Intro to Music History

1. Intro to Music History

2. 6 Periods of Music History • (Ancient) • Medieval • Renaissance • Baroque • Classical • Romantic • Modern

3. Ancient Period • This term refers to the music of the Ancient civilizations (Greece, Rome, Babylon, Mesopotamia, et cetera. • Very little is known about the music of these civilizations, but it is certain that music played a part in their lives. • How can historians know anything about music from these cultures?

4. Medieval Period • 800 – 1300 C.E. • Music was very simple. • Gregorian Chant • Monophony vs. Polyphony • Beginnings of Notation – all handwritten

5. Medieval Notation

6. Renaissance • Renaissance Period – 1300-1600 C.E. • All music can be broken down into two main divisions Sacred and Secular • Sacred – having to do with religion • Secular – having nothing to do with religion

7. Renaissance • Famous Composers: William Byrd, Giovanni di Palestrina, Claudio Monteverdi, Josquin Desprez.

8. Baroque • Baroque Period -1600-1700 C.E. • Music Theory had advanced a lot since ancient times • Major Composers – J.S. Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, and G.F. Handel

9. Bach’s own Handwriting

10. Baroque Notation Printing While the notation style is still not the same as today’s, the printing press made music much more readable than ever before.

11. Classical • Classical Period – 1700-1800 C.E. • Music Theory and instruments were mostly formed by now to our modern standards. • Major Composers – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn

12. Romantic • Romantic Period – 1800-1900 C.E. • Musicians making a living on their own now. • Major Composers – Ludwig von Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Peter Tchaikovsky, Johannes Brahms

13. Modern • Modern Period – 1900 C.E.– Present • Classical music led to the development of popular music. Jazz, Blues, Rock, Hip-Hop • In the 1900’s popular music became the dominant style of music.

14. Modern Classical Music • Classical music still exists in today’s music world • It is not as popular with younger generations as pop music is. • Modern classical is very different than the music it came from. • Three different ways that classical music still exists. Pop classical, Retrospective classical, and new classical.

15. Modern Classical • Classical Music in the 20th century has many different styles. • Neo-classicism, atonality, serial music, electronic music, et cetera. • Important Composers: Copland, Stravinsky, Schönberg.