Six Eras Of Music

The Six Eras of Music
Juacara Diggs
MUS-110-IN2
May 10th, 2015 In the history of Western music, there are six eras of music. These eras are the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Classical period, the Romantic era, and the Twentieth century. From 450 to 1450, music developed during the Middle Ages was characterized by the development of rhythmic independence in polyphonic textures. In the Middle Ages, there was medieval music that was mostly vocal. Medieval church music had eight scales or modes. Modes could be used for joyful music, chants, or tell stories. The modes were assembled from notes in the C major scale. The Gregorian chant was music of the Roman Catholic Church. It was a set of sacred texts that held elements of the Jewish
synagogue of the first centuries after Jesus Christ.
The Gregorian chant’s texture was monophonic, with a flexible rhythm and calm quality. The Gregorian chant was named after Pope Gregory I. During his reign from 590 to 604, he reorganized the ritual of the Catholic Church. Instrumental music in the Middle Ages, such as the organ was a well-known instrument in the church. The harp, flute, bagpipe, and drums were used and accompanied by singing and dances. Composers and performers used organum with adding another melody. Composers created music that can go with the rhythm and meaning of the music. The development of rhythm came from the Gregorian chant. A characteristic of rhythm was that there was no notation but it was likely that there was a regular meter with a defined beat. The Renaissance period occurred around 1450 to 1600. This era was known as “a new beginning” or “rebirth”. The styles of music of the Renaissance were detailed as a choral polyphony, which means more than one part. Some main features of Renaissance music are texture, rhythm, and melody. Texture in Renaissance music was imitation among voices, there were parts of equal importance, but the variety in the texture can contrast. The rhythm in music of the Renaissance has gentle flow but does not have a defined beat, but Secular has a more clearly defined beat. The melody can be mild or relaxed due to consonant chords. It can also expand pitch range to over 4 octaves.
Renaissance composers use word painting, a musical technique of writing music that falls back on the meaning of a song. In the Renaissance period, word painting was a practice of portraying the meaning of particular words through music. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, sharps and flats were called Musica Ficta back then. Composers used rhythm to increase the complexity of music. Like tempos, composers determined them as well as the sacred details of the piece or text. Also in rhythm, there is more of a gentle flow than a sharp defined beat, such as the melody and its lines have good rhythmic independence. This technique is what makes composers try to maintain individual rhythm with melodic lines. Secular vocal music of the Renaissance was written for solo group voices and for solo voices accompanied with instrumental music. Secular vocal music had more swift changes of mood than sacred music. Secular instrumental music of the Renaissance had instruments that were accompanied by vocal music. Instruments became more valued and played a different role. Instruments along with vocal parts played a key component in a song. Secular instrumental music was very important for dancing also. Its trend continued through the Renaissance era. Dancing was socially important and as it grew more over time, intricate dance music was needed and completed with a lot of instruments. Instrumental music was a big influence during the Renaissance era.
There was a break away from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. This is when the Baroque period occurred. In the early Baroque period, there are many style characteristics that combine in this music. Rhythm became more definite and regular. There was a continuous rhythmic drive that was found in the music. The meter has a new significance. In Baroque music, the meter has some pieces that change, even within phrases. Baroque music can be homophonic or polyphonic. Both textures have a distinct feature, which is called the basso continuo. This is the bass line that is conducted by bass voices or low instruments such as bassoons or cellos. An organ or other chord instruments play the bass part in Baroque music.
The traits of Baroque art and architecture had an affect on the music.
One of the characteristic art forms of the Baroque era was opera. Opera in the Baroque era had many different arts in music, drama, poetry, and dancing. Architecture in the Baroque era interacted with the music and was influenced by historic features of the era. Features in dynamic and dramatic elements were visible to both music and architecture. Composers contributed to instrumental music. Instrumental music had three developments. The first development of instrumental music was dance. Dance had a unique momentum from opera. With ballet being linked to opera, it would put together sets of dances chosen from the operas. The second development is virtuosity, which composers of instrumental music drew as a source. Virtuous players would have played instruments that already prevailed but the fine art of early virtuosos was created and preformed without preparation. The last development is vocal music. In vocal music, the main technique was imitative polyphony. This was transported to the instrumental medium. Vocal music influenced instrumental music by giving instrumentalists a variety of materials they could use as a basis of sets of sectional
pieces.
An orchestra is a big instrumental band that has sections of different instruments that play classic music. In the Baroque period, the orchestra played a role in dance episodes by playing dances and suites that was mainly written in the style or form of dance music intended for listening rather than dancing. Some of the most prominent vocal styles occurred in the Baroque era. Concerto and concerto grosso represent large-scale approaches to instrumental composition that was new to the Baroque era. Composers wanted large-scale forms to make good impression on audiences for their compositions. Another vocal style is opera. As opera flourished, it became the most influential and expressive genre of the Baroque era. Opera included arias, recitatives, and enlarged secular work for orchestras and solo voices. Oratorio is a vocal style that is like opera but is on a sacred, religious subject. Oratorio exhibits diversity in style and form in the Baroque era. Not only was oratorio an important factor for Baroque sacred-music genres but passion, cantata, mass, and motet was important as well. What was important to oratorio besides Baroque sacred-music genres is the church cantata. The church cantata contains choruses, arias, recitatives, and a chorale. Church cantatas were written for Lutheran audiences and were apart of Sunday worship services. There were many important composers of the Baroque era. Three important composers that stood out the most were Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, and Jean-Philippe Rameau.
