Music History

            

(800 - 1400 C.E.)

     The Medieval Era is the longest and most remote period of musical history. It is important to note that this musical era consists of almost a thousand years worth of music. For most of the middle ages, the Church was the focal point of social life, learning, and the arts. Saint Gregory, who was pope from 590 - 640 C.E., is said to have organized a huge repetoire of chants that developed during the first centuries of the Christian church. Thus the term of "Gregorian Chant" came about.Early Medieval music notation did not look like the notation that is used in present day music. The earliest signs of a notational system notational system for music used neumes. For a long time, musical notation consisted of the pitch or note that was to be sung. Other musical notation, such as rhythm didn't begin until the 12th or 13th centuries.Gregorian Chant is monophonic , having one melodic line without an accompaniment. It is said to be very serene, with pure shapes of melody. It is not known who wrote the melodies of the Gregorian Chant. Similar to folk melodies, it probably changed over time as it was passed down through generations.

Toward the latter part of the Middle Ages, music consisted of two or more melodic lines that were heard simultaneously, calledpolyphony . This appeared around the 1200s. Polyphony was more difficult to compose than the monophonic chant, because a composer had to combine multiple melodic lines in a way that would be pleasing to the listener. Most of the Medieval polyphonic music was anonymous, as the names of composers were never written down. However, there are a few exceptions, as some composers had works so important that their names were preserved along with their music.

Although little of it has been preserved, secular song was important to the medieval era.. Secular song was monophonic and stylistically more diversified than plain song. It was stronger, and utilized regular rhythms, and had short rhythmic patterns. It was generally modal but favored major (Ionian) and minor (Aeolian) modes.

THE MEDIEVAL ERA

VOCAL SECTION

     During the Medieval Era, there were many forms of vocal music. They were very simplistic in nature.

FORMS

Plainsong
     One of the most common vocal forms of the time was called plainchant, the Gregorian chant, or plainsong. It is known that this form of vocal music was the main root of polyphony during both the Medieval era and in the Renaissance era.

Secular Song
     While little secular song had been preserved to date, it was still a very important musical form during the Medieval era. It was very similar to plainsong in that it had single note notation, had no accompaniment, and was written in the monophonic style. The difference between secular song and plainsong was its meter. It was mostly written in triple meter. Additionally, it also dealt with a wider range of subjects than the very religious plainsong. Furthermore, secular song had clear phrase and sectional structure , was written in most vernacular languages instead of the Latin-only plainsong, and used shorter and more regular rhythms.
Polyphony
     One of the greatest musical achievements in the history of music occurred during the Medieval era. This was the coming of polyphony. Polyphony is two or more vocal parts, each with its own individual melodic importance within a work. The earliest known polyphony occurred in secular music of the 8th century. However, from the 9th to the 13th centuries, polyphony grew in style and popularity and evolved into church music, which was based on plainsong.

ARS ANTIQUA

     Ars Antiqua is the time period between the mid 1100s to the end of the 1200s. This phrase means "The Old Art." This was a time during the Medieval Era when polyphony developed even further.

Notre Dame Organum
     The Notre Dame organum developed shortly after the year 1150. In this form of polyphony, there were two parts sung by solo voices, alternating with sections of plainsong sung by a choir. Appearing for the first time was dicant style. This style had sections in which the tenor part contained shorter and measured notes.
Polyphonic Conductus
     The polyphonic conductus was in wide usage during the beginning half of the 13th century. The tenor part of this musical form was composed, instead of borrowed from plainsong, as it was in organum. Additionally, the parts moved together rhythmically, and the piece was written for two to four parts. The polyphonic conductus was composed in non-liturgical or secular form.
Motet
     Around the year 1250, the motet became the main polyphonic form. It started to replace organum and conductus. A motet consisted of specific musical guidelines. A plainsong was sung by the tenor voice, and above it, two other parts were sung in faster moving notes. It was written in either sacred or secular style (in Latin or in vernacular) and usually was played in triple meter with clashes of dissonantintervals.
Hocket
     Hocket was a form of polyphony that was often found in the music of the late 1200s to the 1300s. It was a technique that interrupted the melody line by frequently placing rests (which alternated between two voice parts) into the piece.
Rota
     Although not many works had this form during the Ars Antiqua stage of the Medieval Era, the rota still was present. It was a round or cannon in which two or more parts carried the same melody at different times.
Rondellus
     The rondellus was a three part, secular form, in which exchange occured between the three different melodies. This polyphonic work involved all the parts starting together rather than starting consecutively. Each part then rotated the melody.

ARS NOVA

     The Ars Nova, or "The New Art," took place during the end of the Medieval era while foreshadowing some of the Renaissance trends that were to ome.

Madrigal
     Written in two vocal parts, this musical form was the first polyphonic form to appear in Italy. The madrigal had each stanza written in duple time and ended with a ritornello section in triple meter.
Caccia
     The caccia was at its musical height from 1345 to 1370. It was the primary musical form that employed the canon within it. The canon was based on a continuous imitation of two or more parts. The two upper parts were sung in strict imitation with long intervals between the two parts while the third lowest part was composed in slow moving notes and was probably played on an instrument.
Ballata
     This form came about after the madrigal and the caccia and originated as a dance song. The ballata had a sectional structure with refrains, called ripresa sung at the beginning and end of each stanza.

The Medieval Era

(800 - 1400 C.E.)

Instrumental

     Although very little instrumental music has been left intact from the composers of the time period, it is a well known fact that instruments were used throughout the Medieval era.

INSTRUMENTS

Bowed Instruments
     The most important of the bowed instruments were the vielles. They were the precursors of the Renaissance viol family. Another bowed instrument used during the medieval times was the rebec, which was a pear shaped instrument. Later in the time period the tromba marina appeared. It was long in shape and usually had one string. Sometimes it had two strings that were tuned in unison.

