European Music

1. European Music • Renaissance to the Present • By Cameron Moser

2. Areas of Renaissance Music • Sacred Music: working with older styles such as motet or Mass; within this style is the most clear expression of international style. (The most common area of Renaissance Music) • Secular Music: individual composers developed their own specific nationalistic trends. Ex: Italian Madrigal and French Chanson. • Instrumental Music: Spurred by the invention of the printing press, more unique because of the ability for amateurs to develop their own styles.

3. Renaissance Characteristics • Use of choir quartets or four similar sounding musical instruments • Imitative or homorhythmic textures within a single piece • Gentle rhythms • Balanced phrased melodies • The use of full triads within harmonies • Influenced almost completely by the church; most pieces were of the sacred style • Renaissance music was only appreciated by the masses in a church setting giving it a heavily religious feel

4. Notable Renaissance Composers • Guillaume Du Fay- wrote both sacred and secular styles, he was influenced heavily by the church and is most famous for his cantus firmus Masses in which he balanced harmony and melody as well as continuing to use the medieval techniques of structure and isorhythm. • Giovanni Pierluigi Da Palestrina- Influenced by the counterreformation, his piece Pope Marcellus Mass was said to have saved polyphonic (many sounded) sacred music through the Council of Trent. • Claudio Monteverdi- work is the combining of the Renaissance and Baroque. Wrote in a style called seconda prattica, which he used to differentiate himself from Palestrina. Wrote madrigals( ) and was one of the first to create operas. Play Monteverdi: “Orpheus”-->

5. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Claudio Monteverdi http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.soundstreams.ca/images/photos/Claudio_Monteverdi_2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.soundstreams.ca/our_events/detail.php%3Fid%3D42&usg=__yBoWKFVhEcNQsbrdUdMvpgpf3Nw=&h=991&w=1000&sz=601&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=BfQmOoqmKwGDaM:&tbnh=140&tbnw=142&ei=XbmMTbG3CZK3twep3MSiDQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMonteverdi%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26biw%3D1906%26bih%3D883%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=259&vpy=81&dur=100&hovh=223&hovw=226&tx=113&ty=131&oei=XbmMTbG3CZK3twep3MSiDQ&page=1&ndsp=50&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0 Guillaume Du Fay http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Piv6rwhClgE/SwqwFhkhO6I/AAAAAAAABzk/deLMoERkoy8/s1600/Giovanni+Pierluigi+da+Palestrina.jpg http://external.ak.fbcdn.net/safe_image.php?d=34c56fa0c5fc5ccbf8ba1ae8c01b7456&w=130&h=130&url=http%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FxpS4XYkTpp8%2F0.jpg

6. Baroque Musical Characteristics • Musicians believed that they could move their listeners in a physical way • Opera was adopted as a common for of entertainment (blend of music and drama) • Continuing tradition of religious music as well as the new forms of entertainment for the wealthy. • Composers became aware of music from different locations in Europe and they named their music according to the style. • Concerto and sonata developed

7. Influential Baroque Composers • Antonio Vivaldi- incorporated solos within melodies to add a new style to music. He is known especially for his concertos. Vivaldi used images and drama to give his listeners a visual of the emotion within his music. He helped move Baroque music into classical music. • George Handel- at first he began to write operas, his works were soon unappealing due to the declining interest in the Italian Style. Handel soon became popular through his oratorio that were mostly religious based, most notably his Messiah and the Hallelujah Chorus. • Johann Sebastian Bach- initially became famous because of his Brandenburg Concertos, whose patronage was won by German royalties. His music was greatly influenced by the church as Bach was a highly religious man, his music would be almost completely be considered sacred music.

8. Johann Sebastian Bach George Handel Antonio Vivaldi http://sduptownnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/George.Frideric.Handel.jpg http://www.npj.com/homepage/teritowe/jsb1712.jpg http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/0304_vivaldi_verticle/7505724-1-eng-US/0304_Vivaldi_Verticle_full_600.jpg

9. Baroque Characteristics Continued • The violin was unanimously recognized as the most important instrument • New innovations in musical instruments such as the wind instruments • Instruments were given equal status to voices in vocal music • Performers gave their own twist on the music based on their given instrument. • Primarily contained a melody and an accompaniment • Mixed voices and instruments unlike in Renaissance Music • Used repetition and simple binary and ternary forms as the musical structure

10. Classical Music Characteristics • Music grew with the new found appreciation for nature, making music more incorporated with natural themes. • Replaced the unnatural and artificial ideals of the baroque with natural simplicity and balance. • Increased influence of playing upon “real” emotions. • Used a more simplified approach to music by using simple melodies, simple two or three part forms became very common, and simple combinations of instruments. • The piano made a great difference in music with its ability to change musical dynamics and structure, it became the most widely used solo instrument.

11. Composers of theClassical Period • John Gay- He developed the “parody” within the genre of opera, his Beggar’s Opera was more popular at the time than much of Bach’s work. He focused on the themes of London morals in the 18th century. • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart- wrote his first opera at the age of twelve. His work is revered as the best of its time in every genre he chose to work in. Like most of the music of this time it was secular. • Ludwig van Beethoven- known as the transitional composer between the classical and romantic periods. He wrote some of the most popular music of all time while he was almost completely deaf. • Franz Joseph Haydn- gave the view of “artist” to musicians. He was very influential in the development of symphonies and string quartet. Both Mozart and Beethoven built upon the basic styles that Haydn developed. Known as “Papa” Haydn because of this.

