The Renaissance
the Baroque era 1600 - 1750
ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS of BAROQUE MUSIC
(adapted from the enjoyment of Music by Kristine Forney and Joseph Machilis)
MELODY: Lyrical, continuous melody with wide leaps, chromatic tones for emotional effect.
RHYTHM: Singular rhythm predominant; steady, energetic pulse, freer in vocal music than instrumental
HARMONY: Chromatic harmony for expressive effect; major-minor system established with brief excursions to other keys.
TEXTURE: Polyphonic (contrapuntal) texture
INSTRUMENTAL GENRES: Sonata, Concerto GRosso, Solo Concerto, Suite, Prelude and Fugue
VOCAL GENRES: Opera, Mass, oratorio, cantata
FORM: Binary and Ternary forms predominant
DYNAMICS: Subtle dynamic nuances; forte/piano contrasts
TYPICAL ORCHESTRA: Mainly centered around the String Orchestra with added woodwinds and horns - organ and harpsichord in use.
(adapted from the enjoyment of Music by Kristine Forney and Joseph Machilis)
MELODY: Lyrical, continuous melody with wide leaps, chromatic tones for emotional effect.
RHYTHM: Singular rhythm predominant; steady, energetic pulse, freer in vocal music than instrumental
HARMONY: Chromatic harmony for expressive effect; major-minor system established with brief excursions to other keys.
TEXTURE: Polyphonic (contrapuntal) texture
INSTRUMENTAL GENRES: Sonata, Concerto GRosso, Solo Concerto, Suite, Prelude and Fugue
VOCAL GENRES: Opera, Mass, oratorio, cantata
FORM: Binary and Ternary forms predominant
DYNAMICS: Subtle dynamic nuances; forte/piano contrasts
TYPICAL ORCHESTRA: Mainly centered around the String Orchestra with added woodwinds and horns - organ and harpsichord in use.
A typical Baroque era orchestra
SOME important composers of the baroque era
Additional Resources: http://www.classicfm.com/discover/periods/baroque/
The Classical era 1750 - 1825
ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS of CLASSICAL MUSIC
(adapted from the enjoyment of Music by Kristine Forney and Joseph Machilis)
MELODY: Symmetrical melody in balanced phrases and cadences; tuneful, diatonic, with narrow leaps
RHYTHM: Dance rhythms favored; regular recurring patterns and accents
HARMONY: Diatonic harmony favored (more simplistic than baroque in some ways); tonic-dominant relationship important
TEXTURE: HOMOPHONIC texture predominant!!!
INSTRUMENTAL GENRES: Symphony, solo concerto, Solo Sonata, String Quartet, Other chamber music genres
VOCAL GENRES: Opera, Mass, Oratorio
FORM: Larger forms such as Sonata-allegro form developed
DYNAMICS: Continuously changing dynamics through crescendo and decrescendo
TYPICAL ORCHESTRA: Orchestra standardized into 4 families: String, Wind, Brass and Percussion - INTRODUCTION OF THE FOLLOWING INSTRUMENTS: Clarinet, Piano, Trombone
(adapted from the enjoyment of Music by Kristine Forney and Joseph Machilis)
MELODY: Symmetrical melody in balanced phrases and cadences; tuneful, diatonic, with narrow leaps
RHYTHM: Dance rhythms favored; regular recurring patterns and accents
HARMONY: Diatonic harmony favored (more simplistic than baroque in some ways); tonic-dominant relationship important
TEXTURE: HOMOPHONIC texture predominant!!!