Plucked Strings
     The most important plucked string instrument was the lute. It had an angled neck and a pear shaped body. The psaltery, a flat sounding board was another instrument similar to that of the zither.
Wind Instruments
     During this time period recorders, various kinds of trumpets, and horns were in use. The shawm, which was a double reed instrument, was also used.
Organs
     In the Medieval era, portative organs or organetto were used. They were small and were able to be moved around. The positive organ was a very important instrument of the time period. It was the first organ for which polyphonic music was composed. It was of medium size and could not be moved. During the 1300s larger organs started to appear usually in the churches of Europe. Some of them had up to 2,500 or more pipes.
Percussion Instruments
     Drums came in many different shapes and sizes and were used mainly for military and dance purposes. Kettledrums, also called nakers, were used in pairs during this time period. In addition, a cylidrical drum, known as the tabor, was used. Many kinds of bells and cymbals were also used during the Medieval era.
     During the Middle Ages, composers were not all that concerned with how their written music was performed. They gave little notice to what instrument(s) would play a piece and never indicated particular instruments within their scores. It is believed that there were basically five ways in which instruments were employed during this period in music history. According to Hugh M. Miller:

1. Vocal polyphony was occassionally played entirely by instruments
2. Instruments were used to double one or more vocal parts
3. Textless parts in polyphonic music were probably intended to be played by instruments as, for example, in 13th century motetsand 14th century cacce and ballate .
4. Music clearly intended for instrumental performance was mainly dance music and a few instrumental motets and conductus .
5. They may have been substituted for voices in one or more parts with texts

Dance Music

     Almost every single one of the preserved dance forms were written in monophonic style. Folk or court dance music was made up on the spot or played from memory. The principal dance form of the 1400s was the estampie. This dance form had many repeated sections and was almost always played triple time. Some other famous dances were the danse royale and the Italian saltarello and istanpittafrom the 1500s. The ductia was also a popular dance that was written in three or four sections. The finale of a dance work was named a rotta, rotte, or rota, and involved a change of meter involved.

The Medieval Era

Composers

Dufay, Guillaume (1400-1474)

     Guillaume Dufay composed music from the late Medieval era into the early Renaissance. He was born in the Duchy of Burgundy, which is today known as Cambrai, located in France. His birthplace was one of the major musical centers of the world. This area influenced many of the composers who lived during the Renaissance. Throughout his life, Dufay resided in many different Italian cities, which brought a high degree of worldliness to his music.
     The music of Dufay was very calm, soothing, and had direction and clear distinctions. This was in opposition to the typical music of the late Medieval era, which was often harsh and rhythmically complex. As time progressed, and musical norms started changing, so did the music of Guillaume Dufay. He began to explore the music of four voice vocal texture, which became a distinct Renaissance musical characteristic. He was one of the catalysts who helped Medieval music to move forward and transition into the Renaissance age.

de Vitry, Phillipe (1291-1361)

     Phillipe de Vitry was one of the most important composers involved with Medieval music. He was the author of a prominent music theory text, called the Ars Nova. In this work, he showed how he would like to expand the rhythmic resources offered to composers, introduced new rhythmic schemes and a new mensural notation system. This new system remained an important notational device for over a century after his death. He made the first use of binary rhythm and is thus considered to be a mathematical and philosophical genius of his time period. Additionally, he is credited with being one of the main developers of the motet. He is one of the first composers to discover and use isorhythm; a single rhythmic figure continually repeated by a voice.
     The only surviving works of Phillipe de Vitry were his motets. They are mostly secular, although some took on religious tones. Most of his motets were on political, as opposed to romantic, topics. He wrote his secular pieces in Latin, instead of French. He was seen as a prodigy, as he wrote about the issues of his time period and put them into musical form. Vitry is hailed today for his music theory that spurned the whole Ars Nova era of the Medieval era and for his own emotional motets. He used new modes of musical idiom that would not be refined until years after his death. He left a lasting impression on the musical world.

de Machaut, Guillaume (1300-1377)

     Born around the year 1300 in France, Guillaume de Machaut was one of the most famous composer of the Medieval era. His most well known work is the Mass of Notre Dame. Written in four voice form, this piece showed his mastery of composition, and served as a textbook example of Medieval counterpoint. He was also well known for his French poetry, songs, and manuscripts prepared for French royalty.
     Guillaume de Machaut travelled Europe during his lifetime. In addition to composing, he also was involved with the political events of the time. He surrounded himself with royalty and honorary people.
     Guillame de Machaut is considered to be an avant garde composer. His style dominated the Ars Nova period of the Medieval Era. He made little changes to rhythm and meter in his music but added his own interpretation and emotional depth to his pieces. He was also famous for his poetry, which was often set to music and conveyed messages of love.

The Renaissance Period 
(1400 - 1600 C.E.)

     The Renaissance era encompasses Western music history from 1400 to the begining of the 1600’s. This period in time marked the rebirth of humanism, and the revival of cultural achievements for their own sake in all forms of art, including music. The word "Renaissance" in itself is defined as a "rebirth"or a "reconstruction".

     During this time, artists and musicians produced works that displayed more artistic freedom and individualism. This creativity allowed artists to abandon the stricter ways of the Medieval Era. Their art forms rediscovered the ancient Greek ideals. The great masters of the Renaissance were revered in their own lifetimes (rather than after their deaths), which was different from most of their Medieval predecessors. With the new printing techniques, music and musical ideas were able to be preserved and distributed to the people.
     The distinctive musical sounds of the Renaissance era were comprised of a smooth, imitative, polyphonic style, as seen in the music of Byrd, Palestrina, and Lassus. While sacred music remained of great importance, secular music was starting to become increasingly common. Therefore, the polyphonic style was not only used in sacred music, but also in secular madrigals .
     The repertoire of instrumental music also began to grow considerably. New instruments were invented, including two keyboard instruments called the clavichord and virginal. In addition, many existing instruments were enhanced. The lute became the favored instrument of the time period, and it was established as the standard instrument for family music making during the 16th century.
     Masses and motets were the primary forms for sacred vocal polyphony. These were accompanied by the lute or a small instrumental ensemble or consort. Secular vocal forms included motets, madrigals and songs, while instrumental pieces were usually short polyphonic works or music for dancing.
     Renaissance polyphony was harmonious when compared with the Medieval style. Imitation was a method that composers used to make elaborate music more coherent and to give the listener a sense of arrangement. Imitation, where one melodic line shares, or "imitates," the same musical theme as a previous melodic line became an important polyphonic technique. Imitative polyphony can be easily heard in the music of Byrd, Gibbons, and Gabrieli. Additionally, the masses and motets of composers such as Josquin also displayed the imitative polyphonic style. Imitative polyphony was so important that it continued into the Baroque period, especially in sacred music for the church. 

