variant versions with modifications and embellishments • Tone color – the quality of a sound, determined by overtones, used for providing contrasts • Serenade – a lighthearted musical piece, intended to be performed outdoors in the evening • Minuet and trio – a Classical music form, based on 2 French court dances of the same names; often placed in the 3rd section of symphonies • Art song – also called a lied in German; a lyric song with melody performed by a singer and instrumental accompaniment usually provided by a piano, made popular by Schubert • Idee fixe – fixed idea in French; a recurring musical theme that is associated with a person or concept

12. Classical Music 1750-1810 • Most important classical composers were Mozart, Haydn and early Beethoven • Gluck and Mozart wrote most of the Classical Era’s operas • The symphony played in sonata format in 4 movements becomes the key form • The piano is invented and allows for a greater range of emotion and sounds

13. Classical Music 1750-1810 • The Main Characteristics of Classical Music • Less complicated texture than Baroque (more homophonic). • Emphasis on beauty, elegance and balance. • More variety and contrast within a piece than Baroque (dynamics, instruments, pitch, tempo, key, mood and timbre). • Melodies tend to be shorter than those in baroque, with clear-cut phrases, and clearly marked cadences. • The orchestra increases in size and range. The harpsichord falls out of use. The woodwind becomes a self-contained section. • The piano takes over, often with Alberti bass accompaniment. • Importance was given to instrumental music - sonata, trio, string quartet, symphony, concerto. • Sonata form was the most important design.

14. Romantic Era Music • Mainly from 1850 – 1920 • Unlike Classical composers, Romantic composers aimed for a store powerful expression of emotion, often revealing their innermost thoughts and feelings • Romantic music is not just about the emotion of love, it can also be about hate or death (positive or negative feelings) • As Romantic composers widened the range of their musical material, we find richer harmonies, more passionate melodies, and greater use of chromaticism. (Chroma is Greek for color). • There was an enormous increase in the size of the orchestra

15. Romantic Era Music • Some themes of Romantic Era Music include: • Far off lands • The distant past • Dreams • Night and moonlight • Rivers, lakes and forests • Nature and the seasons • The joy and pain of love • Fairy tales • The supernatural • Magic

16. Romantic Era Music • Types of Romantic Era Musical Pieces • The German Lied- A type of song which began to develop in the Romantic period for solo voice and piano. There were two types: • (1) Strophic - same music for every verse • (2) Through-composed - different music for each verse. The voice and words fit very closely together (reflect each other) • The piano is more than just an accompaniment in these compositions, it is a partner to the voice • Schubert is perhaps the greatest composer of German Lieds

17. Romantic Era Music • Music for Piano • As the piano developed into a wider range instrument more pieces were written for it including: • The most famous piano composers of the time were: Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms • sonatas (for one instrument, or a soloist with one accompanying instrument.), and short pieces such as the: • waltz • mazurka • polonaise • mood and character pieces: • the impromptu • the romance • the song without words . the prelude • the noctume • the ballade • the intermezzo • the rhapsody

18. Romantic Era Music • Programme Music • There are three main types of programme music for orchestra: • The Programme Symphony - e.g. The Symphonie Fantastique (About a young man who is in love. He dreams about her, and she becomes a melody in his mind. This melody is an ‘idee fixe’, it keeps coming round again, a recurring theme. It is by Berlioz) • The Concert Overture - It is a one movement programme piece for orchestra, intended for performance at a concert. E.g. Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, Romeo and Juliet • The Symphonic Poem (The Tune Poem) - It was invented by Liszt. It is a one movement programme piece for orchestra. Liszt used a device called thematic transformation ( a basic theme that is continually being changed in mood and character, like the ‘idee fixe’). Liszt wrote a thematic piece called Hamlet. Other examples are: Danse Macabre (by Saint-Saens), Vltava (by Smetana), A Night on the Bald Mountain (by Mussorgsky), The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (by Dukas)

19. Romantic Era Music • Incidental MusicIt is music specially composed to be heard at certain points during the performance of a play. (To set the mood, to cover the scenery changed or as background music) • SuitesThese are several pieces of incidental music gathered together, intended for a play, e.g. Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker (All three by Tchaikovsky), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (by Mendelssohn), Peer Gynt (by Grieg)

