Blog
BLOG NUMBER 3: CLASSICAL MUSIC
The term "classic" or "classical" has four definitions:
1. a exemplary specimen, as in a classic car or rock tune;
2. of or pertaining to ancient Greece and Rome: considered to be the "Classical Period."
3. the music of the "Classical Period" in music (see below)
and, the one with which we are concerned:
4. classical music: music that evolves from the following historical lineage:
Medieval Music: about 350-1400: Gregorian Chant; also called plainchant or plainsong: chants written for use in the Catholic Church; Organum: which relies heavily on parallel motion versions of these chants. Composers: Léonin and Pérotin.
Renaissance: (means: "rebirth"): about 1400-1600; strict rules were set down for writing "counterpoint" music in which several melodies performed together. Composers: Palestrina; Dufay (or Du Fay).
Baroque: (from "barroco" "pearl" in Portuguese) about 1600-1750: this period takes the Renaissance rules for counterpoint and elaborates upon them and embellishes them. Composers: Johann Sebastian Bach; Handel; Vivaldi. Carol Millard adds: My understanding of the term barroco is that it means a pearl of irregular shape, implying ornate or even bizarre. Don’t forget early Baroque composers of monody, like Monteverdi and Caccini :-)
DEW's Personal favorite: Georg Philipp Telelmann!
Classical: about: 1750-1820: a simplification of these counterpoint rules: more reliance on melody with accompaniment rather than elaborate intertwining melodies. An emphasis on clear form and structure as exemplified in ancient Greek and Roman Architecture, hence the term: "Classical." Composers: Haydn and Mozart; also early Beethoven and early Schubert.
Romantic: about 1820-1900: emphasis on high emotion, big forms, drama... HUGE number of composers of note: Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann (Robert); Mendelssohn, Chopin, Tchaikovsky; Brahms; Verdi, Wagner; Puccini, Mahler, Richard Strauss...
Impressionism: about 1870-1920: a transition between the Romantic and the Modern Periods. Beginning to break away from the traditional chords. Wonderful new orchestrations. Composers: Debussy and Ravel.
Modern or Contemporary Classical Music: since about 1900: innumerable styles: 12-tone serialism where each of the notes of the scale are used, in order or serial, until all are used up according to very strict rules: composers: Schoenberg; Berg and Webern. Later this developed into even stricter rules that give rise to music that appears to have NO OBVIOUS REPETITIONS, no steady beat and no connection to traditional chords (Milton Babitt, Rolv Yttrehus). On the extreme opposite site of the spectrum is minimalism where just a few notes or chords are repeated ad infinitum for enormous stretches of time. Composers: John Adams and Steve Reich and at least one other who should not ever be mentioned. (Has been used very effectively in a lot of nature shows, commercials and documentaries about outer-space).
More Contemporary Classical Styles: Neo-Romantic (Barber, Menotti); Neo-Classicism (Stravinsky); Expressionism (Stravinsky & Bartók); avant-garde or experimentalism (Cage, Stockhausen). Just about anything that has ever been done in previous times can be found to be happening now.
An alternate way to discuss sub-genres of classical music is by form or instrumentation: opera, oratorio, chamber music, art song, solo instrumental, electronic music (which can also be popular music)...
BLOG NUMBER 2: FOLK MUSIC:
Folk music is by definition anonymous! It is indigenous music (and text) that is handed down by mouth over generations.
"A song originating among the people of an area, passed by oral tradition from one generation to the next."
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Although the term "folk music" is used to include "folk style" songs with clear authorship, in the purest sense the term should only be used for music created by a whole community, and therefore is without clear individual authorship. For example, as Mike suggested, the Aboriginal didgeridoo music from Australia. This is what makes folk music a distinct genre, since in almost all cases classical and popular music both have clear authorship. Here are the answers to the first blog:
1. "Dies Irae" (Gregorian Chant) NO! This melody is classical. Although anonymous, and developed by a community, it was written down at an early point in its history (unlike folk music which is transmitted orally). You are correct, Lyudmila, the Verdi "Requiem" does use this melody and text, as does the Mozart and most requiems, and it is classical music. The Brahms "Requiem" does NOT use the traditional texts. Mike, the lost original musical settings of the Psalms would be another example of anonymous music in the classical tradition.
