Crespo 1

Anthony Crespo
Dave Kopplin
MU 418
January 28, 2015

Question #1

Greek philosophers and thinkers influenced music through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and beyond. Discuss this influence. Be sure to cite specific works and
philosophies and how the philosophies influenced the works.
Western civilization can credit much of the modern ideas of art, architecture,
mathematics, science, philosophy, and science to the Greeks. The Greek thinkers associated music with ceremonies and dramatic uses. In order to become a complete person, the Greek thinkers believed it was essential for the common man to study or be
proficient in music, whether it was through singing or playing an instrument. The first
manuals about music were established by the Greeks, as well as making judgements in
what is good music and bad music. The principle of good vs. bad can be compared
to the good and bad intervals used in early music. Perfect fourths, fifths, and octaves
were considered acceptable while thirds, sixths, and tritones were highly forbidden in
order keep the music pure and sacred. In order to avoid dissonances, Pythagoras
was responsible for the Pythagorian comma, which established equal temperament in
relation to mathematics and ratios. Since the comma was applied to later music, disso-

Crespo 2
nance was avoided. Because of the divine origins of music in relation to the Greek
gods, music was believed to work miracles.
The Greeks set the tone for homophonic and heterophonic music, which was
adopted by the churches of the early Middle Ages with the homophonic plainchant. Despite the variety of music developed by the Greeks, much of the music was improvised
based on the relationship between the music and words. Much of the Greek music was
written to Greek poetry and writings, much like the vocal music that would combine music and text in the church for masses and ceremonies throughout the Middle Ages and
Renaissance. Just like the Greeks, early music tried matching the music to the rhythmic
syllables of the text.