THE RENAISSANCE ERA

VOCAL

15TH CENTURY

English and Burgundian Music

FORM

    During the beginning of the Renaissance period, musical form followed the same basic principles that were used the Medieval era. However, techniques evolved and new styles emerged.

    The three main forms used up to the sixteenth century were mass , motet , and chanson. They were similar in that they all werepolyphonic in texture, had four to six parts, and were all composed for voice. Additionally, the carol was also a popular Renaissance form.

Mass
    The mass was a standard liturgical form. It was polyphonic in style, with plainsong used for the tenor parts. Sometimes secular tunes would be used for cantus firmus . The mass had a regal mood to it and was of considerable length. It was divided into five sections, or movements, and used sacred Latin text.
Motet
    A motet was a sacred choral composition based on a single Latin text and sung in all voice parts. The top voice was greatly emphasized. The motet short in length, and written in one continuous movement. It was also written on a variety of different subjects, usually derived from the Bible.
Chanson
    The most popular and common secular music during the early Renaissance was the polyphonic chanson. It was reminiscent of the solo song, which used the principal melody in the top voice. These secular texts were written in French. The chanson had the same polyphonic texture of the mass but was more rhythmic.
Carol
    During the Renaissance era, the carol was a popular music form in England. It consisted of two parts and was sung to a religious poem of numerous stanzas with the same music and refrain.

Franco-Flemish Music

FORM

    The Franco-Flemish school of music was at its height during the 1400s. The Franco-Flemish composers were more interested in creating new techniques within the popular existing forms, as opposed to inventing new form types.

Canon
    The cannon made its first appearance during the 1300s in the popular caccia of the Medieval era. It was abandoned at the turn of the next century and reappeared with new popularity during the latter part of the 1400s. The new canon employed some interesting techniques.

1. Mensuration canons-several voices carrying the same melody at different rates of speed. 
2. Retrograde canons-the melody is sung backwards.
3. Augmentation canons-the time values of the notes increase in the imitating voice. 
4. Double canons-four parts with two different melodies, each canonically imitated. (55)

Mass
    A new form of mass emerged, called the cantus firmus mass. Here, each successive section of the ordinary had the same melody. These cantus firmi were usually written in the plainsong style, but sometimes secular music was used. Most of the time, these masses were based on cantus firmus.
Motet
    Ther was less use of cantus firums in motets than in masses. The Franco-Flemish motet made use of sections written in duet style, chordal style, fugal or imitative style, and free non-imitative counterpoint .

Secular Music
    The chanson remained the dominant form of secular music, as it had been in the English style. The Franco-Flemish school made variations to it and made it less sectionalized. Lieder, a monophonic or polyphonic German secular work, gained popularity from the end of the 1400s to the end of the 1500s.

16TH CENTURY

    It is in the 1500s that the Renaissance reached its height. In terms of vocal polyphony, the Renaissance exhibited monumental growth.

    Throughout the sixteenth century, vocal polyphony reached its ultimate degree of perfection. Religious music was no longer led by the Roman Catholic Church, as Protestant music was also coming into common usage. While the vocal style still dominated the musical world, instrumental style began to increasingly appear. Secular music gained additional popularity, and schools besides the dominating Franco-Flemish one evolved all across the globe.

ROMAN CATHOLIC MUSIC

Form

    Throughout the 1500s, liturgical music grew in size, technique, and usage. Religious music was still dominated by masses and motets. Also, some non-liturgical forms began to develop and became somewhat popular during the second half of the Renaissance.

Mass
    The main type of mass used during this time was the cantus firmus mass. It used plainsongs and secular melodies. Another common mass used during the sixteenth century was the parody mass, which had a complete secular chanson or motet altered to fit the text of the ordinary mass. After the early 1500s, completely canonic masses became less and less commonly used.
Motet
    The motet did not change much in form or technique. In fugal motets, each successive phrase of text introduced a new concept or theme that was then imitated in other voices. Some motets divided the text from one line to the next so that more than one voice sang each new line of text.
Non-liturgical forms
    The most popular non-liturgical form of the time period was the laude. This was a religious song of praise that was given a simple polyphonic setting in chordal style. Its text was in either Latin or Italian.
Schools
    Although the Franco-Flemish school still dominated the musical world, other schools became important, and developed music themselves. These schools were the Spanish school, the English school, the Venetian school, and the German school.

REFORMATION MUSIC

    The Protestant Reformation led to many new developments in church music. Roman Catholic church music still dominated the era, but Protestantism added creative innovations to the music world.

Germany

    Martin Luther, who sparked the Protestant Reformation, with his Ninety Five Theses, in 1517, believed strongly that music should be involved in church music. He felt that the congregation should participate in the service, especially in hymn singing.

Chorale
    The chorale was one of the most important musical forms to come out of the Protestant Reformation. It was a hymn that was meant to be sung by the congregation. At first, chorales were monophonic and then progressed to four part harmony. Eventually, the chorales were used in more elaborate settings and were performed by choruses. Choral preludes , were contrapuntal arrangements of chorales which were played on an organ.

France

    In France, the Huguenot movement yielded an important literature of psalms set to music.

Psalms
    Biblical psalms were translated into French verse and then set to melodies. These psalms were meant to be sung in unison by the congregation and also to be sung at home. Additionally, four part harmonization and more elaborate contrapuntal arrangements of psalms were developed in this era.

England

Church Music
    Psalm singing also became popular in England during the second half of the Renaissance. The English mass equivalent of the Catholic mass was called the "service." This mass was set to texts in a polyphonic manner. Besides services, two other forms of polyphony were present at this point in time. These were the Catholic anthem, which was a catholic motet with an English text, and the verse anthem, which alternated solo and choral sections and used organ or string accompaniment. In addition, Anglican chant was based upon Catholic plainsong. The English language now replaced Latin texts, and the melodies were given metrical organization.