2. "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen" YES! This spiritual is a folk song. Clearly, NOBODY KNOWS who wrote it!
3. "Oh Susanna" NO, it was written by Steven Foster and first published in 1848. It is an early example in the popular music tradition.
4. "John Henry" YES! It is a folk song.
5. "Puff The Magic Dragon" NO! Although definitely "folk inspired" or "in the folk style" this song was written by Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow. The text is by Peter Lipton after Ogden Nash's poem: "Custard, The Dragon." According to Lipton, the poem is NOT about drugs. The music is by Peter Yarrow. It is in the popular music tradition.
6. "Amazing Grace" NO! This spiritual was written John Newton, published in 1779. Although it started out in the classical (hymn) tradition, it is now usually considered to be popular music.
More on classical and popular music in up-coming blogs!
BLOG NUMBER 1: THE THREE GENRES OF MUSIC:
My husband Drew has been asking me to blog for a long time now. I am finally giving in. Here is my first official blog:
When I started wondering about how many genres of music there are in the world; classical and popular came to mind as the biggest classifications. It is in the nature of our species to categorize and classify everything. This the musicologists have done. I was, of course, clear about these first two genres. What I didn't know, was that there is a third. I had thought that "folk music" was a sub-genre of popular music... but I was wrong. It is actually a third, distinct genre. It is the subject of my second blog. In preparation here is something for you to ponder:
Which of the following are popular and which are classical, and which are actually folk songs?
1. "Dies Irae" (Gregorian Chant)
2. "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen"
3. "Oh Susanna"
4. "John Henry"
5. "Puff The Magic Dragon"
6. "Amazing Grace"
The answers will be included in the second blog. In summary there are three (and only three) genres of music: folk (very much the oldest); classical; and (the new kid on the block) popular! Best wishes, Dave
The term "classic" or "classical" has four definitions:
1. a exemplary specimen, as in a classic car or rock tune;
2. of or pertaining to ancient Greece and Rome: considered to be the "Classical Period."
3. the music of the "Classical Period" in music (see below)
and, the one with which we are concerned:
4. classical music: music that evolves from the following historical lineage:
Medieval Music: about 350-1400: Gregorian Chant; also called plainchant or plainsong: chants written for use in the Catholic Church; Organum: which relies heavily on parallel motion versions of these chants. Composers: Léonin and Pérotin.
Renaissance: (means: "rebirth"): about 1400-1600; strict rules were set down for writing "counterpoint" music in which several melodies performed together. Composers: Palestrina; Dufay (or Du Fay).
Baroque: (from "barroco" "pearl" in Portuguese) about 1600-1750: this period takes the Renaissance rules for counterpoint and elaborates upon them and embellishes them. Composers: Johann Sebastian Bach; Handel; Vivaldi. Carol Millard adds: My understanding of the term barroco is that it means a pearl of irregular shape, implying ornate or even bizarre. Don’t forget early Baroque composers of monody, like Monteverdi and Caccini :-)
DEW's Personal favorite: Georg Philipp Telelmann!
Classical: about: 1750-1820: a simplification of these counterpoint rules: more reliance on melody with accompaniment rather than elaborate intertwining melodies. An emphasis on clear form and structure as exemplified in ancient Greek and Roman Architecture, hence the term: "Classical." Composers: Haydn and Mozart; also early Beethoven and early Schubert.
Romantic: about 1820-1900: emphasis on high emotion, big forms, drama... HUGE number of composers of note: Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann (Robert); Mendelssohn, Chopin, Tchaikovsky; Brahms; Verdi, Wagner; Puccini, Mahler, Richard Strauss...
Impressionism: about 1870-1920: a transition between the Romantic and the Modern Periods. Beginning to break away from the traditional chords. Wonderful new orchestrations. Composers: Debussy and Ravel.
