A History of Western Music: From Ancient Greece to Romanticism

Ancient Greece

Music, Poetry, Dance

MII (Musical Instruments): lyre & aulos

Middle Ages

Religious Music

• Gregorian Chant: Developed by Pope Gregory, destined for the liturgy.

Secular Music

• Troubadours (11th Century, France):
• Cantigas (Alfonso X, "Estrela do dia", Spain):

Renaissance

Protestant Reformation

• Chorale (1510): Simple composition based on popular melodies.

English Reformation

• Anthem (1534): Similar to the motet.

Counter Reformation

• Motet: Religious polyphony, brief, "not to please the ear but to link their souls to God".
• Mass: Compound musical form (all the pieces of the liturgy).

MIC (Main Important Composers)

• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
• Orlando di Lasso
• Cristóbal de Morales
• Tomás Luis de Victoria

Secular Music

• Italy: Madrigal: Compound polyphonic texture, tries to reflect the meaning of the text. MIC: Orlando di Lasso & Claudio Monteverdi
• France: Chanson: Polyphonic texture with instrumental accompaniment. MIC: Josquin des Prez & Clement Janequin
• Spain: Romance, Villancico, Ensalada: MIC: Juan del Enzina, Francisco de Peñalosa, & Juan Vázquez

Baroque

Secular Music

• Opera: Appeared in the 1st great opera, "L'Orfeo" by Claudio Monteverdi (1600). Types:
  • Opera Seria: Mythological and heroic topics written in Italian. MIC: Handel & Alessandro Scarlatti
  • Opera Buffa: Daily life with characters closer to the audience.

Religious Music

• Cantata: Compound form written for orchestra, choir, and soloists, formed by a sequence of recitatives and arias. MIC: Bach
• Oratorio: Same as the cantata but longer. MIC: Handel
• Passion: Oratorio about the death of Christ. MIC: Bach

Instrumental Music

• Sonata: Compound form divided into four sections with different textures and rhythms.
• Concerto: Compound form made up of a sequence of contrasting movements.

Classicism

• Opera: Destined to a new bourgeois audience, opera buffa became more important.
• Symphony: Compound instrumental form intended for a whole orchestra.
• Trio, Quartet, Quintet...: Chamber ensembles.

Romanticism

• Concerto: Schumann & Tchaikovsky
• Symphony: Schubert, program music (form based on the description of a plot). Types:
  • Program Symphony: Compound instrumental form divided into several movements.
  • Symphonic Poem: Orchestral composition in just one movement.