RENAISSANCE MUSIC

❖ Sacred Music More important than secular

❖ Vocal music more important than instrumental music

❖ Monophonic (Chant)

❖ Polyphonic (organum)

❖ Sacred music a cappella

 MO NO PHO NIC MEDIEVAL
AND RENAIS S ANCE MUS IC

HILDEGARD VON BINGEN

MONOPHONIC with more than one voice

 LAT E RENAISSANCE:
EARLY POLYPHONY

LISTEN TO THIS EXAMPLE OF EARLY

POLYPHONIC MUSIC
❖ Imitative (four voices)
❖ Sacred (Latin) text
❖ A cappella
BAROQUE ERA
1600-1750
 B AROQU E M U S I C AL TR E ND S

❖ Instrumental music gained importance (vocal and instrumental

music became equally important)

❖ Secular (non-religious) music gained importance

THE BARO QUE O RCHES TRA
 HARPSICHORD

❖ The harpsichord was an extremely prominent instrument in the

Baroque period.

❖ The piano did not yet exist and so the harpsichord and the organ
were primary keyboard instruments.
 TEXTURE IN BARO QUE
MUS IC

HOMOPHONIC POLYPHONIC

❖ Early Baroque music ❖ Polyphonic music also widely

popularized the use of used in the Baroque Era in both
homophonic texture— vocal and instrumental music
accompanied song—as in early ❖ Remember, all parts have
opera equal importance, and is often
imitative
 HO MO PHONIC EXAMPLES

❖Opera example, Handel

❖Another opera example, Handel

POLYPHONIC EXAMPLES

❖From Handel’s Messiah

❖ A Fugue by Bach
 SOME BAROQUE GENRES

VOCAL INSTRUMENTAL
❖ Opera ❖ Concerto (Grosso, Solo)

❖ Recitative/Aria ❖ Sonata

❖ Oratorio ❖ Keyboard music: Fugue,

❖ Cantata-sung Toccata, Pasagalia

❖ Chorale-sacred, hymn church ❖ Dance Suites

 RECITATIVE AND ARIA
RECITATIVE ARIA

❖ Narrative part of a vocal ❖ The more emotional part of

work-tells the story the vocal work.
❖ Sung in a speech like manner ❖ More melodious/sung
❖ Sparse accompaniment ❖ Fully accompanied
 BAROQUE STYLE
❖ Small orchestra based in strings with some woodwind
❖ Use of harpsichord
❖ Figured Bass (BASSO CONTINUO)
❖ Ground Bass (Basso Ostinato)—Repeating bass line.
❖ Ornamented Melody
❖ Dotted rhythms
❖ Frequent use of Contrast (Loud/soft, contrasting timbre,
contrasting tempo, large group/small group, etc.)
❖ Terraced Dynamics - Sudden changes - Very Loud to Very
Quiet (no gradual change)
❖ Frequent use of sequences
❖ Tendency for long flowing phrases
 MO RE MUS ICAL EXAMPL ES

❖ Basso Ostinato( Ground Bass)

(has a repeating bass line)

❖ Basso Continuo

(figured bass)
 MO S T IMPO RTANT
BARO QUE CO MPO S ERS

❖J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

❖Vivaldi (1678-1741)

❖Handel (1685-1759)
O THER BARO QUE
CO MPO S ERS

❖Purcell (1659-1695)

❖Corelli (1653-1713)

❖Rameau (1683-1764)
 FORMS WIDELY USED

Ritornello Form (see page 37 in Investigating styles)

❖ Vivaldi Spring (movements I and III are examples

❖ Generally used in the fast movements only

Binary Form (AB)

❖ See Form and Design page 16: Minuet from Orchestral Suite

Theme and Variations

CLASSICAL ERA

1750-1810
 MOST IMPORTANT
COMPOSERS

❖Mozart (1756-1791)

❖Haydn (1732-1809)
 CLASSICAL STYLE
❖ Importance on SYMMETRY, BALANCE and FORM/STRUCTURE
(meant to be accessible for all levels of musicians)
❖ Lighter, clearer texture than Baroque. Increased homophony.
❖ Orchestra grows-based in strings with a stronger woodwind section.
❖ Increased importance in instrumental music.
❖ Piano replaces harpsichord
❖ Increased dynamics.
❖ Clear Cadences, even phrases
CLAS S ICAL INS TRUMENTAL
MUSIC—MAIN GENRES

❖Concerto—3 movements

❖Symphony—4 movements

❖String Quartet—4 movements

❖Sonata—3 movements
 S O NATA FO RM
( A LSO KNO W N A S ‘ F I R ST M OV E M E NT
FORM’)

Not to be confused with Sonata the genre.