INSTRUMENTAL GENRES: Symphony, solo concerto, Solo Sonata, String Quartet, Other chamber music genres
VOCAL GENRES: Opera, Mass, Oratorio
FORM: Larger forms such as Sonata-allegro form developed
DYNAMICS: Continuously changing dynamics through crescendo and decrescendo
TYPICAL ORCHESTRA: Orchestra standardized into 4 families: String, Wind, Brass and Percussion - INTRODUCTION OF THE FOLLOWING INSTRUMENTS: Clarinet, Piano, Trombone
a typical classical era orchestra
SOME IMPORTANT COMPOSERS OF THE classical ERA
the Romantic era 1820 - 1900
ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS of ROMANTIC ERA MUSIC
(adapted from the enjoyment of Music by Kristine Forney and Joseph Machilis)
MELODY: Expansive, singing melodies (dramatic melodies), ; wide ranging melodies, many chromatic inflections
RHYTHM: Rhythmically diverse, lots of rubato (stretched tempo)
HARMONY: Increased chromaticism and expanded concepts of tonality (less strict than classical or baroque)
TEXTURE: Homophonic in the beginning and increasingly complex and polyphonic in the later years of the era
INSTRUMENTAL GENRES: Symphonic poem; Program music, Symphony; Concerto, Ballet and Miniatures
VOCAL GENRES: Same as Classical but with the addition of works for solo voice and piano
FORM: Expansion on existing forms from the classical era (Symphony, Sonata etc...) - more focus on programme music
DYNAMICS: Widely ranging dynamics for expressive purposes - more performance directions in the score than in the classical era
TYPICAL ORCHESTRA/INSTRUMENTATION: - Much larger orchestras were used in this era. EXPANDED PERCUSSION AND BRASS SECTIONS - The piano was often included as a solo instrument in concertos etc..
INTRODUCTION OF THE FOLLOWING INSTRUMENTS TO THE STANDARD ORCHESTRA: Tuba, English Horn (Cor Angleis), Harp, piccolo.
(adapted from the enjoyment of Music by Kristine Forney and Joseph Machilis)
MELODY: Expansive, singing melodies (dramatic melodies), ; wide ranging melodies, many chromatic inflections
RHYTHM: Rhythmically diverse, lots of rubato (stretched tempo)
HARMONY: Increased chromaticism and expanded concepts of tonality (less strict than classical or baroque)
TEXTURE: Homophonic in the beginning and increasingly complex and polyphonic in the later years of the era
INSTRUMENTAL GENRES: Symphonic poem; Program music, Symphony; Concerto, Ballet and Miniatures
VOCAL GENRES: Same as Classical but with the addition of works for solo voice and piano
FORM: Expansion on existing forms from the classical era (Symphony, Sonata etc...) - more focus on programme music
DYNAMICS: Widely ranging dynamics for expressive purposes - more performance directions in the score than in the classical era
TYPICAL ORCHESTRA/INSTRUMENTATION: - Much larger orchestras were used in this era. EXPANDED PERCUSSION AND BRASS SECTIONS - The piano was often included as a solo instrument in concertos etc..
INTRODUCTION OF THE FOLLOWING INSTRUMENTS TO THE STANDARD ORCHESTRA: Tuba, English Horn (Cor Angleis), Harp, piccolo.
A TYPICAL romantic ERA ORCHESTRA
IMPORTANT NOTE: schubet and beethoven were part of both the classical and romantic eras!!!!!!!
