With what justification is the year 1600 singled out as a turning point in the history of music ?
Sile Somers (1118 Words)
In music and other arts, periodisation groups the continuous flow of works by their time and certain characteristics . Period groupings are defined by the perception that the works within them share a single quality or a set of qualities that are significant. One must remember that periodisation is a device used in hindsight for critical analysis and debate, and consider that it may become intellectually limiting if merely accepted and not challenged .
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The period in Western music extending approximatel y from the year 1600 to the year 1750 has, in hindsight, been dubbed the ‘Baroque Era’ by music historians. 2 The word ‘baroque’ s tems from the Portuguese word barroco, which translates into English as ‘misshapen pearl’. In this way, the term was used as a negative description of the ornate and heavil y ornamented st yle of the period. The apparent turning point in the st yle of western music around the beginning of the seventeenth century came about as a combination of changes in particular areas of music. These changes were both revolutionary and evolutionary. Some were instigated intentionall y by certain influential groups, such as the Florentine Camerata, a group of musicians, poets and intellectuals who gathered under the patronage of Count Giovanni de Bardi in order to discuss and guide trends in the arts . 3 However some precursors to features of Baroque music are found far back in t he Renaissance. Generall y speaking, the main areas of change were those of tonalit y, texture, instrumentation, and orchestration.
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Periodization of the Arts – What is a period ? (http://science.jrank.org/pages/10626/Periodization-Arts-What-Period.html) 10 November 2012 2 Palisca, Claude V., ‘Baroque’, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001) 3 Claude Palisca, The Florentine Camerata:
Bibliography: Clarke, Hugh Archibald, A System of Harmony. (Philadelphia: T. Presser,1898) Claude Palisca, The Florentine Camerata: Documentary Studies and Translations(New Haven: Yale University, 1989) Haagmans, Dirk, Scales, Intervals, Harmony, (University of Michigan: J. Fischer & Bro, 1916) Nigel Fortune, ‘Monody’, in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Stanley Sadie (ed.), 1st edn, vol. 8 (London: Macmillan, 1980) Palisca, Claude V., ‘Baroque’, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001) Periodization of the Arts – What is a period ? (http://science.jrank.org/pages/10626/Periodization-Arts-What-Period.html) 10 November 2012 Schulenberg, David, Music of the Baroque. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) Source Readings in Music History, ed. Oliver Strunk, rev. Leo Treitler (New York and London, 1998) Source Readings in Music History, ed. Oliver Strunk, (New York: Norton, 2001). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Stanley Sadie (ed.), 1st edn, vol. 8 (London: Macmillan, 1980),