Most important Form in the Classical Era

SECTIONS of a movement in Sonata Form:

❖ Exposition

❖ Development

❖ Recapitulation
 TERNARY FORM

❖ ABA

❖ Has two sections with a return to the first section

❖ B section is contrasting

❖ See Form and Design Page 19 Bagatelle

 MINUET AND T RIO FORM

❖ Third movement of a symphony or string quartet

❖ Overall Form is Ternary

❖ Triple meter

❖ Each section A/B has it’s own form within the section

❖ See Investigating styles page 52-53

❖ Listen to Example from Form and Design p. 39

 TERNARY VERS US BINARY

❖ Form and Design page 29:

BINARY form will generally end it’s first section with an imperfect
cadence OR a perfect cadence in the dominant key
TERNARY form will generally end it’s first section A in a perfect
cadence in the tonic key.
TERNARY FORM will have a recognizeable return to the A section
and end in a perfect cadence in the tonic key.
 RONDO FORM

❖ ABACA (DA etc.)

❖ A section returns many times separated by contrasting episodes

 THEME AND VARIATIO NS

❖ Mozarts variations on Twinkle Twinkle is a famous example

❖ Can be found as a second/slow movement or a third or fourth

movement.
 MUSICAL EXAMPLES

❖ Mozart

❖ Haydn
ROMANTIC ERA
1810-1910
 RO MANTIC S TYL E: BIGGER
HIGHER FAS TER L O UDER
❖ Intense emotion, passion.
❖ Larger orchestra, new invention of instruments and expansion of
brass, introduction of valves, saxophone
❖ Passionate lyrical melodies—tendency for long phrases.
❖ Increased dynamic ranges, Crescendo, decrescendo
❖ Greater contrast—higher/ lower, louder/softer, variety of timbre
❖ Frequent changes in mood
❖ Greater use of chromaticism/discord/dissonance
❖ More frequent use of virtuosity—highly skilled complicated passages
 S OME IMPO RTANT
CO MPO S ERS
❖ Beethoven (1770-1827)
❖ Schubert (1797-1828)
❖ Chopin (1810-1849)
❖ Schumann (1810-1856)
❖ Liszt (1811-1886)
❖ Brahms (1833-1897)
❖ Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
❖ Dvorak (1841-1904)
 S OME GENRES CO MPO S ED

❖ Lieder (song—German--Shubert)

❖ Solo piano pieces (waltz, mazurka, nocturne, polonaise--Chopin)

❖ Opera—large scale( Wagner)

❖ Opera (Verdi)

❖ Program music such as symphonic poems (Musorgsky, Dvorak)

❖ Symphonies (Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Brahms)

 O THER MUS ICAL
CHARACTERIS TICS

❖ Chromatic passages

❖ Increased dynamics

❖ Large orchestra

❖ More discord

❖ Virtuosity

❖ Recurring themes and motives

 MUSICAL EXAMPLES

❖ Lieder

❖ Program Music

❖ Chopin Etude

❖ List—Virtuosity

❖ WAGNER
 LIED

❖ German word for ‘song’ (lieder is plural)

❖ Piece generally for piano and voice (there are also piano-only
songs)

❖ Piano and voice carry equal importance and piano is descriptive of

the text.
 GRETCHEN AM S PINNRADE
My peace is gone, my heart is heavy.
I will find it never and never more.
Where I do not have him, that is the grave, the whole world is bitter to me.
My poor head is crazy to me, my poor mind is torn apart.
For him only, I look out the window, only for him do I go out of the house.
His tall walk, his noble figure, his mouth’s smile, his eye’s power.
And his mouth’s magic flow, his handclasp, and ah! His Kiss!
My peace is gone, my heart is heavy. I will find it never and never more.
My bosom urges itself toward him.
Ah, might I grasp and hold him!
And kiss him as I would wish, at his kisses I should die!
 SYMPHONY
❖ Expanded the classical form and changed some aspects

❖ Themes longer and more lyrical

❖ Form not as ‘neat and tidy’ as Classical ‘Sonata’ form

❖ Majority of first movements in minor keys and minor and relative

major often treated as the same key. Key may not be established
firmly until the coda.

❖ Later in Romantic period chromaticism became more common,

such that difference in key less perceptible.
 TCHAIKOVSKY

❖ Symphony Pathetique VI finale

https://www.naxosmusiclibrary.com/catalogue/item.asp?cid=8.55078
2
 DVORAK

❖ New World Symphony

 THE CONCERTO

❖ A piece featuring a solo instrument, most often violin or piano

❖ Contained virtuosic passages featuring soloist (traditionally often

the composer)

❖ Structured in a similar way to the Classical Concerto, but looser.