SECULAR MUSIC

    Secular music of the time developed into wider geographic areas during the second half of the Renaissance. It continued to grow and diversify in form and style well into the 1600s. Secular music of the time had specific rules, according to Hugh M. Miller:

1. As in the 14th century, secular music again rivaled sacred music, largely because of the widespread renaissance spirit of secularization and also because poetry was flourishing.
2. The rise of national schools was even more pronounced in secular that in sacred music, although the influence of Netherlands composers was still strong.
3. Secular music flourished in all European courts under the patronage of nobility
4. It should be remembered that Renaissance secular music everywhere was intended as entertainment for amateur performers rather than as concert music. 
5. It was composed and performed as chamber music for a few participants rather than for large choral ensembles.

Italian Form

    During the late 1400s, popular vocal forms, referred to collectively as the vocal canzoni, appeared in Italy. These forms of music were generally in four parts, strongly metrical, predominantly chordal, and had dance like rhythms to them. These forms came right before the 16th century madrigal . The madrigal developed from the 1500s to the 1600s, and had more expressiveness to it, was more contrapuntally elaborate, and was more polished overall.

French Form

    The most popular secular form in France were the polyphonic chanson and the solo chanson with contrapuntal accompaniment. While some chansons were in chordal style, others had more elegant counterpoint with imitation. The chanson measures, a type of chanson from the late 1500s, made use of quantitative rhythms, which stressed syllables were given twice the note values of unstressed syllables, resulting in frequently shifting meters.

English Form

    English madrigals were popular during the sixteenth century. An English madrigal used five voices. It was written in a light and leisurely manner. A form of the madrigal called ballett was also popular. It used refrains in lively contrapuntal style alternating with chordal style for the stanzas.

German Form

    A popular type of secular music in Germany during this time was the polyphonic lied. This was written in four voices with imitative counterpoint. The basis for this form was often popular songs. Another popular German form during the Renaissance was quodlibet. This form had various popular tunes and their texts humorously combined in a contrapuntal manner.

Spanish Form

    The main Spanish secular form during the Renaissance was the villancico. The villancico was a four part work, written mostly in chordal style, with a regular metric construction. This was based on a three stanza poem and was musically structured according to the formula A B B A. This form of music was performed as solo songs with instruments playing the lower parts.

The Renaissance Era

Instrumental

     Even though the instrumental music of the Renaissance period did not equal the vocal music, in terms of quality and quantity, it still played an integral part of the era. Instrumental music gained in popularity and developeda musical form that was distinct from vocal music.

     During the Renaissance era, instrumental music was written according to specific rules. 

1. Improvisation was very important in performance and for melodic ornamentation.
2. Transcriptions of vocal music for instrumental performance were numerous.
3. Instruments were freely employed in the performance of vocal music.
4. Some instrumental forms were borrowed from vocal forms, while others were instrumentally invented.

     Instrumental music also had specific characteristics during the Renaissance Era. The instrumental style of the Renaissance time period was also distinct.

1. Melodic range was wider than vocal limitations.
2. There was extensive ornamentation including coloration, embellishment, and figuration.
3. There was a much freer treatment of dissonance.
4. In lute and keyboard music contrapuntal parts were freely added or dropped without indicating rests.
5. There were exceedingly long and rapid scale passages.
6. There were numerous wide skips.

     During this era, the instruments on which musicians played from day to day also improved. The instruments most commonly used were of keyboards, strings, and winds.

STRING INSTRUMENTS

Bowed Strings
     Ancestors of the 17th century violin family, Renaissance viols, were fretted instruments with six strings tuned in fourths, with a third in the middle (A d g b e’ a’). They were used in various ensembles called consorts (consisting entirely of viols) or in mixed consorts, which had recorders and other instruments in it.

Plucked Strings
     The most popular solo instrument of the Renaissance was the lute. It had an angled neck and pear shaped body. Lutes were fretted instruments. It had six strings tuned, as did viols, in fourths with a third in the middle (G c f a d’ g’). Lute music was often written in tablature, a special kind of musical notation that indicates the fret and string for a given note. Being extremely versatile, the lute was used for solo, accompaniment and for ensemble music purposes.

WIND INSTRUMENTS

      The most important wind instrument of the Renaissance era was the recorder. The recorder was a hollow, end-blown wooden flute. The recorder was also a very versatile instrument and it was used in may different types of ensemble music. It ranged in size from treble to bass. Other notable wind instruments were the shawm and the cromorn (double reed woodwinds), coronets (soft toned instruments made out of wood or ivy), and early trumpets and trombones (restricted to the natural tone of the harmonic series). These instruments were first emerging and were confined to fanfares or to outdoor music festivals.

KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS

     Organs and keyboards were the primary keyboard instruments used during the Renaissance era. They were commonly found in churches. In their earliest form, pedalboards were not built into such organs (except in Germany). Regals, or positive organs, were in wide use since the Medieval period, while the portative organ died out during the latter 1600s.

     Additionally, there were two other types of keyboard instruments now present in the musical world. They were the clavichord and the harpsichord.
     Keyboard instruments were mainly used for solo purposes during the Renaissance, and rarely accompanied vocal polyphony . It was an even rarer occurrence that a vocal or ensemble piece to be accompanied by a clavichord or harpsichord.

ENSEMBLES

     The term Renaissance ensemble is meant to be used in a simplistic, unevolved form. Rarely did an ensemble match what we would today call an orchestra. Instead, ensembles were basically small chamber groups. Seldom was specific instrumentation for ensembles declared in a score.

FORMS OF MUSIC

     Renaissance composers did not give much thought to whether their pieces would be vocal or instrumental. Most pieces of the time were written “per cantar e sonar”, which means “for singing and playing”. Composers wrote their works so that either the voice or instruments could be used to convey the message of their work. There was still a distinction between sacred and secular music during the 1700s.

