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

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

Sound, Noise & Silence

Essentially, music is sound and the way it orders tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity. Sound is produced when an object vibrates, and it is what can be perceived by a living organism through its sense of hearing. It travels through physical mediums by sound waves, and it is normally a pleasant feeling.

Noise is a disagreeable auditory experience, but this is a subjective definition (for instance, most percussion instruments produce noises when they are played). Anyway, the physical difference between sound and noise is the sort of waves: sound waves are regular, while in noise, the wave is irregular.

Finally, silence is the... Continue reading "Understanding Sound, Noise, and Silence: Key Qualities Explained" »

Foundational Canadian Music and National Identity

Early Patriotic and Traditional Songs

• Alexander Muir (Toronto, Ontario)

  The Maple Leaf Forever (1867)

• Calixa Lavallée

  O Canada (1880)

• Eva Gauthier (Mezzo-Soprano Teacher, Active 1917)

  Known for preserving traditional French Canadian songs:

  • À la claire fontaine (Traditional, associated with the founding of Samuel de Champlain’s L’Ordre de Bon Temps, 1606). (Description: Female voice with male choir, historical recording.)
  • J'ai fait faire un beau navire

Canadian Opera and Art Song

• Stephen Codman (Active 1835)

  The Fairy Song (1824). (Description: Fast-paced piano accompaniment with soprano voice.)

• Joseph Vézina (Quebec Conductor/Composer, d. 1921)

  Le Fétiche (Operetta). Features the aria “J’ai pour

Sonatas

• Written for one instrument, though some are composed for two instruments.
• Usually divided into three or four sections (movements), with breaks between them.
• At least one of the movements is in sonata form, usually the first and sometimes the last.

Symphonies

• Played by a full orchestra.
• Features the same structure as sonatas.
• More often have four movements rather than three; they can also have more than four.
• Some symphonies include a choir as well as the orchestra.
• Notable composers: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Brahms, and Mahler.

Concertos

• Written for a solo instrument and an orchestra.
• The soloist has most of the tune and gets to really show off how brilliant they are.
• The orchestra has the tune some of the time too; their part is more

Key Musical Terms and Concepts

• Arias: Songs for a solo singer and orchestra.
• Recitative: Sung conversation between characters to advance the story.
• Opera seria: Serious opera with heroic themes from history and mythology.
• Opera buffa: Comic opera with contemporary, down-to-earth stories.
• Verismo: Italian opera style with realistic portrayals of everyday life.
• Libretto: The text of an opera or musical, including dialogue and lyrics.
• Sonata: A work in several movements for one or more instruments.

Notable Composers and Their Works

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

The Erlking (Lied for piano and voice, 1815): A father and son ride a horse; the son, ill, imagines scary things and dies. The Erlking is the ghost calling to the son.

Hector Berlioz (1811-1869)

Symphonie

BALLET:

-Court ballet (17th): became popular in the seventeenth century in the court of France's King Louis XIV.

-Simple choreographies because dancers were in general nobles who were dressed with court costumes.

-Played the music were baroque orchestras, famous person J.B. Lully.

-Romantic ballet (19th): type of dance as classical because of its high quality or standard.

-Innovative and complex choreographies performed by professional dancers. These ballets were story ballets.

-The scores were sophisticated and performed by large symphony orchestras.

-Russian composer P.I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893).

-Modern and contemporary ballet (20th): More complex, innovative and abstract choreographies with a wider variety of movements.

-Costumes are varied and... Continue reading "Evolution of Ballet, Instrumental Forms, and Rock Music" »