Three movements: 1. Allegro 2. Slow 3. fast

Liszt Piano Concerto:

 COMPARING STYLES

❖ CLASSICAL CONCERTO:

❖ ROMANTIC CONCERTO:

What major differences do you hear between these two concertos?

 PRO GRAM MUS IC
IN S TR U M EN TA L M U S IC TH AT TEL L S A S TORY

❖ Concert overture: A single-movement work in first movement form,

orignally written to be played before operas but later became independent.
Example: Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet.

https://www.naxosmusiclibrary.com/catalogue/item.asp?cid=8.555923

❖ Symphonic Poem (tone poem)—One movement orchestral piece designed

to evoke a mood, paint a picture, or express a literary idea. Free musical form.
Example: Liszt’s Les Preludes.
 PROGRAM SYMPHONY

❖ Program Symphony- A work in several movements based on

literary theme. Examples: Liszt’s Faust Symphony, Berlioz ‘Harold
in Italy and Symphonie Fantastique.

In the Countryside:

Procession to the scaffold

Dream of a Witches Sabbath:

 WALTZ

❖ Fast tempo

❖ Oom cha cha pattern with strong beat on first beat

❖ Fast tempo

❖ Simple and slow harmonic progression

❖ Homophonic texture
 20 T H CENTURY

❖ Increased Discord

❖ Strange unusual leaping melodies

❖ Shocking dramatic contrasts

❖ Instruments used in extreme ranges

❖ Unusual combinations of instruments

❖ Atonality, Polytonality
 20 T H CENTURY STYLES
Earlier trends:
2nd Half trends:
❖ Impressionism
❖ Aleatory/Chance music
❖ Expressionism
❖ Electronic music
❖ Atonality/polytonality
❖ Pop and Rock
❖ Serialism/ 12 tone music
❖ Jazz and Blues
❖ Neo Classical

❖ 20th Century Nationalism

 S O ME IMPO RTANT 20 TH C
CO MPO S ERS
❖ Debussy (Impressionism)
❖ Schoenberg (Serialism)
❖ Bartok (Atonality)
❖ Stravinsky (Primitivism, Polytonality, Neo Classical, Serialism)
❖ Prokofiev (Neo Classical)
❖ Shostakovich
❖ Berg
❖ Webern (atonal)
❖ John Cage (Aleatory)
❖ Britten (vocal music)
❖ Steve Reich (minimalism)
IMPRESSIONISM
IMPRESSIONISM

Impressionism was a musical style

that stemmed from a style of
painting by the same name. Claude
Monet was the most famous
impressionist painter. In
impressionism, the images were
suggested in a vague way rather than
painted clearly.
 IMPRES S IO NIS M IN MUS IC

❖ Similar to the impressionist paintings in that there are ‘no hard

edges’. It can be thought of as ‘vague and dreamy’, blurry or unclear.

❖ Debussy is the most well-known composer of Impressionist

music. 1:00
 MUS ICAL
CHARACTERIS TICS O F
DEBUS S Y/ IMPRES S IONIS M
❖ Frequent use of whole tone, pentatonic scales and modal
❖ Use of parallel chords or ‘planing’ (1:17)
❖ Tonality shifting, unfixed, fluid
❖ Blurry rhythms with shifting meter patterns
❖ Often programmatic or descriptive
❖ Chords used as ‘color’ effects rather than harmonic progression
❖ Unusual combinations of timbres
❖ Music avoids clear-cut outlines—often sounds mysterious
H OW I S T H I S M U S I C S I M I LAR T O T H I S
PA I N T I N G ? W H I C H C H A R AC T E R I S T I C S
OF I M PR E S S I ON IS M D O YOU OB S E RVE ?
 EXPRESSIONISM

❖ Also taken from a style of painting

❖ A reaction to impressionistic painting which was viewed as ‘too pretty’
❖ Aimed to show the dehumanizing aspects of life.
❖ Distorted figures, wild clashing colors
❖ Deeper, often darker expression, intensely emotional
❖ Eventually became abstract
❖ Painters: Gustav Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka, Paul Klee, Wasssily
Kandinsky
 EXPRESSIONIST MUSIC

❖ Extreme dissonance

❖ Disjointed, strange, unpredictable melody lines

❖ Use of wide and unusual leaps

❖ Extreme ‘violent’ contrast

❖ Instruments used in most extreme ranges

❖ Great amount of tension

 PRIMARY EXPRES S IO NIS T
CO MPO S ERS

❖ Alban Berg

❖ Anton von Webern

❖ Schoenberg (12 tone)

Excerpt from Pierrot Lunaire:

Orchesterstücke :

String Quartet:
 DEBUSSY AND BERG
Debussy Prelude to the Afternoon
of a Faun Alban Berg, Wozzeck, Marie’s death