PERIODS OF MUSIC

Advanced Higher Understanding Music

OutcomesAll of the different styles of music we listen to today have evolved over a

long period of time. Musical styles have not always been so diverse, in fact before c.1450 music was pretty simplistic.

In order to understand modern music we must first understand its origins, history and development through the ages.

In this unit you will learn about the development of music through the following periods of time:

Medieval & Renaissance (1450 – 1600)Baroque (1600-1750)Classical (1750-1830)Romantic (1830-1900)20th Century (1900 – Present Day)

Through discussion and completing listening tasks, you will develop your understanding of musical concepts from these periods of history.

Music HistoryThroughout history there have been many eras, such as the

Renaissance, Classical and Gothic ages. These eras describe the style and characteristics of that period in time, particularly in the areas of science, art, architecture, literature and music.

The history of music is divided into six main periods of history:

MedievalRenaissanceBaroqueClassicalRomantic20th Century

The 20th Century 1900 – Present DayComposers in the 20th century experimented with different sounds,

instruments and techniques. New freedoms in harmony and rhythm enabled composers to put music together in unusual combinations.

Impressionism - a style of music popular in 1900 in France. The term borrowed from painters such as Monet, Manet and Renoir who suggested rather than stated what could be seen at a glance.

Debussy (1862 – 1918) applied these principles to music. He used clusters of notes (lots of notes which are close together) and the whole-tone scale (a scale where every interval is a whole tone apart) in his compositions. These techniques painted pictures in sound.

Listen and watch this short film on Debussy’s life. The music playing is Clair De Lune, one of Debussy’s most famous piano pieces

Debussy Clair de Lune

• Neo-classical, meaning ‘new classicism’ emerged from about 1929 onwards. Composers were reacting against Romanticism and what they saw as an overly expressive style, with huge instrumental forces and too much freedom of form.

• They wanted to return to the structures and styles of earlier periods, but combined with the dissonant, tonal and even atonal harmonies that were emerging in the new century. Composers started to write for smaller orchestras.

• Two composers of this style were Stravinsky and Prokofiev.Stravinsky - Pulcinella Suite

Atonal music is music which has no specific key. Expressionist music in atonal style is characterised by extremely dissonant harmonies; frenzied, disjointed melodies including wild leaps; and violent explosive contrasts with instruments playing harshly at the extremes of their ranges. Sprechgesang (a vocal sound mid-way between speech and song) is a concept which can be heard often in expressionist music.

Listen to the following Pierrot Luniare by Schoenberg and, in your own words, describe what you hear.

Schoenberg - Pierrot Lunaire

• Serialism is a technique whereby a composition is made from a specified set of notes, such as the 12 notes of the chromatic scale, known as a tone row or note row. The order or series of the notes is important, although the series may be transposed, turned upside down (inversion), backwards (retrograde) etc. the order remains the same.

• The tone row forms the material basis for an entire work or movement.

• Much of this style of music features atonality, but may also be bitonal or polytonal, meaning that there may be two or more keys being played or sung at the same time e.g. the melody might be in C maj while the accompaniment is in E maj.

2 of the most well known composers of this style of music are Schoenberg (1874 – 1951) and Berg (1885 – 1935).

Listen to Pierrot Luniere by Schoenberg again, this time focusing on the piano and violin accompaniment.

Schoenberg - Pierrot Lunaire

Minimalist music is based on simple rhythmic and melodic figures which are constantly repeated, like ostinati, with very slight changes each time.

Steve Reich - Six Marimbas Steve Reich - Electric Counterpoint III

Listen to Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards by Steve Reich.

Variations for Winds, Strings & Keyboards

Glass - Glassworks

• Musique Concrète – music composed in a ‘concrete’ way directly onto magnetic tape or technology, rather than in an abstract way by writing notes down on paper. The sounds recorded were natural sounds such as a door slamming, a cork popping from a bottle, or a clock ticking. These sounds were then blended, superimposed and modified in pitch and speed. Pierre Schaeffer was the first composer to experiment with musique concrète.

You will now watch and listen to an example of musique concrète.

What is Musique Concrete?

Pierre Schaeffer -- Études de bruits (1948)Harrison - Klang

Stockhausen - Kontakte

ConceptsCONCEPT DEFINITION

Impressionism Creates an impression of a picture with sound – uses the whole tone scale – Debussy is the most famous composer.

Whole-Tone Scale

Scale made up entirely of whole tones

Clusters Lots of notes which are played close together

Neo-classical Music composed in the structures and forms of earlier periods but combined with dissonant harmonies of the 20th century

Atonal Has no specific key

Serial Composition based around a tone row

Tone Row/ Note Row

An arrangement of the 12 notes of the chromatic scale which forms the basis of a composition

Inversion When a musical shape is mirrored (turned upside down)

Retrograde When a musical shape is turned backwards

ConceptsCONCEPT DEFINITION

Bitonality/ Polytonality

The use of two or more keys played or sung at the same time

Minimalism Constantly repeated patterns which change very slightly each time.

Musique Concrète

Recorded natural sounds which are transformed using simple editing techniques such as cutting and re-assembling, playing backwards, slowing down and speeding up

Form in MusicMusic is written in a pattern called FORM.

Binary Form A piece of music in Binary form divides itself into two sections A and B.

Ternary Form A piece of music in Ternary form divides itself into three sections A B A or A A B A.

(She’s the One, Robbie Williams)

Rondo Form A is the main theme (tune) which keeps coming round with contrasting sections. The plan is A B A C A etc.

Think of these three forms as types of sandwich with different fillings! Rondo form

Episode A passage of music linking two musical themes, such as in Rondo Form

Coda A passage at the end of a piece of music which rounds it off

Theme and Variations A theme (tune) is heard then repeated slightly differently.Composers may vary a theme by:

» Changing the rhythm» Changing the harmony» Changing the time signature» Changing the tempo» Changing the key from major to minor» Decorating the melody with ornaments

Listen to the examples of Theme & Variation from Haydn’s Symphony No 94 (Surprise) and notice how the theme is varied each time it is heard

Theme & Variations examples

ConceptsCONCEPT DEFINITION

Musical form Structure of music

Binary AB

Ternary ABA

Rondo ABACADA etc.

Episode A passage of music linking two musical themes, such as in Rondo Form

Coda A passage at the end of a piece of music which rounds it off

Theme & Variations

Theme is stated then altered in different ways