All three composers made great contributions to Baroque music. Bach was a brilliant composer. He made a good contribution to Baroque music bringing it to its highest point. He mastered the organ, harpsichord, and wrote music for almost every type of musical form. Compared to Handel and Rameau’s styles, Bach’s style was distinguished by rhythms, notes, and shifts of harmony. Bach’s music contained great chords and dissonance. Christmas Oratorio, Cello Suites, and The Art of Fugue were some of the well-known compositions of Bach. Handel led a different life than Bach. He made a contribution to Baroque music composing every genre of his time, composing operas, and creating oratorios. Handel had wonderful instrumental compositions such as sonatas, concerti gross, and suites. Handel’s style was different from Rameau and Bach’s style. Handel’s style was long melodic lines over string chords that had a slow grace. Some well-known compositions by Handel are The Messiah, Music for The Royal Fireworks, Joy to The World, and Concerti Gross. Rameau was a French composer. He was known for his courageous melodic lines and harmonies. Rameau’s contribution the Baroque music was opera. His use of broad moods and tuneful colors were way past his counterparts. Rameau’s style was works of theatrical genres, harpsichord music, and operas. Rameau’s well-known compositions are Minuet and Tambourine from Castor et Pollux, Hypo lite et Aricie, Dardanus, and Les Boreades.
The Classical era was from 1750 to 1820.
Classical music was important to classical composers who favored important forms such as themes and variations, minuet and trio. Classical music that was developed by the most famous and influential composer, Beethoven, found new ways and developed new ideas into his works. From his symphonies to sonatas, it caught the attention of listeners in his time. In his symphonies, three main features of this work is what impressed and stood out towards the listeners is its motivic consistency, rhythmic drive, and a sense of progression. . His music was separated into 3 different style periods. The first style period focused on building up the style of Mozart and Haydn. Beethoven’s mood of excitement and urgency sets apart Mozart and Haydn. With that, Beethoven maximized virtually all-musical elements. From harsher dissonances, higher and lower registers, to sharper syncopations, all of these musical elements are found in Beethoven’s music. The second style period consisted of characterized works such as the Eroica and Fifth symphonies. Beethoven associated with the most public of Classical genres, which is the symphony. Beethoven wrote fewer symphonies than sonatas that no musician would rank these works lower than the symphonies. Last, is the third style period. In this period, Beethoven’s music lost its tone and became introvert, thus making genres more intimate than symphonies. One of Beethoven’s powerful symphonies, the Ninth, dates from
the third style period. His control of musical flow and contrast becomes stronger in this symphony, leading to a range of expression that could only be called supernatural. With Beethoven’s technical innovations, he continued to use Classical forms for his music and other works. Beethoven replaced minuets with other kinds of movements. Beethoven builds up tension in transitions. The Romantic era was from 1820 to 1900. This era extended the bounds of the Classical era. In the transiting of the Classical era to the Romantic era, the term “classical” was used to appoint music that was written in a style, targeting a certain ideal or element of the form. The term “Romantic” was used to appoint music that aimed at a different ideal. The expression of assorted and strongly contrast created emotional encounters. Thus, individuals connect with the term “romantic” in life. In romantic music, the individuality of style was that composers wanted uniquely identifiable music. Many composers refined styles that were personal and eccentric. Some expressive goals and interests in romantic music was that all subjects were being explored. Composers had common interests regarding harmony, melody, tone color, and musical form. But, even though each composer had common interests, the goal was to sound different from everyone else. Nationalism in the romantic music was having a national identity. Nationalism took place when individuals identified their country or ethnicity. This impacted composers of the Romantic period giving them an idea to show features of their national identity in their music. Last but not least is music in the twentieth century. It expanded from the nineteenth century to the earliest twentieth century. The role of music in the 20th century brought a wide practice and new freedom with new musical styles and forms. Inventions of instruments in the 20th century transformed popular music and increased the development of new forms of music. Musicians have adapted to apply the needs of contemporary music. Technology has been changing as musicians are being exposed to computing power. Technological advances are being taken up by imaginative individuals to make music that is irregular, but continuous. In the 20th century, there was a rapid change in technological advances. As this advance progressed, the manner produced in the sound and music did as well. Every composition that the following composers produced left a mark on 20th century trends. John Cage, a radical figure and the father of chance music, produced one of his most celebrated works, 4’33’’, which consisted of not of silence but of little bits of noises, sound from outside, and even of a listener’s heartbeat. Any number of players could perform by sitting silently for four minutes and thirty-three seconds. Cage’s message to this is that every possible sound should be heard. Cage’s philosophy represented his music in this way. It made an impact on composers and on some innovations in popular music. Milton Babbitt was an influence to a wide range of contemporary musicians. Babbitt’s distinguished musical achievements and important writings have increased the understanding of musical styles of the late 20th century. Also, his talent, command of American popular music, works for many combinations of instruments made him one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. Edgard Varese was an interesting composer that put together both phases of modernism in the 20th century. Varese developed an approach to rhythm that surpassed anything. In one of his works, “Poeme electronique”, displays a variety of electronic effects: low groans, bell-like noises, rattles, and also watery sounds. Varese made use of his work by using prerecorded sounds from real life. He also introduces separate pitches that merge into other chords. This was recognized as one of the masterpieces of the genre.