Dance Music
     In its begining stages, dance music was written to accompany social gatherings. Later on, during the 1700s, a more structured and specifically styled dance form was developed. Dance music became popular and its form was filled with strong rhythm and repeating sections. The dances of the time were usually arranged in groups of 2 or 3 movements. In the typical dance pair, both sections had the same tune; the first dance was in slow tempo while the following one was faster with a change of meter. The lute, which was popular, helped to play dance music, while the harpsichord and small ensembles also contributed to this art form.
Cantus Firmus Forms
     The cantus firmus musical form was basically for use in the Church, as it was liturgical music. Usually, this type of music was played by an organist between verses of a hymn sung by the congregation or choir. Stylistically, a cantus firmus piece was based on simplisticplainsong or secular song, which was meant to be played by a harpsichord, organ, or an ensemble of viols.
Improvisational Forms
     The prelude was the main improvosational form during the Renaissance. Usually composed for keyboard or lute instruments, it was an instrumental type which made use of a collection of materials in order to give the listener a feeling of improvisation.
Variation Forms
     Variations were written in many different ways. Theme and variation form was based on a popular tune which itself was modified with each restatement. Another variation was called ground, which used short themes of four to eight measures in the bass and had a changingcounterpoint played above it. A cantus firmus variation used a single melody which was repeated a number of times. Each time the melody was repeated it was accompanied by a different counterpoint and in a different voice. English hexachord variations used as a theme the first 6 notes of a scale. This was most common in virginal music.

The Renaissance Era

Composers

Byrd, William (1543-1623)

     William Byrd was born in the county of Eincolnshire, England (the same place where Robin Hood lived). William Byrd was a composer of music for both the Protestant and Catholic churches. For the Protestant church, he composed Great Service and Short Service. For the Catholic church, he composed masses , hymns, and madrigals .
     During his childhood, he was probably one of the Children of the Chapel Royal in London, since it is known that Byrd was raised listening to music composed by Thomas Tallis. Tallis was the organist and choir director of that Chapel. At age twenty, he became Organist of the Lincoln Cathedral in his home town and later became a Gentleman at the Chapel Royal. He became the organist at the Chapel and worked along with his mentor Thomas Tallis.
     Byrd is famous for writing extraordinary masses, motets , vocal and solo songs, and for chamber music composed for strings without voice. He is well known for his madrigals as well. The Sweet and Merry Month of May is very typical of the madrigals that Byrd wrote. He was described as a man with natural gravity and piety. He was versatile in instrumental form too, as he also wrote chamber music. During his life, he was considered the foremost composer of keyboard music in all of Europe. Byrd composed and excelled in writing sacred, secular, vocal and instrumental music and left a lasting impression on the musical world.

Desprez, Josquin (1440-1521)

     Throughout his life, he was by far the most sought after composer in all of Europe. He was born in the Duchy of Burgandy, now Beligium, and spent his life living in various Italian cites. He retired to Conde in Northeast France.
     He helped to spread polyphony in Northern Italy. In Josquin's extended works, a certain subtlety and serenity were always included, (a characteristic of the Franco-Flemish school). The repetoire of his music surviving today is rather large and is made up of motets, masses and secular songs, in both French and Italian. He was a master of four-voice and other large textures, as well as parodies, light songs, and French chansons. Because of his human quality, quantity, and technical mastery, Josquin is still extremely renowned and respected as a composer today.

Gabrielli, Giovanni (1554-1612)

     Born in Italy in 1554, Giovanni Gabrielli was a composer of sacred and secular vocal music. He also composed music for string, keyboard, and wind ensemble pieces. He is best known for his perfection of the cori spezzati musical form, in which choirs or performing groups are broken up into sections and dispersed in and around the performance space. Gabrielli was also famous for his chromatic motets written about damnation and hell. Additionally, he was a promoter of the music of Monteverdi.

Gibbons, Orlando (1583-1625)

     Orlando Gibbons lived during the historical high point of English music. Gibbons is renowned as being the greatest English composer of his generation. He was born in Oxford, played and taught music to royalty, and died at the age 42.
     Along with other composers of the time, Gibbons wrote new music and developed new techniques for consort music. He also is famous for his sacred choral music, English anthems, and verse anthems. Additionally, he wrote consort songs for vocal madrigals and solo songs with viol consort accompaniments. His madrigal The Silver Swan is well known. His music remains well loved today and his choral music is constantly played as part of the English Cathedral repetoire.

Ockeghem, Johannes (1410-1497)

     Ockeghem is known as one of the fathers of Renaissance music. He was born in 1410 and became one of the most respected composers of the fifteenth century. Very little of his musical repetoire survives today. He is known for his motets, masses, and secular chansons.
     Stylistically, Johannes Ockeghem was very distinct. In his vocal pieces, he placed an emphasis on expressive and complex bass lines. This new emphasis on lower textures allowed Renaissance composers to have a wide range of diversity in their music. Ockeghem has been described as a purely technical master. He is also considered to be a pioneer of western polyphony and one of the supreme masters of lyrical and contrapuntal invention.

Palestrina, Giovanni (1525-1594)

     Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina was an Italian composer who wrote over one hundred settings of the mass. He composed sacred music and was an important musical figure of the Renaissance. He is best known for his "seamless texture" of polyphony.
     His prominent works are his First Book of Masses, the Mass of Marcellus, and his First Book of Motets. He composed masses, motets, and sacred works. Adoramus te Christe is an example of his sacred music. His music is marked by purity, clarity, terseness, simplicity, and the omission of secular elements. Because of all of his worthy compositions, he earned the title "Prince of Music," which was engraved on the leaden plate that marks the tomb on his grave. He died in 1594, but his influence lasted for many eras past his death.

The Classical Era

(1750-1820 C.E.)

     Although the Classical Era lasted for only 70 years, there was a substantial change in the music that was being produced. Classical music placed a greater stress on clarity with regard to melodic expression and instrumental color. Although opera and vocal music (both sacred and secular) were still being written, orchestral literature was performed on a much broader basis. The orchestra gained more color and flexibility as clarinets, flutes, oboes, and bassoons became permanent members of the orchestra.