Modern or Contemporary Classical Music: since about 1900: innumerable styles: 12-tone serialism where each of the notes of the scale are used, in order or serial, until all are used up according to very strict rules: composers: Schoenberg; Berg and Webern. Later this developed into even stricter rules that give rise to music that appears to have NO OBVIOUS REPETITIONS, no steady beat and no connection to traditional chords (Milton Babitt, Rolv Yttrehus). On the extreme opposite site of the spectrum is minimalism where just a few notes or chords are repeated ad infinitum for enormous stretches of time. Composers: John Adams and Steve Reich and at least one other who should not ever be mentioned. (Has been used very effectively in a lot of nature shows, commercials and documentaries about outer-space).
More Contemporary Classical Styles: Neo-Romantic (Barber, Menotti); Neo-Classicism (Stravinsky); Expressionism (Stravinsky & Bartók); avant-garde or experimentalism (Cage, Stockhausen). Just about anything that has ever been done in previous times can be found to be happening now.
An alternate way to discuss sub-genres of classical music is by form or instrumentation: opera, oratorio, chamber music, art song, solo instrumental, electronic music (which can also be popular music)...
BLOG NUMBER 2: FOLK MUSIC:
Folk music is by definition anonymous! It is indigenous music (and text) that is handed down by mouth over generations.
"A song originating among the people of an area, passed by oral tradition from one generation to the next."
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Although the term "folk music" is used to include "folk style" songs with clear authorship, in the purest sense the term should only be used for music created by a whole community, and therefore is without clear individual authorship. For example, as Mike suggested, the Aboriginal didgeridoo music from Australia. This is what makes folk music a distinct genre, since in almost all cases classical and popular music both have clear authorship. Here are the answers to the first blog:
1. "Dies Irae" (Gregorian Chant) NO! This melody is classical. Although anonymous, and developed by a community, it was written down at an early point in its history (unlike folk music which is transmitted orally). You are correct, Lyudmila, the Verdi "Requiem" does use this melody and text, as does the Mozart and most requiems, and it is classical music. The Brahms "Requiem" does NOT use the traditional texts. Mike, the lost original musical settings of the Psalms would be another example of anonymous music in the classical tradition.
2. "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen" YES! This spiritual is a folk song. Clearly, NOBODY KNOWS who wrote it!
3. "Oh Susanna" NO, it was written by Steven Foster and first published in 1848. It is an early example in the popular music tradition.
4. "John Henry" YES! It is a folk song.
5. "Puff The Magic Dragon" NO! Although definitely "folk inspired" or "in the folk style" this song was written by Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow. The text is by Peter Lipton after Ogden Nash's poem: "Custard, The Dragon." According to Lipton, the poem is NOT about drugs. The music is by Peter Yarrow. It is in the popular music tradition.
6. "Amazing Grace" NO! This spiritual was written John Newton, published in 1779. Although it started out in the classical (hymn) tradition, it is now usually considered to be popular music.
More on classical and popular music in up-coming blogs!
BLOG NUMBER 1: THE THREE GENRES OF MUSIC:
My husband Drew has been asking me to blog for a long time now. I am finally giving in. Here is my first official blog:
When I started wondering about how many genres of music there are in the world; classical and popular came to mind as the biggest classifications. It is in the nature of our species to categorize and classify everything. This the musicologists have done. I was, of course, clear about these first two genres. What I didn't know, was that there is a third. I had thought that "folk music" was a sub-genre of popular music... but I was wrong. It is actually a third, distinct genre. It is the subject of my second blog. In preparation here is something for you to ponder:
Which of the following are popular and which are classical, and which are actually folk songs?
1. "Dies Irae" (Gregorian Chant)
2. "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen"
3. "Oh Susanna"
4. "John Henry"
5. "Puff The Magic Dragon"
6. "Amazing Grace"
The answers will be included in the second blog. In summary there are three (and only three) genres of music: folk (very much the oldest); classical; and (the new kid on the block) popular! Best wishes, Dave