The Middle Ages (400-1400 C.E.) ABOUT THE MIDDLE AGES... "The Middle Ages, or the Medieval Period, was a time of warfare, religious devotion, and royal pageantry. Most ofthe people in medieval Europe were peasants. They were uneducated and farmed land owned by the wealthy, but received little in return. Diseases, physical deformities, and starvation ‘were common among the peasants, who lived in filth and poverty. The rich landowners, or nobility, were constantly battling each other to maintain their land and servants. Despite their majesty and wealth, the nobles ‘were victims ofthe same rampant spread of disease, destructive fires, and dangerous bandits that the peasants encountered. In the midst of this tumultuous time, the Catholic Church, under the leadership ofthe Pope in Rome, was an important part oflife in medieval Europe. Towering cathedrals with stained glass windows and flying buttresses; like Notre Dame in Paris (right), were paid for with donations. MEDIEVAL MUSIC ‘Music in the Middle Ages was composed and performed for either sacred Geligious) ot secular (non-religious) purposes. The earliest form of sacred ‘music was called plainchant or plainsong. This is a single melody written for unison voices, with words in Latin. Pope Gregory I and his assistants compiled chants used for church services and wrote the music on four-line staves using square notes called neumes. Plainchant is often referred to as Gregorian Chant, in honor of Pope Gregory I. Important composers of the Middle Ages include Hildegard von Bingen, Perotin, and Guillaume de Machaut. ‘The awe-inspiring Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was built from 1163 to 1182 by peasants who dragged the stones one by one to the site, MEDIEVAL MUSICAL STYLE Plainchant, the predominant type of sacred music of the Middle Ages, consisted of single unaccompanied melodies sung in unison. This type of music is called ‘monophonic music. Plainchant was written without a fixed chythm or meter. “There were also no tempo markings or dynamics noted on the music, and it was not composed in major or minor keys, but in modes—a unique system of half and whole steps. By the year 1000, a second melody was sometimes performed simultaneously with the plainchant melody. ‘This form of church music was called organum (OR-gah-num), and overtime it was embellished with more and more melodies and voices. Organum represents the beginning of polyphonic music in Western Europe. Polyphony is the combination of two or more melodies at the same time. INSTRUMENT UPDATE Wandering minstrels performing secular music often accompanied their singing with the late—a stringed instrument like a guitar, but with a rounded back, When the strings were plucked, a light delicate sound was created. In contrast, noble ceremonies and battles required loud wind instruments like the trumpet and shawm to play fanfares and calls, along with large kettledrums, or timpani, to accompany. The trumpet at this time was a very long, tubular brass instrument without valves, and the shawm was a reed woodwind with a distinct sound similar to the modern oboe. Hildegard von Bingen claimed to have In sacred music, instruments played 2 relatively minor role and often simply experienced visions from a very young age, supported vocal music. The organ, a keyboard instrument in which bellows and her copious writings include dozens of force air through pipes to produce sound, was the primary instrument played musical compositions in churches, Some organs were very large, and many men were needed to push the bellows together to force enough air through the enormous pipes to createIne Kenatssance (!4UU-10UU U.£.) 3d ABOUT THE RENAISSANCE . ‘The Renaissance brought an explosion of new ideas and advancements in art, architecture, science, and philosophy. The period was called the “Renaissance” (the French word for rebirth) because artistic ideals from ancient Greece were rediscovered. ‘The flowering of knowledge and learning was made possible by the wealth of a growing middle class of merchants in European cities who had extra money to spend oon art, luxury items, and education. The Catholic Church had offered relief during the misery of the Middle Ages (400-1400), but during the Renaissance, people did not focus so much on going to heaven after death because they had hope for a good life on earth. Artists during the Renaissance stressed proportion and perfect The dome of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (also called ‘beauty in their sculpture and painting. Michelangelo Buonarroti Florence Cathedral), was engineered by Fillippo Brunelleschi in (1475-1564) of Italy was one such artist. His architecture also the 15th century and it marked a break from the Medieval Gothic copied the simple beauty of Greek temples, such as in St. Peter's _ style represented by the res ofthe cathedral Basilica in Rome, Italy. ‘The ideal Renaissance man had many talents and vast knowledge. