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

4.3. PAINTING AND SCULPTURE

• Painting and sculpture reflected humanism; landscapes, cities, human body and portraits were realistically represented.            New pictorial techniques: perspective and oil paints.

• NEW INTERESTS

• The new interests of society was reflected in the characteristics of style:

• Idealism and serenity: tried to reflect reality. Influenced by the ideas of a Greek philosopher Plato, aimed to portray an ideal beauty (no emotions). This idealism can be seen in works of Botticelli and Raphael Sanzio, Leonardo da Vinci. Michelangelo portrayed intense emotions in his works.

• The human body: Anatomy of the human body. The revived the nude as a subject, an example are the Venuses by Giorgione and Titian or the paintings in

ROMANTICISM

Kant (1790)

The judgment on beauty is always subjective. Beauty does not always follow some rules because it depends on the eyes of the one who looks.

What is Romanticism?

It is a new way of understanding beauty, art, and the artist's role.

• The neoclassical principles of beauty are questioned. A new attitude in relation to art and life.
• The artist expresses his "inner self". The myth of the romantic artist is created.

Key Figures of the Era

• Rousseau: Human decided to live together and make a social contract.
• Diderot: He creates a book with all the knowledge of the world, the name was the Encyclopedia.

Key Concepts of Romanticism

• Freedom
• Originality
• Individualism
• Subjectivity
• Vocation
• Emotion

These values are associated with the revolutionary bourgeoisie... Continue reading "Romanticism and the Rise of the Rhine Valley as a Tourist Destination" »

The Renaissance Period: A Transformation

The modern period, spanning from the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 to the French Revolution in 1789, witnessed significant global changes. Continents were no longer isolated, with trading routes and colonies established worldwide. Scientific advancements and economic growth led to major social transformations.

Religious and Social Shifts

Internal divisions within the Church split Europe into Protestants and Catholics, leading to increased religious intolerance and wars. The end of the Middle Ages saw the rise of the bourgeoisie, a new social class that, along with the nobility and the Church, became patrons of the arts and sciences. Composers and performers gained recognition as true artists for... Continue reading "Renaissance Era: Cultural Shifts, Music, and Social Transformation" »

Artistic style that developed in Europe and Latin America during the 17th century and part of the 18th century. Represented the magnificence of the Absolute Monarchs and the Catholic Church as well as the power of the wealthy bourgeoisie.

Grandiosity, dynamism, and drama, equilibrium, symmetry, and rationalism.

Emphasis on motion and complexity. Curved, concave, and convex shapes. Shapes were created through light and color. Realism to heighten emotions and move or surprise the viewer. Theatrical backdrops. Churches were extravagantly decorated and represented the gateway to heaven. The decoration stimulates faith and piety.

Architecture

The desire to incorporate a sense of movement. Churches and palaces. Curved cornices and split/broken pediments.... Continue reading "Baroque Art: Magnificence, Power, and Drama in Europe and Latin America" »

Joseph Maurice Ravel

• He was born in French Pays Basque and died in Paris.
• His mother was Basque.
• He played the piano.
• He attended the Paris Conservatory.
• Ravel was amazed by Asian music that he listened to during the Universal Exposition in 1889.
• Ravel's most well-known piece is the Bolero.

Ludwig van Beethoven

• He was born in Bonn, Germany.
• Beethoven played the piano.
• Ludwig lost three of his siblings and his mother.
• Beethoven suffered from deafness.
• He studied with Haydn and Salieri.
• Beethoven's most well-known piece is the Ninth Symphony.

Frédéric Chopin

• Frederick Chopin was a Polish composer.
• He fled Poland and went to Paris, where he died.
• He was a virtuosic piano player.
• He died at 39.
• Chopin's heart was taken from his corpse and sent back to his home

Literary Terms and Concepts

Poetry

TB page 256

• Meter: Systematic arrangement of stressed/unstressed syllables.
• Foot: One stressed and one or more unstressed syllables.

TB page 407

• Exact Rhyme: Two or more words with identical sounds.
• Slant Rhyme: Two or more words with similar sounds.
• Paradox: A statement that seems contradictory but actually presents the truth.

Literary Devices

TB page 270

• Parable: A story that teaches a moral lesson.
• Ambiguity: Uncertain meaning in a story created by using a symbol with different interpretations.

TB page 364

• Figures of Speech: Language used imaginatively, but not literally.
• Synecdoche: The use of a part of something to stand for the whole.

Literary Movements and Schools

Gothic Literature (TB page 291)

Five Elements of Gothic... Continue reading "Literary Terms and Concepts Glossary" »

A History of Popular Music Genres

The Birth of Work Songs

A large part of the Black population worked on cotton plantations in the Mississippi Delta in the southern part of the United States. There, enslaved people would sing songs to make the long workdays more bearable. That is where work songs originated. The characteristics of these songs were a marked beat and a call-and-response pattern typical of African music.

The Rise of Jazz in New Orleans

Jazz music first appeared in New Orleans at the beginning of the 20th century and was inspired by European military marches and the polka. In this style, the main melody could be modified to the performer's liking. The main characteristics of jazz music are:

• Marked rhythm
• Frequent use of syncopation
• Instrumental

Melody Structure

• Motif: A small group of notes with musical meaning.
• Phrase: A melody with musical meaning, ending in a cadence.
• Cadence: The equivalent of pauses in language, used to separate different musical phrases.
• Theme: The core melody of a musical piece; the main idea around which the whole composition is built.

Harmony Fundamentals

• Interval: The distance between two notes of different pitch and intonation.

Melodies are represented horizontally on the staff, placing sounds sequentially from left to right.

Harmonies are represented vertically, placing sounds above others to indicate simultaneous production.

• Chords: The basic element of harmony. Chords are formed by stacking three or more simultaneous sounds, typically by overlapping third intervals