     The classical style was dominated by homophony , which consisted of a single melodic line and an accompaniment. New forms of composition were developed to adapt to this style. The most important of these forms was the sonata which was in instrumental music. This form continued to change and evolve throughout the classical period, and it is important to note that the classical sonata was very different from the sonatas written by Baroque composers.
     The early 1700s reflected a musical style known as Rococo. This style served as a transition from the Baroque to the Classical Era. Rococo, which developed in France, is actually an art term that described a new art style which was both a light and embellished. Musically speaking, it is refered to as style galant. In Germany, after 1750, the style galant became empfindsamer stil. With this change in name came an added element of expressiveness and sentimentality.
     As classical music evolved, distinctive characteristics developed. Changes in form were seen along with changes in phrase structure. Shorter phraases and well defined cadences became more prevalent. During this time period, a favorite accompaniment pattern was the Alberti bass (name for Dominico Alberti), which featured a broken chord progression.
     The melodies of the Classical era were more compact and diatonic. Harmony was less structured. It used the tonic, dominant, and subdominant chords. In addition, during this period, diatonic harmony was more common then chromatic. Composers mainly used chords in triadic form and occasionally used seventh chords in their compositions.

The Modern/20th Century Era

(1900 - Present)

     With the coming of the 20th century another evolution in the musical world emerged. While some of the early 20th century music can be seen as extensions of the late Romantic style, much of 20th century music can be seen as a rebellion. Composers did not look to build on what was standard but again created music freely and used sounds that went against the current grain. Twentieth century music can be described as being more refined, vague in form, delicate, and having a mysterious atmosphere.
     Twentieth century music is an era that is hard to define in terms of musical style. The only easy way to define 20th century music is that it does not fit into the Romantic era's requirements. And because of its own expression and orchestral technique it does not fit into any other category but its own.
     This time period spawned many new terms for musical styles because of the diversity of music that was being written. Some common examples are atonality, expressionism (seen in Schoenberg's early music), neo-Romanticism , and neo-Classicism .
     As was true in the Romantic era, nationalism was still an important musical device used during the first half of the 20th century. Composers utilized folk songs to enriched their music. Examples can be seen in the music of Raplh Vaughan Williams (England), Bela Bartok (Hungary), Heitor Villa Lobos (Brazil) and Aaron Copland (USA). Jazz and popular musical styles influenced composers from both the United States and Europe.
     In 20th century musical styles traditional forms and structures were broken up and recreated or composed using non-Western musical techniques and abstract ideas. Technology also became an extremely important factor in the music making during this time period. Composers have been known to use recording tape as a compositional tool. Electronically created sounds are used in combination with other electronic sounds or played together with traditional music instruments. Most recently, the use of computer technology has affected the world of music making. Some ways in which computers currently alter the face of the music world are by manipulating the performance of instruments in real time.

     The four major composers of the Classical era were Haydn, Mozart, Gluck, and Beethoven. These composers wrote extensively for vocal and instrumental mediums.

The Modern/20^th Century

Trends

     Throughout the twentieth century, many trends developed. These trends permeated all the different areas of music and did not specifically happen at a given point in time or take on a strict form. Some of these trends were incorporated together into the same piece of music. The twentieth century broke all the musical rules of the past and let one form and style flow right into another. It is still important to note that although much change came with the turn of the century, Romantic music continued throughout this era, and remained the dominant form for quite some time.

Impressionism
     Impressionism was the very first trend of significance which moved away from Romanticism and towards Modern era characteristics. Though this type of music was programmatic, it still started the movement away from the Romantic era. Impressionistic music was vague in form, delicate in nature, and had a mysterious atmosphere to it.
Expressionism
     Although not as important as Impressionism, Expressionism was a prominent early twentieth century movement. Stylistically, expressionistic music was very atonal and dissonant. It was a German movement away from French Impressionism. It was emotional and had a somewhat Romantic feel to it.
Neo-Classicism
     Neo-Classicism can be defined as the new classical movement. This movement started in the early 1920s and continued to be a leading musical movement throughout the century. This trend is still popular today. Neo-Classicism is a movement which incorporated the music of the Classical era, in terms of clarity of texture and objectivity. This trend not only based its music on the Classical era, but it also mixed Renaissance, Baroque, and some modern trends in with it.
Jazz
      Jazz is a musical movement which dominated the 1900s. It is mainly an American form and remains popular to this day. Jazz can be defined as anything from popular music of the twentieth century to the improvised sounds of a dance band. Some prominent forms of Jazz throughout the century have been Ragtime, Blues , Swing , Dixieland Jazz, Bop, and Boogie-Woogie. Since the second half of the 1900s, new forms and techniques of Jazz have come about. These include funky hard bop regression, cool jazz, progressive jazz, and rock and roll. Generally these newer styles have a greater range in harmony, rhythm, and melody, and are less oriented to dance music. They also sometimes borrow techniques and forms from classical music, and vice versa, as modern classical music often contains Jazz elements.
Aleatory Music or Chance Music
      Aleatory music is an extremely random style of music. The composer and/or the performer will randomly pick musical materials and make it into a piece of music. There are no rules to this form of music, and, thus, any kind of music can be created as a result. After the composer writes a piece in this unusual style, the performer then improvises on it, to make it stranger and more unique. Some techniques involved in aleatory music are having the audience improvise along with the performer, using electronic or computer media, or reading poetry somewhere inside of the work.
Electronic
     The newest trend of the twentieth century lies in electronic music. Electronic music takes electronically generated sounds and turns it into a work of music. Like conventional music, electronic music has four general properties to it. These are amplitude, pitch, duration, and timbre. Electronic music is typically composed on either a synthesizer or a computer. The most current trends in this form of music show electronic music in combination with Jazz.

The Modern/20^th Century

Techniques

     During the Modern era, many new musical techniques emerged. They were seen in melody , harmony , rhythm, meter, texture, tonality, and sonority . It is important to note that during the twentieth century not all changes in music were a revolution or a return to old ideals.

Meter and Rhythm

     Few changes occurred to the concepts of meter and rhythm during the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras. For the first time in hundreds of years, rhythm became a more important factor and took on characteristics of flexibility and variety.