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) of Italy, for example, was an artist, musician, scientist, and intellectual. He invented many machines, some of which could never be made during his lifetime due to their advanced designs. RENAISSANCE MUSIC ‘Music was a large part of everyday and religious life during the Renaissance. Music notation became more standardized and more like the music notation we use today. The invention of the printing press meant that music could be mass-produced and distributed throughout Europe, so music reached more people. "The madrigal was a secular poetic and musical form that emerged during the 14th century. For most of the Renaissance, it was, an extremely popular musical form throughout Europe. Madrigals were songs for one or more voices sometimes accompanied by the lute, a stringed instrument used in the Renaissance. Generally the words of the madrigal were poems about life, beauty, or emotions. While vocal music continued to be most important during the Renaissance, music written especially for instruments became increasingly popular. Important Renaissance composers include Clement Janequin, Tielman Susato, Giovanni Pierluigi a Palestrina, William Byrd, Giovanni Gabrieli, and Claudio Monteverdi RENAISSANCE MUSICAL STYLE Renaissance music became increasingly polyphonic, with multiple melodies played simultaneously. As the madrigal form developed, harmonies became bolder and chromaticism, or the use of notes outside of the prevailing key, occurred frequently. Dynamics, phrasing, tempo, and preferred instrument choice were not commonly indicated in the music. The music director had to decide which instruments would be used fora piece, ‘which usually depended upon what instruments were in the court's instrument collection. INSTRUMENT UPDATE ‘The most popular instrument during the Renaissance was the lute—awooden, plucked-string instrument, roughly similar to the modern guitar. Lutes were constructed ina wide variety of sizes. Another common stringed instrument was the viol, which also came in various sizes. Viols were usually played by resting them onaknee orbyholding them between the legs. They ‘were played with a bow like the stringed instruments of today's orchestra. Wind instruments included the cornet, trumpet, flute, shawm, and sackbut. The sackbut, or trombone, had the same long, sliding tube that it does today. Instruments during the Renaissance were often grouped into consorts, or combinations of instruments. A whole consort is made up of a family of instruments ranging from bass ow-pitched and large) to soprano (high-pitched and small). Broken consorts are groups Italan composer Giovanni Gabriels Shown holding lute inthis porta of diferent types of instraments, such as string and woodwind, playing polyphonic music by Annibale Caraccl (1600), together. An organ or a harpsichord, which is similar to a piano but the strings inside are plucked rather than struck with mallets, provided a unifying sound to the broken consort.ine paroque renva (iouu-1/3u L.c.) w ABOUT THE BAROQUE PERIOD ... Baroque painting, architecture, music, literature, and fashion were fancy and highly embellished. Opera stars sang arias filled with trills and ornaments. Buildings adorned with arches and domes were filled with elaborately carved ceilings and elegant chairs painted white and gold, Paintings featured rich colors and voluptuous human figures. Men wore carefully curled white wigs and ‘coats trimmed with lace. Women had long dresses with intricate designs, pleats, and buttons. The splendor of Baroque styles was largely influenced by the wealth and splendor of kingdoms in Europe. BAROQUE MUSIC ‘Music of the Baroque Period was primarily composed and performed for three cultural institutions: the Church, the opera house, and the courts of the nobility. During the Baroque Era, the Church was the primary outlet for serious music in Europe. Church ‘music (Sacred music) was written primarily for organ, voice, or a combination of the two. ‘The use of other instruments in the church grew throughout the Baroque Period, beginning with the brass music of Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli, and continuing ‘with the inclusion of strings and winds in cantatas and oratorios (amusic dramas based on religious subjects). The Gabrielis’ music ‘was particularly unique because it was antiphonal (an-T'-fo-nal), ‘meaning that they placed different groups of brass instruments in various parts of the church to create an unusual musical experience. Opera combined elaborate sets and costumes with musical performances by virtuosos—extremely skilled singers and instrumentalists. The dramatic productions of the opera had their origins in the music dramas of the Church. Opera was attended by all classes of people from peasants to royalty. Important Baroque composers include Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederic Handel, Arcangelo Corelli, Georg Philipp Telemann, and Antonio Vivaldi BAROQUE MUSICAL STYLE Stylistically, music changed from the Renaissance to the Baroque Period in several ways. During the Baroque Period, the written melody, whether sung or performed instrumentally, was used primarily as a guideline for the performer, who was expected to improvise and ornament freely. Rapid scale passages, ornaments, and chord figuration in a free, fantasy-like style were written to display brilliant technique. One such place for these flourishes is in the cadenza, an unaccompanied passage before the end of apiece Contrasting texture within a piece of music became increasingly Johann Sebastian Bach (shown herein a portrait by Elias important and was achieved through concertato (kobn-sair- Gottlob Haussmann in 1746) made wide use of the fugue, ‘TAH-toh) style. Concertato style required that large and small as illustrated in such works 2s The Well-Tempered Clavier groups of instruments alternately play sections of the music in and The Art of Fugue. contrasting styles. Polyphonic music continued to develop during the Baroque Period. One of the most sophisticated polyphonic types of composition was the fugue, which featured imitative counterpoint in which a single theme is layered on top ofitselfin many different manners, Written dynamics were introduced into music for the first time during the 17th century, but they were ‘used sparingly. The terms piano (soft) and forte (loud) came into general use in new Italian music, and similar markings were used in other European countries. By the 18th century, crescendo (gradually louder) and decrescendo (gradually softer) were marked ‘singthese symbols: INSTRUMENT UPDATE During the Baroque Period, instrumental music started to become as important as vocal music. There was an increase in the quantity of music written for flute, oboe, bassoon, trombone, valveless trumpets and horns, harpsichord, and organ. Timpani ‘were the only percussion instruments used in serious music. Orchestras were mainly composed of stringed instruments with a small number of woodwind instruments. Magnificent organs were being built in Baroque churches for playing the elaborate solo material. The idea of a keyboard instrument with hammers that strike the strings was just being developed—this would become the modern piano.The Classical Period (1750-1820 C.E.) ABOUT THE CLASSICAL PERIOD . ‘The mood of the Classical Period was one of simplicity, balance, ‘and logic. The simple grandeur of ancient buildings discovered in Greece in the 18th century impressed Europeans. Classical architects adopted the even colimns and symmetrical structure of Greek temples. Proportion and symmetry replaced the fancy, decorative styles of the Baroque Period (1600-1750). During the Classical Period, political revolutions in America and France overthrew oppressive kings and established in their place governments run by common people. The balance of classical architecture seemed to be perfect for the new America and France, where equality and liberty were essential. For example, American politician Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) had seen classical structures ona visit to Paris, and he used this style when hhe designed buildings in the United States. CLASSICAL MUSIC ‘The Tucker House in Raleigh, North Carolina, was built to During the Classical Period, the merchant class became more imitate the style of architecture from the Classical Period. affluent and influential. Rule by kings and queens was being replaced by democratic governments, and the abundant wealth of the royalty that had funded composers and artists during the Baroque Period began to disappear. ‘The merchant class did not only spend their new-found money and spare time listening to music; they also began studying it. Composers thus began to support themselves by writing instruction books or methods, giving music lessons, and composing music that merchant class amateur musicians could play. “Chamber” music, such as quartets or quintets, was written for few enough instruments that families could play together as entertainment in their home. Important Classical Period composers include Franz Josef Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. CLASSICAL MUSICAL STYLE ‘Music during the Classical Period became less fanciful and cluttered than Baroque music. Balance, emotional restraint, and clarity governed pieces composed for the public concert halls and the homes of amateurs. The texture of Classical music was generally homophonic—a single dominant melody accompanied by chords or other secondary material. Dynamics, tempo markings, and phrasing were all written into the music so that little was left for the musician to worry about, making the music easier for amateurs to play. