Music 1751 Chapter 1 Why do we listen to music?

-gives us pleasure -affects our minds and bodies -intensifies and deepens our feelings -heightens the emotional experience of events Religious institutions and politics strongly influence music How musical sound and sound machines work: -listening to music: physical reaction to a disturbance in our environment -machine creats vibration creates sound wavesprocessed by inner ear converted to electrical signals transported by neurons primary auditory cortex in center of brainincreased dopamine mood enhancement Low pitched sounds vibrate slowly, high pitched sounds vibrate rapidly Musical sounds tend to be regular in vibration Acoustics remain the same but the means of capturing and preserving sound have been constantly evolving Up until about 900 CE most music was passed orally. Around this time Benedictine monks began to find ways to notate their religious chants. Around 1250, more popular styles of music began to be notated. As the centuries went by, the written music or scores became more elaborate with tempo (how fast) markings and dynamic (how loud/soft) markings. The nineteenth century marks the advent of playback technology with the invention of the phonograph by Thomas Edison (1877). We then move from there to magnetic tape to CD and now completely digital files on MP3 players. Classical Music and Popular Music Classical music is high art or learned music and requires a particular set of learned skills to perform and appreciate it. Popular Music is music with a large mass appeal Classical Music separates itself from popular in the following ways: -relies on acoustic instruments -preset musical notation -primarily instrumental and is more about sounds and gestures that relying on lyrics -longer and more demanding to listen to -the rhythm or beat varies greatly in importance -more abstract and timeless Why listen to classical music -relieves stress and is relaxing -centers the mind

-provides vision of a better world -learning opportunity of people/history/the world Learning to be a good listener, an active versus passive listener Musical style (Ch 7) Musical Style: How the elements of a piece of music interact This style is defined by melody, harmony, rhythm, and textures Can be separated into eight main periods 1. Middle Ages (476-1575)- Medieval period- driven by religion. The catholic church wrote down the music the monks were singing to share between churches. The earliest recorded written music comes from this period. (ex. O Greenest Branch, Hildegard) 2. Renaissance (1475-1600)- Miserere, Allegri written for large cathedrals, where choirs would be situated surrounding the cathedral. Had counterpoint, chords 3. Baroque (1600-1750)- Brandenburg Concerto #3 first movement, JS Bach string instruments invented and perfected, no singing.. purely instrumental, very elaborate, very dark 4. Classical (1750-1820)- Symphony #5 first movement, Beethoven - more instruments, more types, used full orchestra, opposing styles, tempo changes, organized, dramatic 5. Romantic (1820-1900)- Piano Concerto No. 1, Franz Liszt invention of the piano, more solos, emotional, virtuoso performer-stretching human mind and abilities as far as possible to become the best performer 6. Impressionism (1880-1920)- Unfocussed, dissonance, more about color than form La Mer, 2. In the play of the waves, Debussy - harp, triangle/more percussion, very colorful, disorganized 7. Modern (1900-1945)- Schoenberg, Moonstruck Pierrot, Madonna, did away with tonality, new form of organization, strange (Ives, Three Places in New England) 8. Postmodern (1945-present)- Adams, Chairman Dances from Nixon in China minimalism, rhythmic, repetitive, (Adams: Short Ride on a Fast Machine) Chapter three Melody A melody is a series of pitches arranged to form a cohesive musical line, more commonly called the tune most melodies have four main elements in common 1. Solid tonal center 2. Forward motion 3. Goal or climax 4. Final feeling of repose Melodies are made up of pitches- relative position of a sound high or low musical sounds produced by regular vibrations. Duplications of a pitch either higher or lower is called the octave. The octave is produced by either a doubling or halving of vibration A= 440 Octave up is 880 Octave down is 220

All cultures use the octave, divided up differently in different musical cultures Western music has preferred a division of seven pitches in the octave These are called CDEFGAB then back to C (the octave) Melodies are notated on a grid work of lines called a staff. This staff is marked with a clef to show the relative position of the pitches. Two most important clefs are the treble clef and the bass clef High voices have the treble clef (G Clef) low voices have the bass clef ( F clef) *find pictures

The piano because it can play both treble and bass uses a great staff (grand staff)- treble and bass clef read together (bracketed) Of course just seven pitches can get boring so we have a smaller subdivision of the pitches and some pitches were placed in between the seven main pitches. These pitches are marked with the following two signs Sharp(#) this means to play the pitch between that note and the one just above it (raises by half step) Flat (b) this means to play the pitch between that note and the one just below it (lowers by half step) This is why the piano has black keys Melodies have a central pitch called the tonic This central tonic pitch is the basis for a scale that is given that tonic notes name ( a C scales tonic note is C) Scales can be either major or minor. What makes a scale major or minor depends on the arrangement of the whole and half steps within the scale Major scale 1-1-1/2-1-1-1-1/2 Minor scale 1-1/2-1-1-1/2-1-1 To tell the performer what key they are to play the piece in the composer marks the staff with a key signature The key of the piece is the name of the scale that the piece is based on The tonic pitch C.. the scale is C major.. the key is C major One more type of scale: the chromatic scale Classical pieces like to modulate. They do not always stay in the same key. In fact the moving away from and returning to the tonic is part of how this music is made. It takes practice to hear this process at work but it is recognizable. For now think of it as a change in scenery Another thing that is quite common is a change in mode. This is when the piece starts out major and shifts to minor or starts out minor and moves to major

