Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Music

Renaissance

The foremost characteristic of the Renaissance is the rebirth of the classics (Greece and Rome).

If during the Middle Ages God was at the center of everything, now it is the contrary. Humans are at the center of everything (anthropocentrism).

Reasoning, not faith, is what guides life.

Art is seen as an end in itself (not something to please God) and its goal is to achieve the ideal form of beauty based on the harmony and proportions found in nature.

All artistic expressions found inspiration in old Rome. The only exception was music, which had to find its own style far from medieval music.

Melody

• It refers to the way notes are written horizontally on the score, how they are performed one after the other.

Harmony

• It refers to the way notes

String Instruments

These instruments produce sound through the vibration of one or more strings.

Depending on the vibration technique, we distinguish bowed, plucked, and struck strings.

Bowed String

Sound is produced by rubbing the strings with a bow. They typically have four strings and a similar shape.

• Violin: Smallest, highest pitch.
• Viola: Slightly larger than the violin, middle pitch.
• Violoncello: Larger, lower register, played sitting with an endpin.
• Double Bass: Largest, very low register, played standing.

Plucked String

Sound is produced by plucking the strings with fingers, a pick, or a plectrum.

• Harp: Has 47 strings.
• Guitar: Has six strings and a fretted neck.

Struck String

Sound is produced by striking the strings with hammers activated by a keyboard.... Continue reading "Musical Instrument Families: Strings, Winds, and Percussion" »

Ancient Music: Foundations and Theory (BC to 500 AD)

What are the approximate years of the Ancient Music period?

The Ancient Music period spans approximately BC to 500 AD.

How did music develop over time?

As technology and culture changed, so did music.

What do we know about ancient Greek music?

Our knowledge comes primarily from art (vases) and writings.

Do we know exactly how ancient Greek music sounded?

No, we do not have any recordings.

Describe the ancient Greek culture.

The ancient Greeks were an advanced society in many aspects, including:

• Architecture
• Mathematics
• Philosophy
• Music

Who was Pythagoras and what was his role in music?

Pythagoras was a Greek mathematician who connected math with music, laying the groundwork for musical intervals and tuning.... Continue reading "Ancient and Medieval Music History: Key Concepts" »

Athenian Rule in the 5th Century BCE

• 490 BCE: Athens defeats Persians at Marathon
• 404 BCE: Athens is defeated by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War
• Between these two events, Athens enjoys cultural and political supremacy.

Dramatic Festivals

• In honor of Dionysus, son of Zeus and Semele.
• Dionysus was reared by satyrs, killed, dismembered, and resurrected.
• In Attica, four annual festivals were held: Rural Dionysia, Lenaia, Anthesteria, and City Dionysia.

Origins of Tragedy

• Various hypotheses for the meaning of TRAGOIDIA or “goat song”.
• Aristotle’s Poetics: from improvisations by leaders of the DITHYRAMBS.
• Other hypotheses: recited stories, sung poetry, and narrative dance.
• First recorded author of tragedies: THESPIS.
• Thespis started dialogue between himself

Romanticism: New Ideas and Feelings

Romanticism introduced new ideas and different ways of thinking and feeling. It began in Western Europe during the latter half of the 18th century, championed by poets, artists, and philosophers. It is often considered the birth of the modern world.

Key Events

• The Salon in Paris (May 1762): Focused on children's care.
• August 1770, Brook Street, London: Thomas Chatterton committed suicide. He was a poet who did not wish to be a lawyer, leading to the idea of the sensitive person being born.
• 1774: Publication of The Sorrows of Young Werther.

Romantics deeply loved nature and sought to express and release human feelings.

British Authors

• Mary Shelley: Never formally educated, she ran away with a married man. She is considered

The 18th Century: The Age of Enlightenment

The 18th century is known as the century of the Enlightenment, which is an intellectual movement that strives to achieve a more educated society based on reason and progress. This movement started in France and spread to other European countries. The thinking that dominates in this period is rationalism. On the basis of reason, intellectuals questioned many of the social, philosophical, and religious approaches that had been in force in Europe for centuries.

Music in the Classical Period

• At this time, public concerts became generalized throughout Europe, allowing musicians to compose independently of a patron or an institution.
• Classicism tries to produce less complex, clearer, and more accessible music.

The Baroque Era in Music (1600–1750)

The Baroque era is characterized by its extravagant and sometimes bizarre qualities in music, as noted by historians. It was a period of significant innovation and development in musical forms and styles.

Key Characteristics and Forms

• Opera: The most important new genre of the Baroque era. Unlike Greek drama which features spoken dialogue, opera is entirely sung. The emergence of homophony, with its clear melody and accompaniment, was crucial to the development of opera.
• Bar Form: A musical structure consisting of an opening phrase (A) moving to a contrasting phrase (B), often followed by a return to or variation of the opening phrase (AAB).
• Overture: An instrumental piece played at the beginning of an opera

Idiophones

Idiophone instruments are those in which the sound is produced by the vibration of the instrument itself. They are classified considering the way the sound is produced, that is, how they are played. They can make sounds when hit, concussed, shaken, plucked, scraped, or even rubbed.

Percussion Idiophones

They can be pitched like bar instruments and those we can find in sets like the temple block. They can also be unpitched like the triangle, the gong, the woodblock, or the cajón flamenco.

Concussion Idiophones

Castanets, claves, and cymbals.

Shaken Idiophones

Maracas and rattles.

Plucked Idiophones

The berimbau and the sansa.

Scraped Idiophones

The güiro, the washboard, or the ratchet.

Friction Idiophones

Musical glasses, the glass harmonica,... Continue reading "Musical Instrument Classification: Types and Examples" »

Early Canadian Music and Folk Songs

Alexander Muir

• The Maple Leaf Forever (1867)

Calixa Lavallée

• O Canada (1880)

Eva Gauthier

• À la claire fontaine
• (French woman singing with choir men; old days; associated with the founding of Samuel de Champlain’s L’Ordre de bon temps in 1606)

Traditional

• J'ai fait faire un beau navire

Stephen Codman

• The Fairy Song (1824)
• (Fast running pace piano with soprano)

Joseph Vézina

• Le Fétiche: J’ai pour maison
• (Piano with baritone at first, then with soprano; operetta)

Harry Somers

• Louis Riel
• (Male baritone/tenor singing opera; about Métis leader Louis Riel, who was executed in 1885)

Isidore Soucy

• En Roulant Ma Boule
• (Old French recording with men; primary activity is paddling, sung to paddle faster with one person taking the

Baroque art is characterized by its rich ornamentation and dramatic intensity, pursuing the exploration of form and the contrast of light and shadow.

Profane Vocal Music: The Birth of Opera

Characteristics of Opera

• Main profane vocal form.
• Understood as an entirely sung piece, written for orchestra, choirs, and soloists.

Early Operas

• First opera: Euridice by Jacopo Peri.
• First drama in music: L'Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi (1607).

Parts of an Opera

Key Composers

• Antonio Vivaldi
• Johann Sebastian Bach
• George Frideric Handel

Vocal Parts

• Recitative: Halfway between spoken word and singing.
• Aria: A part sung by a soloist.

Instrumental Parts

• Overture: An instrumental introduction.
• Interludes: Connecting instrumental sections.
• Choruses and Ballets: Often integrated into