SOME IMPORTANT COMPOSERS OF THE ROMANTIC ERA
LATE ROMANTIC era
Twentieth century music
impressionism, serialism, neo classical and jazz
IMPRESSIONISM
ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS IMPRESSIONIST ERA MUSIC
(adapted from the enjoyment of Music by KristinSe Forney and Joseph Machilis)
MELODY: Built on stranger/dreamier scales like the chromatic, whole-tone and other non-western-sounding scales
RHYTHM: Floating rhythm; sometimes obscured pulse - less of a sense of metre (in many but not all pieces)
HARMONY: Less obvious (weaker) tonal center - free treatment of dissonance
TEXTURE: Generally Homophonic - chords often moving in parallel motion
DYNAMICS: Widely ranging dynamics for expressive purposes - lots of blending of timbre (colours) - shimmering colours
(adapted from the enjoyment of Music by KristinSe Forney and Joseph Machilis)
MELODY: Built on stranger/dreamier scales like the chromatic, whole-tone and other non-western-sounding scales
RHYTHM: Floating rhythm; sometimes obscured pulse - less of a sense of metre (in many but not all pieces)
HARMONY: Less obvious (weaker) tonal center - free treatment of dissonance
TEXTURE: Generally Homophonic - chords often moving in parallel motion
DYNAMICS: Widely ranging dynamics for expressive purposes - lots of blending of timbre (colours) - shimmering colours
SOME IMPORTANT IMPORESSIONIST COMPOSERS
serialism
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ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS SERIALIST MUSIC
Composers of this era wanted to break down the conventions of traditional TONAL harmony and traditional approaches to rhythm. Early composers of the style used devices like the 12 TONE row (scale) - ordering the 12 notes of the chromatic scale to create unusual melodies and musical ideas or motifs
MELODY: angular, dissonant , atonal (no key centre or tonic), wide ranging
HARMONY: Dissonant, atonal, polyharmony (multiple chords at once)
TEXTURE: Differs from composer to composer - often complex and polyphonic
Composers of this era wanted to break down the conventions of traditional TONAL harmony and traditional approaches to rhythm. Early composers of the style used devices like the 12 TONE row (scale) - ordering the 12 notes of the chromatic scale to create unusual melodies and musical ideas or motifs
MELODY: angular, dissonant , atonal (no key centre or tonic), wide ranging
HARMONY: Dissonant, atonal, polyharmony (multiple chords at once)
TEXTURE: Differs from composer to composer - often complex and polyphonic
SOME IMPORTANT SERIALIST COMPOSERS
NEO CLASSICAL
THESE composers sought to return to aesthetic ideas associated with the broadly defined concept of "classicism", namely order, balance, clarity, economy, and emotional restraint. As such, neoclassicism was a reaction against the unrestrained emotionalism and perceived formlessness of late Romanticism, as well as a "call to order" after the experimental ferment of the first two decades of the twentieth century.
COMPOSERS often used techniques and ideas from impressionist, serialist and late romantic composers BUT looked back to the classical and early romantic era (and earlier) for ideas about FORM and MELODY...
COMPOSERS often used techniques and ideas from impressionist, serialist and late romantic composers BUT looked back to the classical and early romantic era (and earlier) for ideas about FORM and MELODY...
SOME IMPORTANT NEO CLAssical COMPOSERS
jazz and beyond
ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS of JAZZ and 20th CENTURY MUSIC in general
(adapted from the enjoyment of Music by Kristine Forney and Joseph Machilis)
MELODY: tuneful melodies, sometimes built on non western scales - IN JAZZ often improvised upon
RHYTHM: VARIED - lots of polyrhythms, irregular meters and syncopation - IN JAZZ often improvised upon
HARMONY: Dissonance and chromaticism explored within tonality - IN JAZZ often improvised upon
TEXTURE: Many different (if not all textures) used - sometimes within the same piece ...
VOCAL GENRES: The emergence of the Broadway style musical
FORM: IN JAZZ often improvised form - negotiated on the spot...
DYNAMICS: Widely ranging dynamics for expressive purposes - more performance directions in the score than in the classical era
TYPICAL ORCHESTRA/INSTRUMENTATION: the emergence of brass and wind heavy swing bands...
(adapted from the enjoyment of Music by Kristine Forney and Joseph Machilis)
MELODY: tuneful melodies, sometimes built on non western scales - IN JAZZ often improvised upon
RHYTHM: VARIED - lots of polyrhythms, irregular meters and syncopation - IN JAZZ often improvised upon
HARMONY: Dissonance and chromaticism explored within tonality - IN JAZZ often improvised upon
TEXTURE: Many different (if not all textures) used - sometimes within the same piece ...
VOCAL GENRES: The emergence of the Broadway style musical
FORM: IN JAZZ often improvised form - negotiated on the spot...
DYNAMICS: Widely ranging dynamics for expressive purposes - more performance directions in the score than in the classical era
TYPICAL ORCHESTRA/INSTRUMENTATION: the emergence of brass and wind heavy swing bands...