Melodies can move by step or by leap. Steps are easier to sing than leaps **Smaller pieces of the melody are the phrases. Antecedent phrase moves away from tonal center, consequent phrase comes back The last few notes that bring a phrase to its close is called the cadence. It is like a resting point Intro CD track 23. Listening for major minor w/ mode shifts - in spring allegro also (Tchaikovsky Vivaldi from the Four Seasons Ch 8 medieval music (474-1475) Played roles in monastery ,cathedral, court, musical instruments The monastery Life in the monastery followed a very strict code of behavior and an order or worship that followed hours of day 4:00 get up and sing psalms, 5:00 sing psalms 6:00 sing psalms, etc, mass service at 9:00 the highlight of the day (worship and work) The plainsong used to sing these psalms evolved into written collection called Gregorian Chant a large body of unaccompanied vocal music set to Latin texts that were written for the RCC starting very early in the churchs history. Written for fifteen century, named for Pope Gregory the Great Gregorian chant is pure melody. This kind of music when you just have a single melodic line is called monophonic music or monophony. Music for one line often doubled at the octave Either choir of men or choir of women, never together Syllabic singing, one or two notes for each syllable or text melismatic singing, many notes swing to just one syllable -Listen to (All the ends of the earth) Hildegard of biger (1093 1179) Given to the church as a child. At 52 founded a convent near Binger, Germany. First renaissance, a medieval woman (playwright, poet, musician, naturalist, pharmacologist, visionary) wrote her own text. -Listen to (O greenest branch) Music in cathedral Notre dame of Paris constructed during the age of cathedrals (1150-1350) these building took around a century to complete In Paris we have two great churchmen/musicians that take music to the next stage of development Perotinus and Leoninus They create a new style of music called polyphony, or many voices. Has more than one melody, early polyphony is called organum, a second voice is added usually at 5th or 4th scale degree.

-Listen to ( Leoninus, organum: from all the ends of the earth) Composers became very involved in writing music to accompany mass, the mass has two parts: the proper, and the ordinary. Proper texts change with liturgical year, the ordinary texts remain the same The parts of ordinary mass Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei The mass continues throughout history to be a form utilized by composers required listening: Guillaume de Machaut, Kyrie of the mass of our lady machaut worked at the cathedral of Notre dame of Reims He adds not just on voice to his music but here, takes the old chant melody and has it held with long notes in the tenor line. He then constructed two voices above the tenor, the alto and soprano, and one voice below, the bass this was the basic construction of the choir -Listened (Machaut CD 1 tr 4) Another world of music, the court This music focused around the popular song and dance of the royal courts. Traveling entertainers went from castle to castle providing amusement and news This brought a breed of poet musicians called troubadours or trobairitz(women) these people had a higher social standing could be nobility or were clerics living outside of the church and had some educated, some of music survives Musical instruments People become interested in developing and working with instruments. Harp, lute, rebec, flute, recorder, trumpet, sackbut, shawm, cornetto some were considered haut or loud. Others were bas or soft These accompanied a singer or formed a dance band (Spanish Tune) Req. (Spanish Tune, Machaut- Kyrie, Leoninus-Organum, Oh Greenest Branch)

Renaissance Music- Chapter 9 (1475-1600) Renaissance means rebirth, originated in Italy, a rebirth of interest in the fine arts: Poetry, painting, music, architecture Rediscovery of ancient Greece and Rome Secular music rises in importance and starts to be placed alongside sacred music