20. Romantic Era Music • The ConcertoChanges were made to the form of the Concerto during the Romantic period. Instead of a double-exposition, there was now a single exposition, usually with the soloist entering immediately, sharing the themes with the orchestra. The cadenza was now written out by the composer. Other changes included: • Different numbers of movements were used by different composers (Mendelssohn wrote pieces with three movements, Liszt did pieces with one movement. • Larger orchestra • Growth of the virtuoso • More excitement and ‘drama.’ More ‘competition’ between the orchestra and the soloist. • Piano and violin became the main Concerto instruments

21. Romantic Era Music • 19th Century NationalismBy the middle of the 19th Century, music was dominated by Germany. However, composers from other countries began to feel they should break away. They used folk tunes, dance rhythms and local legends for this purpose. Some examples of 19th Century Nationalism are: • Russia: • Mussorgsky - A Night on the Bare Mountain • Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade • Borodin - Prince lgor • Bohemia: • Smetana - Ma Vlast (Vltava) • Norway: • Grieg - Peer Gynt

22. Romantic Era Music • Major Composers of Romantic Era: • Beethoven Brahms • Schubert Smetana • Berlioz Tchaikovsky • Mendelssohn Dvorak • Chopin Grieg • Schumann Rimsky-Korsakov • Liszt Elgar • Wagner Mahler • Verdi Richard Strauss • Puccini Rossini

23. Romantic Era Music • The Main Characteristics of Romantic Music • Freedom of form and design. It was more personal and emotional. • Song-like melodies (lyrical), as well as many chromatic harmonies and discords. • Dramatic contrasts of dynamics and pitch. • Big orchestras, due mainly to brass and the invention of the valve. • Wide variety of pieces (i.e. songs up to five hour Wagner operas) • Programme music (music that tells a story) • Shape was brought to work through the use of recurring themes. • Great technical virtuosity. • Nationalism (a reaction against German influence)

24. Orchestra

25. Modern Key Terms • Forte – Italian for ‘loud or strong’; play loudly in music • Pavane – 16th & 17th c. English court dance of Italian origin; the dance is performed by couples to stately music • Atonality – the absence of a key note or tonal center in music and the use of the tones of the scale impartially • Cadenza – a virtuoso passage in music for a solo instrument or voice meant to be or at least sound improvised • Rondeau – A French verse form consisting of 10 or 13 lines, that repeats itself overlapping usually

26. Modern Key Terms • Syncopation – the technique of accenting the weak beat when a strong beat is expected in music • Jazz – instrumental and vocal music which originated in the African American community that combined African, African American and Western musical forms and traditions • Ragtime – instrumental music popularized by African Americans with a strongly syncopated rhythm and a lively melody • Blues – type of music that appeared @ 1900 from rural African American culture, originally based on work songs and religious spirituals; expresses feelings of loneliness and hopelessness • Naturalism – late 19th century literary movement inspired by the methods of science and the insights of sociology; concerned with the objective depiction of the ugly side of industrial society

27. Jazz Age • Jazz - A music created mainly by black Americans in the early 20th century through an amalgamation of elements drawn from European-American and tribal African music • A unique type of music, it cannot safely be categorized as folk, popular, or art music, though it shares aspects of all three • It has had a profound effect on international culture, not only through its considerable popularity, but through the important role it has played in shaping the many forms of popular music that developed around and out of it

28. Jazz Age • Three main characteristics of jazz • One is the phenomenon of swing. • The second is what may be called "individual code“; those subtle factors that make a jazz player instantly recognizable to knowledgeable listeners; although some players can be identified by their ways of shaping melody, with most, the individual code is expressed in more subtle qualities such as timbre, sharpness of attack, length of decay, vibrato, pitch variations, and various distortions produced by throat tones, mutes, and other techniques and devices • The third important characteristic of jazz is its ecstatic function. Jazz usually takes place in the context of an actual or simulated jam session, which has some aspects of a ritual.

29. Jazz Age • Types of Jazz: • 1) Ragtime 8) Dixieland Revival • 2) New Orleans 9) New Orleans Revival • 3) Dixieland 10) Bebop • 4) Chicago 11) Hard Bop • 5) Boogie 12) Cool • 6) Swing 13) Smooth • 7) Kansas City 14) Modern • Off course there are Latin, European and African versions