New Time Signatures - Refers to odd time signatures, such as 5/8 and 7/8, are found in modern music.
Asymetrical Grouping - This is a grouping of notes within a measure to yield new rhythmic effects.
Non-metric Music - For non-metric flexibility, composers omit the bar line, this is limited to solo media.
Polymetric Music - This is music in which two or more meters are used simultaneously.
Multimetric Music - In this type of music frequent changes of time signature occur almost every measure.
Displaced Bar Line - This is a technique to make the barline seem as if it is misplaced or shifted. To do this, accents are put in recurring patterns to counter the normal accents in the measure.

Melody

      During the 1900s, new changes to melody occured in the areas of style, scale bases, and the role of melody.

Style
     Melody in music has generally remained traditional throughout the Modern era, but there have been exceptions as some extreme forms of melody have occured.
Scale Bases
     New melodic and harmonic styles appear during this era, as a result of the use of unconventional scales. Composers have borrowed scales from old church modes and have used them in a neomodal settings.
The Role of Melody
     Up until the twentieth century melody was the most important element in any work of music. Now, the role of melody has greatly changed. It is still important in music with contrapuntal texture, but its importance is greatly diminished in music having great emphasis on harmony and rhythm, and virtually nonexistent in some forms of electronic music with nontonal sound.
Texture
     Contrapuntal textures in music dominate the Modern era. While, homophonic textures are present, it is to a lesser degree and with less importance. Texture is especially evident in neo-Classicism , where contrapuntal forms from the Baroque, such as the cannon and fugue , are used.
Sonority
     Sonority of the modern era takes on the characteristics of being thin, clear, and transparent. This resembles music of the Classical era, thus showing once again the importance of neo-Classicism in the twentieth century. Pointillism, a very thin sonority is also present in this modern era. It involves fragmentary lines, a combination of various tones sounding simultaneously, frequently changed timbres, and widely spaced registers.
Serialism & Twelve Tone Music
     Serial music is based on a repeating series of rhythms, dynamics, tones, or timbres in a work. This form first appeared in the 1920s and relates to new concepts of formal structure in music and atonality.
     Twelve tone music is a form of serialism that is based on a series of twelve different pitches called a tone row. A tone row contains all twelve tones of the octave arranged in such an order that any implication of tonic or key center is avoided. Melody, harmony, and themes are derived from the tone row, which replaces scales as the basis of composition.

The Modern/20^th Century

Composers

Bartok, Bela (1881-1945)

     Bela Bartok was a famous Hungarian composer who transcribed Hungarian folk songs and also wrote his own orchestral, opera, ballet, and chamber music. Stylistically, he mixed his innate musical talent along with his intellectual skill to create his mastery of modern form. His most famous works are the Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, Concerto for Orchestra, and Mikrokosmos.

Britten, Benjamin (1913-1976)

     Born in 1913, Benjamin Britten was an English composer. He wrote music in choral, orchestral, solo vocal, and operatic styles. He is also well known as being a significant composer of opera. He used various themes from American, Japanese, and British cultures in his works. His most famous opera is Peter Grimes. Britten was very opposed to war, and this can be seen in his War Requiem, which was a statement about his ojection against militarism.

Bernstein, Leonard (1918-1990)

     Leonard Bernstein was one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was a virtuoso pianist, a television star, a gifted conductor, a businessman, and a classroom teacher.
     Bernstein was first inspired by music when, at eight years old, he heard music played in his first trip to a synagogue. He was moved to tears by the choir and the organ sounds. He would never be the same again, and the musical world can be thankful for that. He learned how to play the piano, and continued playing and performimg for the rest of his life. Composer Serge Koussevitsky gave him positive encouragement and helped him to become a successful conductor when he was only in his twenties. Some of the famous groups that he conducted were the New York Philharmonic, The New York City Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Israeli orchestras.
     Some of his well known works are the symphony Jeremiah and Serenade for Violin Solo, String Orchestra and Percussion. His compositions Masque and Turkey Trot are known for being very lively and rhythmic. He is also known for his ballet Fancy Free, his musical, On the Town, and his opera Candide.

Copland, Aaron (1900-1990)

     The composer Aaron Copland was born in 1900 in Brooklyn, New York. His personality often clashed with his musical compositions, as he was a quiet and soft-spoken man, while his music was loud, brilliant, and tense. As a child, he studied the piano and music theory. When he was old enough to leave home, he traveled to France to further immerse himself in the musical world. There he made his first business mistake, as he sold a short composition of his, The Cat and The Mouse, for twenty-five dollars. Thousands of copies were sold and he did not receive and royalties from the song.
     Copland returned to New York after his education in France. While back in the United States, he composed his famous Symphony for Organ and Orchestra. He went on to become the director of many musical foundations such as the International Society for Contemporary Music, the League of Composers, and his own foundation.
     Copland was very interested in educating people about modern music. He gave concerts with fellow friend and composer Roger Sessions. These Copland-Sessions concerts, served to educate audiences about the new and dissonant music that he and Sessions composed. He was also the director of the Berkshire School of Music in Tanglewood, Massachusetts after the great conductor Serge Koussevitzky died.
     Some of his most famous works are Lincoln Portrait, a large orchestral piece with text from the Gettysburg address, andAppalachian Spring, which was a Pulitzer Prize and Critic's Circle of New York winning ballet. Additional songs for which he is known are Hoedown and Simple Gifts. Copalnd was an extremely versatile composer and composed music for choruses, orchestras, theater, and chamber music groups. It is a special honor of his that he was one of the first major composers asked to write a piece of music for a radio broadcast. Additionally, he wrote the scores for the films The Heiress, The City, Our Town, and Of Mice and Men. His compositions for film are emotional and have also been performed in concert halls.
     Aaron Copland retired from composing music in 1965. This was due to the fact that younger composers were ignoring him, and the general public did not receive his newer works very well. Among these works that were ignored by the public was Inscapes, one of the great postwar American scores. From then on, Copland focused on a conducting career, specializing in his own scores.