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed over 600 ‘works, the fist at the age offve. Portrait by Johann ‘Prescribed musical forms were used consistently by composers. The Nepomuk della Croce, ¢.1780, ‘most popular large-scale instrumental form during the Classical Period ‘was the symphony. Early Classical symphonies had three movements in a fast-slow-fast format. Another popular type of Classical music was the solo concerto, which evolved from the Baroque concerto _g70ss0 form. Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) wrote concerti for many of the orchestral instruments and for the piano. INSTRUMENT UPDATE “The Classical Period marked the birth of the modern symphony orchestra. For the first time in history, instrumental music became ‘more important than vocal music. Instrumental music was appreciated for its own sake, not simply to accompany dancing or singing. While during the Baroque Period orchestras were very small with mainly stringed instruments, the Classical orchestra greatly increased the number and variety of instruments. Clarinets were invented during the 18th century, and they were soon added to the orchestra. The most popular solo instrument of the Classical Period was the piano, and the violin was also common. Solo recitals were rare in concert halls, but solo or chamber music performances were often held in the home or among friends,The Romantic Period (1820-1900 C.E.) w ‘While construction took many years, the ground-breaking of Sacte-Coeur Baslica in Paris France, took place in 1875. ABOUT THE ROMANTIC PERIOD .... During the Romantic Period, artists and composers rejected the simplicity and restraint ofthe Classical Period (1750-1820) and focused on emotions, imagination, and individualism. The spisit ofthe American and French Revolutions at the end of, the 18th century had inspired an interest in human rights and liberty, and artists ‘wanted to express their own political and personal views. At the same time, new inventions and industrial advances meant that more and ‘more people were moving to the city to work in factories. The growing cities began to pollute the land, and people were forced to work long hours in factories that were not always safe. Romantic artists’ sadness about these changes kindled feelings of nostalgia, or the desire to return to a previous time. The Medieval Period (400~ 1400) was idealized as a more peaceful, beautiful time; architectural styles began to imitate medieval churches, and novels such as those by English author Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) were often set in the Middle Ages. ROMANTIC MUSIC Continuing the trend that began in the Classical Period (1750-1820), music in the Romantic Period was mainly composed for public concerts where audiences paid admission. The first public concert hall was built in 1851 in Vienna, and more and more concert and opera halls were built to meet the demands of the public. In addition to the concert or opera hall, the ballroom was another forum for ‘music in the Romantic Period. Composers such as Johann Strauss (1804-1849) and his sons Josef Strauss (1827-1870) and Johann Strauss, Jr. (1825-1899) became famous by writing music to accompany social dances that were popular with the growing wealthy middle class. Composers began to work with publishers and concert, managers in order to earn money and have their pieces performed in public concert and opera halls, since the noble patronage of the past had almost completely disappeared. Music critics became an essential part of the newly emerging music business, since their comments on composers and performances influenced public tastes. Important composers of the Romantic Period include Franz Schubert, Hector Berlioz, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Peter lyich Tchaikovsky, Edvard Grieg, Edward Elgar, Gustav Mabler, and Jean Sibelius. ROMANTIC MUSICAL STYLE Like the writers and artists of the day, composers expressed their emotions through their craft, and they were strongly influenced by the political, social, scientific, and industrial changes of the times. Romantic composers thus became ‘more experimental in their use of form, harmony, and subject matter than had composers of the preceding era, and they expanded traditional genres such as the symphony to fit their personal needs. Romantic symphonies were sometimes programmatic, which means that stories or scenes were depicted through music. Composers also began to use irregular rhythms and melodies, mixed meters, chromaticism, wider dynamic ranges, and frequent tempo changes to create tension and excitement in their music. INSTRUMENT UPDATE Many instruments were redesigned during this time of invention and indus- trialization. Possibly the most important development came in 1815 with the invention of the valve. Valves are cylinders or pistons that move to alter the length cof the tube that the air passes through inside a brass