Lesson 02.

Main Musical Periods

Early Periods

Prehistory -

from the emergence of human consciousness to the civilizations of Antiquity

Prehistoric Art Features

Magical, utilitarian features

Envinronment imitation

The ”invisible” notions (ex. fecundity) give the abstract feature.

Abstract + Imitation = Symbols

Symbols are assuming an ever greater degree of generalization and simplicity.

Order, Symetry, Ornamentation

Dynamism - due to the nomad life

Human feature - reflects the individual as well as the community life.

Oral feature (lack of writing)

Art Syncretism = combining arts - ex. dance & music; decoration & incantation & music

Musical Features: prepentatonic/ oligo-modes (scales of less than 5 sounds), monody, rhythm domination etc.

Maasai traditional dances (Eastern Africa)

Irish old dance

Northern Romanian Old Dance

Southern Romanian Old Dance

Toaca - traditional religious Romanian percussion instrument

Aboriginal dance (Australia) - music is associated to dance and painting

Antiquity, ~ 4000 BC - end of c. 4th CE

History of the World Empires

History of Christianism, from the 1st century CE

Why Christian religion is important to us?

Because it has been one of the main ”engine” in the European history.
Because it is among the most musical religions in the world.
Because it has determined certain issues in the European history of music - e.g. Middle Ages, Renaissance and (partially) Baroque music.
Because it caused certain musical elements (e.g. name of musical notes, the Mass etc.).

Main Religions in the World

Terms and Abreviations

AD = Anno Domini

BC = Before Christ

CE = Common Era

catholic = general accepted – gr. katholikos = universal, general / kata = about + holos = whole (Online Etymology Dictionary)

orthodox = having the right opinion – gr. orthos = right + doxa = opinion / praise

(Online Etymology Dictionary)

JEWISH RELIGION. In Jesus times, Jewish religion was monotheistic; apart of the Temple ritual, an individual ethics occurred, marked by anxiety, a strong sense of community and the expectations in coming of Messiah.
the Roman religious and political DOCTRINS (e.g. Caesar's worship)
certain SECRET/MYSTERIOUS RELIGIOUS GROUPS, and their faith in resurrection of the Savior God (e.g. the Esseniens in Qumran desert, on the Dead Sea coast)
HELENISTIC PHILOSOPHY of Plato and stoics

Evolution of Christianity - Short Chronology

63 BC: Palestine becomes Roman province.

27 BC - 180 AD: Pax Romana – the long period of relative peacefulness and minimal expansion by the Roman military force experienced by the Roman Empire, established by Octavian Augustus; it is sometimes called Pax Augusta. according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

1st century CE: Under these circumstances, Christianity occurred, first as a Jewish sect.

c. 1-4: The new Jewish sect is adopted by more and more followers, soon becoming a genuine religion. Gradually, the main dogmas have been set out: New Testament, including 4 Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, Epistles and Apocalypse. Paul of Tars is the first great promoter of the Christian religion.
c. 4-11: Christianity is adopted all around the Mediterranean Sea - Asia Minor, Southern & Western Europe, North Africa.

313 AD: Emperor Constantine I gave Christianity a legal status, but did not make Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire.

391 AD: Emperor Theodosius I establishes Christianity as the official state religion.

395 AD: The Roman Empire is re-divided into an eastern (Byzantine Empire) and a western half.

c. 11: the Great Schism, in which the Western (Roman Catholic) and Eastern Orthodox churches separated from each other. In West, the Crusades begin, till 15th century.
c. 14: The Ottoman Empire expands.

Cent 15:

Western Europe. Christian groups publicly attack church abuses and corruption. They ask returning to the traditional Gospel, simplifying and translating the liturgical rite from Latin.
Eastern Europe (1453). Siege and Fall of Constantinople. The Ottoman Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror ends the Byzantine (or Eastern Roman) Empire by capturing the capital, Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul).

c. 17: Christian comunities sail across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World (North America), for religious freedom and prosperity. Quakers settled in Pennsylvania, Catholics - in Maryland, Dutch Lutherans - in New York (first named New Amsterdam); afterwards Swedish Lutherans, French Hugenots, British Baptists and Presbiterian Scots.

From c. 18th many Christian missionaries went to Africa...

Christianity expanded throughout the world during Europe's Age of Exploration from the Renaissance onwards, becoming the world's largest religion.[5] Today there are more than two billion Christians worldwide.

Middle Ages in Western Europe, centuries 4-13

Main periods:

pre-gregorian period, c. 4-8

gregorian period, c. 8-12

Ars Antiqua, c. 12-13

Perotin, Viderunt omnes

Gregorian Chant - Dies irae

Gregorian Chant Features

Who was Pope Gregory I?

Gregorian Chant

monody
vocal - choral, responsorial (alternate singing by one voice/ soloist and choir), antiphonal (alternate singing by two choirs)
modes - diatonic scales (= including tones and diatonic semitones)
rhythm - quasi equal durations
music depending on text
constant tempo and Dynamics
genres: Mass, hymn, Psalms, Tropes, Sequences
notation

Ars Antiqua, centuries 12-13

Bishop Philippe de Vitry (1291?-1361) gave the name of this period, in order to make a difference of his own time - Ars Nova (14th century).

PLURIMELODY is born!

Plurimelody = singing / playing two or more melodies simultaneously.

It includes: the polyphony, the homophony, the heterophony etc.

Singing the gregorian chant into the vast space of the Middle Ages cathedrals made possible the hearing of the first overtones: the octave, the fifth and the fourth; as a result, the first type of polyphony was singing simultaneously melodies at perfect octave, fifth and fourth.

Another polyphonic type has been the pedal added at the melody.

Pérotin, Viderunt Omnes, approx. 1200

music of Notre Dame School, 12th century

Secular Music in The Western Middle Ages

Features:

simple modal melodies
rhythm - dancing or dependent by the text
timbre - all sort of instruments: strings, winds, brass, percussion
genres - lyric, epic (ballads, chansons de geste etc.), dramas (pastorals), dances