Humanism, people have the capacity to shape and create their own world rather than just being conduits of divine inspiration. Artists start to view themselves as important of being creative and start signing and taking credit for their work, great artists such as: Da Vinci, Michaelangelo Josquin Deprex and renaissance motet worked in Italy for various dukes in Milan and Ferrara and for the pope in Rome, temperamental and egotistical, only wrote when he wanted. Composers of the renaissance still wrote masses but turned much of their attention to a new form called the motet. Motet: composition for choir in Latin or a sacred subject. A capella: literally means in the chapel, however instruments other than the organ were not allowed in churches at this time These used the standard 4 voices we saw set forth in the Middle Ages. Saprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass. Josquin liked to use a melodic technique called imitation where voices enter with the same melodic fragment. This kind of writing became very elaborate and creative and started to cause some concern. It became difficult to understand the words and the music became too complex.. more about composer than sacred subject. (Ave Maria by Josquin) Oct 13, 1517 Martin Luther nailed 95 complaints against the catholic church to a churchs front door in Wittenberg. Started the protestant church. In response the catholic church began to clean house. The counter reformation Council of Trent (1545-1563) examined music. They decided music was too popular and elaborate and almost decided to outlaw polyphony and use Gregorian Chant again Pier Luigi Da Palestrina continued them otherwise- used a style of polyphony that was more in keeping to the spirit of the old chants yet still kept multiple voices (savior of the church music and the polyphony style ) (Savior of Church Music) Constructed around Point of imitation: each phrase of a text is assigned its own motive or fragment of melody- fragment appears, in turn, in each voice part

An early decree by the apostle Paul prohibited women from singing in Roman Church and were not allowed to perform in theater in areas controlled by church. To get voices, men learned how to use their falsetto range. Castrated males called castratos or castrati, these men had bigger lungs and powerful voices Madrigal: popular music of Renaissance, started in Italy, spread around Europe 40,000 of these were published by 1630. Madrigals like to use a technique called word painting, basically music puns The popular music of the Renaissance revolved around a type of vocal composition called the Madrigal. It is a piece for several solo voices that sets a piece of secular poetry, usually love poetry. Madrigals started in Italy and soon spread all over Europe. Extremely popular in England. Around 40,0000 published by year 1630 Groups of men and women could get together at social gathering and sing

Madrigals like to use a technique called word painting, basically music puns. Music follows the words.

Listen to Weelkes, As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending

Chapter 2

Building blocks of music: Melody, rhythm, harmony Rhythm affects how melody and harmony are expressed in time Musical notation freezes the music in a fixed form so that a performer can study it and replicate it exactly later on Rhythm is notated by adding lines and flags to the note heads written on the staff Rhythm is perhaps the most fundamental element of music. We respond to it physically and even dance to it Rhythm: the organization of time in music beat: an uneven pulse that divides the passing of time into equal units, beats are grouped in measures or bars. These gathering of units of beats create what is called the meter. This gathering of groups of beats results in some beats becoming more important than other beats. Duple meter meter of two beats per bar, first beat is strong, weaker second beat Triple meter three beats per bar, first is strong, second and third are weak Quadruple meter four beats per bar, first is strong A fraction is placed on the score to indicate to the performer what the meter of the piece is. This is called the meter signature or the time signature. How to find the meter First try tapping your foot to find the beat

Or you can do what conductors do and try to see which pattern best fits the music Show the conducting patterns for the meters First beat is called the downbeat, last beat is called the upbeat Beats that happen before the first strong down beat are called a pickup The beat that is given the most importance is usually the main big beat. But sometimes the emphasis or accent is placed elsewhere. When this happens it is called a syncopation Next we have the overall tempo of the meter. Tempo is an indication of how fast or slow the music should go These are usually marked in Italian 1. Grave(slowest) 2. largo (broad) 3. lento (slow) 4. adagio (slow) 5. andante (moving) 6. andantino (slightly faster than andante) 7. moderato (moderate) 8. allegretto (moderately fast) 9. allegro (fast) 10. vivace (fast and lively) 11. presto (very fast) 12. Prestissimo (Fast as possible) These terms are often open to interpretation and can lead to some lively debates amongst the professionals and a great deal of variety in the performances Sometimes the music speeds up and this is called accelerando and sometimes it slows down which is called ritardando. From this we get the word retard which means to slow down the music Classical music can have great variety in the tempo and the meter all in the same work Chapter 4 harmony

In the broadest sense, the peaceful arrangement of diverse elements In music, the sounds that support and enrich the melody. It provides accompaniment to the melody harmony is built of chords or a group of two or more pitches sounding together Basic chord in western music is called the triad. It is built on three pitches arranged in a certain way. These triads are build from the keys and scales discussed earlier Each note of the scale is given a number or its degree, roman numerals are used for this. of these the one built on I is called the tonic Tonic = I Dominant = V Subdominant =IV These are strung together into chord progressions All of the notes of the chords can be struck together or they can be spread out. To do this is called an arpeggio. When pitches are sounded together some of them sound sweet and these are called consonances. Some will be jarring. These are called dissonances. It is the interplay of consonance and dissonance that build up and release the tension in the music

REVIEW Ch1, Ch2, Ch3, Ch4, ch 6 p52, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9 Required listening: Hildegard-Gregorian Chant- O Greenest Branch Leoninus-Gregorian Chant- All The Ends of the Earth Machaut- Kyrie of the Mass of Our Lady Spanish Tune (Anonymous) Josquin- Motet Ave Maria Thomas- Vesta was from latmos hill descending