instrument, allowing different notes to be easily played. Before its invention, all brass instruments were valveless. Flutes and clarinets were also made easier to play with a new system of keys. This system was also used on the saxophone, which was patented in 1846. ‘The symphony orchestra continued to grow in size and in instrumentation in the late Classical and Romantic periods. The larger size of the orchestra allowed ‘The music of Johannes Brahms influenced both conservative and modernist composers, the composer to create greater dynamic contrasts and new, interesting sounds. The conductor, who had previously performed the piano part as he led the orchestra, moved to a podium and conducted with a baton. This change increased the conductor's importance and affected the way the orchestras rehearsed.many ue ABOUT THE 20th CENTURY... Industriaization, which began at the end of the 19th century, continued to revolutionize the way of life in the 20th century. ‘Communication was changed with the invention of the radio, the phonograph, the telephone, and the television. Computerization and computer networking made business more eficient and radically changed education and communication worldwide. Transportation became faster with the development of automobiles and airplanes. Art and architecture moved from one idea to the next with such speed that more art movements and styles existed in the 20th century than in any previous period. Many artists broke from the traditional technique of making their drawings look realistic. Instead, artists used geometric or ‘unfamiliar shapes to express their artistic ideas, a style called “abstraction” The horrorof World War 1(1914-1918) was one cause for this rejection of Realism. In the latter half of the 19th century, a style or movement called Impressionism developed. Taename ofthe movementis derived from the title of a Claude Monet painting, Impressionism Sunrise. Like its precursor in the visual arts, musical Impressionism focused on suggestion and atmosphere rather than strong emotion orthe depiction ofa story asin program music. French composers Claude Debussy and “Maurice Ravel are generally considered to be the ‘The Geisel Library on the University of California, San Diego campus was designed WO great Impressionist composers. European by architect Willam Pereira in the late 1960s and isa welrknown example of attsts called Expressionists adopted distorted Brutalist architecture in the 20th century. shapes and violent colors to reflect their anger about the war. Architecture also began to use less traditional, more unusual forms, such asthe striking, organically shaped Notre Dame du Haut by Swiss architect Le Corbusier (1887-1968). Realism came back into style at points during the century. In the 1950s and 1960s, for example, mass-production and consumerism had become so widespread that artists developed an art form called Pop Art, which incorporated consumer images. American artist Andy Wathol (1928-1987) made prints of familiar objects like Campbells soup cans, and Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) reproduced comic strips in bright colors on a large scale. Fashion changed rapidly during the century, as well, but formal occasions usually required suits and ties for men, and casual attire included blue jeans for both men and women. 20th CENTURY MUSIC With the invention of vinyl records, cassette tapes, video tapes, compact discs, mp3 players, and the Internet in the 20th century, performers and composers could record and distribute their music all over the world to all kinds of people rather than performing only in concert settings. Popular music, or music of everyday life, particularly, became a much more pervasive social and economic force, Popular music has existed throughout the ages, For example, the music of minstrels in the Middle Ages (400-1400), madrigals in the Renaissance (1400-1600), chamber music for amateurs inthe Classical Period (1750-1820), and music for ballroom dancing in the Romantic Period (1820-1900) were all forms of popular music oftheir times, Most of what we refer to today as folk music was also the popular music of ts day. In the 20th century, popular music included blues, ragtime, Dixieland, swing, bop, soul, rock, rap, ‘marching band music, and music from Broadway shows, Other musical forms of the past, such as the symphony ofthe Classical Period and programmatic music and symphonic poems of the Romantic Period, continued and evolved in the 20th century. In this context, this music is distinguished from popular music as “art” music. Important 20th century composers include Richard Strauss, Gustav Holst, Maurice Ravel, Béla Bart5k, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, and Leonard Bernstein. INSTRUMENT UPDATE ‘The 20th century, beginning to end, became the greatest transitional period for music to date. Musical instrumentation ran the ‘gamut of everything from traditional orchestral instruments of strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion to the use of electronic technology as music-producing instruments. The invention of electric instruments such as the electric guitar and the synthesizer made it possible to explore new sounds and styles in music. Pop music (and all its sub-genres) in particular made extensive use of electronic instruments.4uun Cenwury rop music Banp Music Beginning in the latter part of the 1800s, band concerts became wildly popular, particularly in the early 20th century, as aform of casual entertainment. They consisted of transcriptions of orchestral music, arrangements of popular tunes of the day, accessible original pieces composed for band, and, most importantly, marches. Jazz Jazzis a form of popular music that began its development around the tura of the century. Jazz can be distinguished by ‘many characteristics, but two of the most prominent traits are the heavy use of syncopation and the frequent employment of improvisation in performance. One of the earliest and most important jazz-infiuenced genres was ragtime, which had its origins in African-American spirituals, European marches, and the minstrel show music of the 19th century. The most famous ragtime composer was Scott Joplin (1868-1917). In addition to ragtime, another primary source of jazz was the blues. ‘The blues was rooted in African-American field hollers, work songs, and spirituals of the rural southern United States. The blues was a form of vocal music based on sad subjects, sometimes about love ot life crises. “Jelly Rell” Morton (1890-1941) was a well-known blues pianist who performed across the southern United States. In New Orleans, Louisiana, in the southern United States, a prominent jazz style developed during the 1920s and 1930s. Influenced by the blues and ragtime, a rich local brass band came together to create a new type of music called Dixieland jazz. ‘The music of trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong (c, 1898-1971) was highly influential in developing jazz music. Some other well-known Dixieland musicians were trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke, trombonist Edward “Kid” Ory, clarinetist Sidney Bechet, and bandleader and trumpeter King Oliver. Jazz music evolved throughout the 20th century and is still popular today. Inthe 1930s and 1940s, “big bands,” usually consisting of ten players or more, played dance music called “swing,” Swing became very popular with young people throughout the United States and Europe. It was performed in a triplet swing rhythm style. Two of the prominent early big band leaders were Fletcher ‘Henderson and Paul Whiteman. The big band boom of the 1930s and 1940s brought together the greatest jazz musicians of the day to play with bands led by prominent big band leaders such as clarinetist Benny Goodman, trombonist Tommy Dorsey, saxophonist Jimmy Dorsey, trombonist and arranger Glenn Mille, clarinetist and saxophonist Woody Herman, pianist and composer Duke Ellington, and pianist Count Basie, Stan Kenton (1911-1979) was the leader of a succession of different big bands. Thad Jones (1923-1986) was a comnetist,flagelhorn player, composes, and bandleader whose works have become big band classics. Jazz singers during the big band era included Billie Holiday, Ela Ftagerald, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Joe Williams. Rock Rock music grew out of the rich tradition of American popular music, especially the blues. The evolution started when blues ‘musicmigrated from rural areas to cities. The development continued after World Wat II, when blues bands added an electric guitar and bass. Players of these new instruments, along with those playing drums, piano, saxophones, and brass, joined vocalists toperform an urban style ofblues which eventually came to be known as shythm and blues. Another developing style ofthe period was country music, which also developed from the blues. Elvis Presley combined chythm and blues with country in the new wildly popular genre of rock and roll in the 1950s. Rock and roll in the 1960s developed into a music style simply called “rock.” Rock was different from rock and roll it had a freer form, more electric amplification and distortion of sound, and offered more room for improvisation. As rock evolved in the late 20th century, music became a platform to reflect social causes, personal history, and political viewpoints, and it also encompassed a variety of styles and performance methods that include reggae, progressive rock, heavy metal hip hop, and rap. The Rolling Stones and The Beatles particularly echoed the blues and R&B sound. The band U2 from Dublin, Ireland, frequently coupled their activism in human rights and social justice issues with a music style that reflected a technological ‘edge even while embracing their rock and roll roots.