12. Ludwig Van Beethoven http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Hoz4PLfpyhU/TUG31-pJYLI/AAAAAAAACvs/iR_brB01fHg/s1600/mozart_1.jpg Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_waWEiTfa5UQ/S8UbTeQOOFI/AAAAAAAAAF8/YxS_TDGjKaE/s1600/joseph_haydn.jpg Joseph Haydn http://www.johnnygoodtimes.com/Beethoven2.jpg

13. Characteristics of Romantic Music • Music exemplified supernatural texts. • Music began to have more of a meaning; it now told stories and gave meaning to people, things, drama, situations, emotions, and ideas. • Composers competed for a nationalistic identity. • Some began to show folk culture in their works while others expressed patriotic ideals within their work. • Began to tell stories of mystical lands in their work.

14. Romantic Musicians Changing Status • Musicians began to become popular among the common folk as well as the royalty, so they did not have to only rely upon the wealthy for their source of income. • Music was seen as a calling or a way of expressing oneself to people rather than as a job. • People began to go to school to study music composition. • Women began to gain a musical identity since they were gaining more social freedoms during this time period as well.

15. Influential Composers of the Romantic Period • Franz Schubert- put out over 600 works before he died at the age of 31. Wrote both folk songs, dramas, and chamber music. Schubert used harmonious combinations of lyrical voices and instruments that were different from much of the other music during this time period. • Felix Mendelssohn- wrote both secular and sacred music that was influenced by his great love of literature, conducted music throughout Europe, and conducted mostly music written by previous composers. Studied “The Greats” (Bach, Handel, and Mozart) so most of his work is similar to theirs. • Frederic Chopin- brought the emphasis on the piano to a new level. Most of his work involved piano solos or even duets. He used tempo as a way to make his own musical identity. • Johannes Brahms- known best for his symphonies. His music is known as the “Rock” of classicism because it inspired many other new styles of music. He did not write secularly or religiously, he wrote about certain subjects and words that influenced his life, the music is meant to instill an emotion that goes along with that word.

16. Frederic Chopin Johannes Brahms http://www.foreverswedish.org/chopin6.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__Y3Qopwak5A/SYWXyS1I4y I/AAAAAAAAArE/1tj0sQklf8Y/s400/Franz_Schubert1.jpg Felix Mendelssohn http://brahms.unh.edu/images/Brahmshomepic.jpg http://www.nndb.com/people/266/000092987/felix-mendelssohn-3.jpg

17. 20th Century Music • So many different forms of music have developed that it is hard to keep track of them all. This is created a huge disparity between the artistic music of old and music that is listened to daily “popular music”. • “Popular” music is more widely listened to than “art” music because more people can relate to “popular” music. • Recordings have really changed the music composition because people can listen to previous works without having someone who can actually play a specific song. • Music has become a way of expressing feelings as conveyed by the artists.

18. “Art” Composers of the 20th Century • Igor Stravinsky- his ballets portrayed both common life and royal life. His work seemed to evolve and expand into a variation of styles as he aged. His works also changed based on the location that he was living in at the time, but the clarity of the sounds as well as fine tuned manipulation of the orchestra seemed to remain constant. • Arnold Schoenberg- came up with radical new ideas like the “Method of Composing with Twelve Tones Related Only to Each Other”. He also broke the chain of tonal organization to develop a new modern form of music. Like the expressionist painters there was an expressionistic form of music that was admired and practiced by Schoenberg. It is similar in expressing an atmosphere where one can make out the picture but it simply looks (or sounds ) like a “glance”. • Anton Webern- studied with Schoenberg for a time, while he was with him he took up his concepts of atonalism (without a tone) and the “Method of Composing with Twelve Tones Related Only to Each Other”. Webern expanded upon these concepts with complex use of rich textures.

19. Anton Weber Arnold Schoenberg Igor Stravinsky http://www.brightcecilia.net/gallery2/d/134-2/Anton+Webern.jpg http://www.everynote.com/goods.comp/Schonberg.jpg http://ronpenndorf.com/images/astrp.gif

20. “Popular” Artists of the 20th Century • The Beatles- known internationally as one of the best pop music group of all time. Their members include Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. When the Beatles came to the United States they were immediately regarded as a huge hit despite some calling it a “British Invasion”. • The Rolling Stones- by the 1960’s the British bands of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were numbers one and two on the charts and they would remain there for a good time to come. The Rolling Stones success came from the fact that they were willing to experiment with new ideas. • Led Zeppelin- composed of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant John Paul Jones, and John Bonham. They also came from England and laid down the basis for hard rock. They are most famous for their song “Stairway to Heaven” in all of its controversy.

21. Bibliography • Blood, Dr. Brian. "Music History Online." Music of the 20th Century 26 Jan 2011: n. pag. Web. 25 Mar 2011. <http://www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory40.htm>. • Jordman, F. "A History of European Music, Part 1." (2009): n. pag. Web. 25 Mar 2011. <http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/3992>. • Kagan, Donald. Western Heritage. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print. • Sherrane , Robert. "Music History 102." Special COllections. IPl2, n.d. Web. 25 Mar 2011. <http://www.ipl.org/div/mushist/>. • Swafford, Jan (1992). The Vintage Guide to Classical Music. Vintage Books.