of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century.

[37]

History

[edit]

Further information: History of music, List of classical music composers by era,

Major eras of
Western classical music

Early music

Medieval c. 500–1400

Transition to
Renaissance

Renaissance c. 1400–1600

Transition to
Baroque

Common practice period

Baroque c. 1600–1750

Transition to
Classical

Classical c. 1730–1820

Transition to
Romantic

Romantic c. 1800–1910

Transition to
Modernism

New music

Modernism from c. 1890

• 20th-century
• 21st-century

• v

• t

• e

Roots

[edit]

Further information: Ancient music, Music of ancient Greece, and Music of ancient
Rome

The Western classical tradition formally begins with music created by and for the early
Christian Church.[38] It is probable that the early Church wished to disassociate itself
from the predominant music of ancient Greece and Rome, as it was a reminder of
the pagan religion it had persecuted and by which it had been persecuted.[38] As such,
it remains unclear as to what extent the music of the Christian Church, and thus
Western classical music as a whole, was influenced by preceding ancient
music.[39] The general attitude towards music was adopted from the Ancient
Greek and Roman music theorists and commentators.[40][n 11] Just as in Greco-Roman
society, music was considered central to education; along with arithmetic, geometry
and astronomy, music was included in the quadrivium, the four subjects of the upper
division of a standard liberal arts education in the Middle Ages.[42] This high regard for
music was first promoted by the scholars Cassiodorus, Isidore of Seville,[43] and
particularly Boethius,[44] whose transmission and expansion on the perspectives of
music from Pythagoras, Aristotle and Plato were crucial in the development of
medieval musical thought.[45] However, scholars, medieval music
theorists and composers regularly misinterpreted or misunderstood the writings of
their Greek and Roman predecessors.[46] This was due to the complete absence of
surviving Greco-Roman musical works available to medieval musicians,[46][n 12] to the
extent that Isidore of Seville (c. 559 – 636) stated "unless sounds are remembered by
man, they perish, for they cannot be written down", unaware of the systematic
notational practices of Ancient Greece centuries before.[47][n 13] The
musicologist Gustave Reese notes, however, that many Greco-Roman texts can still
be credited as influential to Western classical music, since medieval musicians
regularly read their works—regardless of whether they were doing so correctly.[46]

However, there are some indisputable musical continuations from the ancient
world.[48] Basic aspects such as monophony, improvisation and the dominance of text
in musical settings are prominent in both early medieval and music of nearly all
ancient civilizations.[49] Greek influences in particular include the church
modes (which were descendants of developments by Aristoxenus and
Pythagoras),[50] basic acoustical theory from pythagorean tuning,[39] as well as the
central function of tetrachords.[51] Ancient Greek instruments such as
the aulos (a reed instrument) and the lyre (a stringed instrument similar to a
small harp) eventually led to several modern-day instruments of a symphonic
orchestra.[52] However, Donald Jay Grout notes that attempting to create a direct
evolutionary connection from the ancient music to early medieval is baseless, as it
was almost solely influenced by Greco-Roman music theory, not performance or
practice.[53]

Early music

[edit]

Main article: Early music

Medieval

[edit]

Main article: Medieval music

See also: List of medieval composers, List of medieval music theorists, and List of
medieval musical instruments
 Musician playing the vielle (fourteenth-
century Medieval manuscript)

Medieval music includes Western European music from after the fall of the Western
Roman Empire by 476 to about 1400. Monophonic chant, also called plainsong
or Gregorian chant, was the dominant form until about 1100.[54] Christian monks
developed the first forms of European musical notation in order to standardize liturgy
throughout the Church.[55][56] Polyphonic (multi-voiced) music developed from
monophonic chant throughout the late Middle Ages and into the Renaissance,
including the more complex voicings of motets. During the earlier medieval period,
the vocal music from the liturgical genre, predominantly Gregorian chant,
was monophonic, using a single, unaccompanied vocal melody
line.[57] Polyphonic vocal genres, which used multiple independent vocal melodies,
began to develop during the high medieval era, becoming prevalent by the later 13th
and early 14th century. Notable medieval composers include Hildegard of
Bingen, Léonin, Pérotin, Philippe de Vitry, Guillaume de Machaut, Francesco Landini,
and Johannes Ciconia.

Many medieval musical instruments still exist, but in different forms. Medieval
instruments included the flute, the recorder and plucked string instruments like
the lute. As well, early versions of the organ and fiddle (or vielle) existed. Medieval
instruments in Europe had most commonly been used singly, often self accompanied
with a drone note, or occasionally in parts. From at least as early as the 13th century
through the 15th century there was a division of instruments into haut (loud, shrill,
outdoor instruments) and bas (quieter, more intimate instruments).[58] A number of
instrument have roots in Eastern predecessors that were adopted from the medieval
Islamic world.[59] For example, the Arabic rebab is the ancestor of all European bowed
string instruments, including the lira, rebec and violin.[60][61]

Renaissance