Gershwin, George (1898-1937)

     American born composer George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1898. He was a composer of both pop and concert music. As a child, Gershwin learned about music by playing the piano. At age sixteen, he received additional piano practice at a job where he played popular song hits all day long. He began to compose and play some of his original works but was largely ignored.
     Eventually, Gershwin took a job as a rehearsal pianist at a Ziegfeld production. At this point in his life, he wrote his first musical comedy, La La Lucille, which turned out to be a hit. From then on he rapidly turned out Broadway successes. These were the famous Oh Kay, Strike Up the Band, Girl Crazy, Funny Face, Of Thee I Sing, Lady Be Good, and George White's Scandals. These scores contained songs that the country would grow to love, full of popular music and touches of early rock and roll.
     Soon after, George Gershwin produced another one of his most famous works, Rhapsody in Blue. This was a jazz piece written as a form of art. This whole philosophy was very new to the public, and yet they instantaneously fell in love with this piece. It was performed in concerts, broadcast on radio stations, and recorded and distributed in high volume, making it a well-known musical composition throughout the world. After Rhapsody in Blue, he composed two very famous compositions, American in Paris and the Cuban Overture.
      Porgy and Bess was George Gershwin's last important composition. This was a grand opera folk opera written about the African American Southern culture. The all-African cast was so important that it was hailed as the first completely successful and completely American opera. It was written so emotionally and dramatically that members of the cast could not believe that the opera's composer wasn't at least partially African American. Porgy and Bess exemplified the skill and talent that George Gershwin possessed.
     Tragically, Gershwin died at the young age of thirty-nine due to a cancerous brain tumor. His legacy continued on and Gershwin's music is still influential today, making him one of the most important composers of the twentieth century.

Ives, Charles (1874-1954)

     Charles Ives was born in 1874 in Danbury, Connecticut. He learned about music from his father who was the lead member of the town band. At Yale he took a course in music, but rather than use conventional notation, he invented his own musical alphabet. Ives' unusual philosophy certainly did not make him a conservative musician.
     From 1906 to 1930, when he retired, Ives was a businessman at an insurance company. From that point on he focused wholeheartedly on his music. Throughout his life, he tried not to miss a musical affair in his hometown of Danbury. He attended performances by the town band and played the organ in church. When he wrote music he incorporated the sounds he heard in town performances into it, faults and all. Some typical characteristics of his music were off-key singing, squeaky and out of tune violin playing, and the wheeze of the harmonium.
     Ives wrote his music in a manner as cryptic as its sound. His score would have notes jotted all over the page with no bar separations and strange chords, rhythms, and quarter tones. One of his most famous works, written in this style, is his second sonata for the piano, entitled Concord, Massachusetts. This was arranged into four movements known separately as "Emerson," "Hawthorne," "The Alcotts," and "Thoreau." This piece brought out the spirit of Concord in the middle of the century, and was hailed for its power and display of emotion. Another popular piece of Charles Ives' was his Symphony for Orchestra and Piano.
     Charles Ives was certainly one of the most influential, original, and unique composers of the 20th century. He died at eighty years of age, leaving eleven volumes of chamber music and six volumes of orchestral scores, most never performed. He was only semi appreciated in his lifetime, but the world today now appreciates his importance to the world of music. He was innovative, well ahead of his time, and risky and bold in his musical experimentation. Ives and his music are studied today for their freshness and daring.

Stravinsky, Igor (1882-1971)

     Igor Stravinsky was born in Russia in 1882. His earlier works, such as his symphony No. 1 in E Flat, showed the old school Romantic musical style of Russia. However, Stravinsky began to turn away from this style of music and progressed towards the music of Claude Debussy, while adding a Russian flavor to it. Some of the works he completed in this new style were The Faun and the Shepherdess, Fireworks, and the major ballet Firebird. In these compositions, clean orchestral textures, irregular rhythms, and emphasis on stamping were used. Two additional ballets written in this style were Le Sacre du Printemps and Petrouchka. These works were less Romantic and had more of a barbaric feeling to them.
     Eventually tiring of this style, Stravinsky decided to search for a new style of music once again. In this transitional peroid, he wrote the opera Le Rossignol, and Symphonies for Wind Instruments. After World War I, he moved further away from his fiery ballets by composing Tango, Ragtime, and L'Histoire du Soldat. These new scores were less aesthetically pleasing but used more objectification. At this time, he also reworked the old masterpieces of Pulcinella and Oedipus Rex. This style was called neo-Classicism , which was a return to classical music with modern day elements added in. Stravinsky is regarded as the most influential modern composer in both France and America. His most famous Neoclassicist works are the Concerto for Two Solo Pianofortes, the ballets Apollo and Jeu de Cartes, Symphony in Three Movements, Symphony in C, Ebony Concerto, Mass, Symphony of Psalms, and the classic full length opera, The Rake's Progress.
     After Stravinsky finished The Rake's Progress he moved away from neo-Classicism and towards the serial music style. His most famous works in this category were Movements for Piano and Orchestra, Cantata, In Memoriam Dylan Thomas, Three Shakespeare Songs, Threni, Introit, The Dove Descending Breaks the Air for chorus, and Requiem Canticles. Stravinksy was a multifaceted and talented man who left an impression still burning on the musical world today.

Vaughn Williams, Ralph (1872-1958)

     Ralph Vaughan Williams was born in England during the year 1872. Composers influenced in the musical style of Brahms were his musical mentors. His earlier music showed the influence of Brahms, yet they also has Williams' unique and original sound to them. Throughout his life, he was fascinated by the English folk song.
     Vaughan Williams had the unique talent of being able to absorb musical techniques and styles from other composers while still remaining true and original to himself. Composers who influenced him were Stravinksy, Bach, Brahms, Byrd, and Debussy. His earliest compositions were French impressionist music, such as his In the Fen Country, and String Quartet No. 1. He soon changed his musical style to incidental music. In this format, his famous works were The Wasps, the song cycle On Wenlock Edge and Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.
     Vaughan Williams was a composer in almost every category of music. He wrote a few of operas, none which had success on stage, even though they were filled with artistically pleasing music. His other major musical compositions were Hodie, Merciless Beauty, Serenade to Music, 10 Blake Songs, Five Mystical Songs, Dona nobis pacem, and Sancta Civitas. All of his symphonies show Ralph Vaughan Williams' wide range of style and form, each piece having a truly unique sound. His music was always original and unique, with much drama and emotion.