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

Renaissance Authors

Tomás Luis de Victoria, Juan de la Encina, Mateo Flecha, Antonio de Cabezón, and Luis Milán.

Gregorian Chant

It is the most important musical form of the Middle Ages. Gregory I unified the rite of the Mass based on the Roman Mass, adding some features of the other rites that existed. Evidently, not only did Saint Gregory intervene in this process, but also the Holy Spirit.

Advertising

Advertising incorporates language and musical resources of modern music to capture the younger sector of the population:

• Covers: The use of popular songs performed in new versions. The listener recognizes that the new song sounds familiar.
• Jingles: Songs written especially for the ad.
• Known Music: Classical music, carols, etc.

Madrigal

It is one of...

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....

African Music

Djembe

The djembe is a solid wooden drum with a goat skin stretched over the top. Played with the hands, it produces three distinct sounds. Originally, the djembe served as an effective communication device across the Malian Empire.

Calabash

The calabash is half of a hollowed pumpkin gourd played with the hands. Sometimes rings are placed around one or more fingers, or two small sticks are used.

Kora

The kora is a 21-string bridge harp attached to a calabash gourd with cowhide stretched over the front. This gives the instrument a slightly different sound than a European harp.

Bira Ceremony

The Bira ceremony involves singing, dancing, clapping, and the shaking of the hosho (rattle) made from smaller gourds. Master musicians playing the...

Revenge Tragedy

Revenge tragedy is a genre of English theatre written from the mid-1580s to the early 1640s. The main themes of these plays are ghosts, incest, rape, torture, perversion, murder, betrayal, madness, strong passions, bloody violence, etc. Some of the most influential writers of this time were John Ford, Thomas Middleton, Thomas Kyd, John Marston, John Webster, George Chapman and Cyril Tourneur. We can distinguish some plays such as Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy, which initiated the dramatic archetype, inventing the basic formula.

Notable Works

Another crowd-pleasers tragedy was Thomas Middleton’s ‘The Revenger’s Tragedy’ (1606). We can distinguish Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ even if others claim that it is not a true Revenge Tragedy....

MAJOR GENRES

1. Pop Music

What is Pop Music?

• A genre of popular music originating in the 1950s.
• Derived from Rock and Roll.
• Often borrows from other genres like dance, urban, and rock.

Structure of Pop Music: 32-Bar AABA

• Also known as 32-bar form, American Songbook, or ballad form.
• Common in jazz standards and still found in pop music (often modified).
• Each letter (AABA) represents 4x8 (or 8 bars).
• A: Main melody; the 2nd A can be identical, similar, or a response.
• B: Middle eight or bridge, usually contrasting with A. Example: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Voices in Pop

• In Harmony: Singing different notes that harmonize.
• In Unison: All singing the same notes.
• Descant: Singing a higher part in time with the main tune.
• Call and Response: Repeating the lead vocalist or

Elements of a Dramatic Text

• Acts constitute the most important division of a play, beginning with the rise and fall of the curtain.
• Some works' acts are divided into scenes, distinguished by a change of scenery.
• The scenes are part of an act, usually with no change of scene when a character enters or leaves.
• Dialogue between characters is the most important resource of a dramatic text.
• The monologue occurs when a single actor speaks.
• Characters, both major and minor, advance the dramatic action.
• Stage directions are indications that the author proposes (scenery, etc.).
• Asides are messages that go to the public, with actors pretending that the other characters do not hear them.

Elements of Staging

• The stage is where the actors are located.
• The

Renaissance Instruments: A Detailed Look

The instruments described are as follows:

Wind Instruments

• Bugler: A curved wind instrument made of wood, with a cup-shaped mouthpiece.
• Crumhorn: A rod-shaped instrument consisting of a capsule timber in which is inserted a double reed. It produces a soft and sharp sound.
• Sackbut: A metal instrument that produces a rounded and less bright sound than current trombones.
• Trumpet: A blowing tool with metal coils, whose sounds are produced by the position of the lips.

String Instruments

• Viola: A bowed instrument with six and seven strings, of great importance in the Renaissance. Their sound was soft and veiled. It was held in front of the body and not under the chin. It had three sizes: soprano, alto, and tenor.

Historical Context of the Baroque Period

The Baroque period (1600–1780) originated in Rome and is characterized by excessive decoration. It extended throughout Europe, influenced by the Reformation in Northern Europe and the Counter-Reformation in Southern and Eastern Europe, which provoked the appearance of different artistic manifestations.

Social and Political Factors

• Counter-Reformation: Influenced by the Council of Trent, absolute monarchies, and the landowning nobility. The primary client was the Church.
• Reformation: Influenced by Lutheran reform, parliamentary monarchies, and the commercial bourgeoisie. The primary clients were the bourgeoisie.

Three Types of Baroque

1. Baroque linked to the Counter-Reformation.
2. Baroque as an expression of absolute