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Historical periods, musical styles,
and principal genres in western music
Students are encouraged to listen to several examples of each style at online sources available through Classical Music.net, Naxos, or other online sites and to listen for the characteristics given below.
Middle Ages (also referred to as medieval music): 800 - 140 0.
Generally called the Middle Ages, this long historical era can be broken into several distinct developmental periods and falls between Classical Antiquity and the Renaissance.
Early medieval music to 1000: mainly plainsongs (chants) written in Latin for the church
sacred: worship music for the church, always in Latin texture: monophonic motion: conjunct melodies text settings: syllabic and melismatic rhythm: free rhythms based on the syllables of the text scales: modal, based on the pitches D (dorian), E (phrygian), F (lydian), G (mixolydian) ranges: narrow, usually less than an octave notation: neumes --groups of notes in symbols, showing the direction of the melodic patterns. musical staff: ranging from one to four lines, c-clefs, no bar lines or meters accidentals: B-flat only sources: manuscripts are hand copied on parchment genres: numerous types of chants (songs in Latin for the church services) composers: mostly anonymous
Development of polyphony: 90 0 - 1300
textures: polyphonic scales: modal harmony: perfect consonances (perfect fourths, fifths and octaves) harmonic motion: parallel, then in contrary and oblique motion melodic motion: conjunct in each voice part text settings: syllabic and melismatic
languages: mostly Latin, some French rhythm: repetitive rhythmic patterns in compound time called rhythmic modes notation: modal; signs (neumes) show the groups of notes that form each rhythmic unit musical staff: four to five lines, c-clefs, no bar lines or meters, no dynamics or expression marks, voice designations: tenor, duplum, triplum, quadruplum sources: manuscripts are hand copied on parchment genres: organum (chant combined with polyphony), motet (polyphonic settings with new and separate texts added to each voice chants composers: Leonin and Perotin (Notre Dame, Paris)
Development of secular music: 1100- 1300
secular: worldly music not written for religious services texts: vernacular languages - French, German, Spanish, English texture: mostly monophonic motion: conjunct melodies text settings: syllabic and melismatic rhythm: mostly unmetered rhythms until 1250, metered for dances scales: modal ranges: narrow, usually less than an octave traditions: troubadours (South French), trouvères (North French), Minnesingers (German) instrumental dances instruments: organs, recorders, sackbuts (trombone), shawm (double reed), vielles (string) composers: Bernart of Ventadorn, Beatrice of Dia, Adam de la Halle, and hundreds of others
Late medieval music: 1300- 1400 —the New Art (Ars nova)
textures: polyphonic texts: vernacular languages and Latin rhythm: complex rhythmic patterns, simple and compound metrical groups, often syncopated melodic motion: conjunct lines harmony: consonances: (P=perfect) P4, P5, P8, some thirds ranges: often an octave in each voice
madrigal: secular polyphonic composition with words in Italian Lied: secular polyphonic composition with words in German ayre: secular polyphonic composition with words in English canzona: instrumental composition in the style of a chanson dances: usually in pairs, like the slow pavan and the fast galliard musical instruments: harpsichord (also called the virginal), clavichord, lute, viola da gamba family (also called viols), recorders, cornetto, shawm, sackbut. The violin is developed, but is mostly used outdoors. Instruments are not usually specified for compositions. ensembles: called “consorts.” A whole consort is an ensemble of the same family (e.g., all recorders, SATB) and a broken consort is a mixed ensemble. composers: Du Fay, Dunstable, Binchois, Ockeghem, Josquin des Prez, Palestrina, Byrd, Morley, Dowland, Marenzio, Monteverdi, and hundreds or others
Baroque Era: 1600 - 1750
textures: homophonic, polyphonic, and contrapuntal rhythms: metrical rhythms, strong and weak beat pulses motives: short ideas become the basis for continuous pitch and register manipulation, often presented without regular pauses in the music scales: major and minor scales develop harmonic rhythm: changes often occur on every beat or every two beats basso continuo: bass line played by the harpsichord and cello or other solo bass instrument figured bass: develops c. 1600; number notations that inform the continuo player of the intervals and accidentals in relation to the bass notes; the realization of the harmonies is improvised. terraced dynamics: contrasting piano and forte in abrupt dynamic shifts ornamentation: melodic decorations, often improvised or added from symbols given in scores affections: music expresses specific emotions concertato style: contrast is emphasized through alternating groups of voices and/or instruments polychoral: a composition for multiple choirs or voices and/or instruments ritornello: instrumental refrain that frequently returns, as in a concerto or between verses of a song notation: modern symbols, time signatures, key signatures, dynamics, bar lines,
instruments: the violin family, horns and trumpets (without valves) are not new instruments, but begin to appear and gain importance in specific ensembles. Harpsichords, and especially organs, become more fully developed as solo instruments. The oboe and bassoon replace the shawm and the dulcian as the principal double reeds. ensembles: string orchestras are expanded with individual instruments that contrast in timbre genres: numerous multi-movement compositions opera seria: Italian opera, serious in nature, in which the narrative (recitative) and reflective (aria) numbers are all sung, and including staging, costumes, scenery and dramatic acting. oratorio: work for soloists, chorus and orchestra, based on a sacred story; with no acting costumes or scenery. cantata: a composition for one or more voices and accompaniment chorale cantata: soloists, chorus and orchestra, incorporating hymns into the composition trio sonata: two solo instruments, keyboard and continuous bass instrument fantasia/prelude/toccata: improvisatory compositions, often paired with a fugue fugue: paired with an improvisatory composition (fantasia, toccata or prelude) suite: a collection of dances (allemande, courant, saraband, gigue) solo concerto: a solo instrument and a chamber orchestra concerto grosso: a small group of solo instruments contrasted with a chamber orchestra. A multi- movement composition overture: instrumental movement used at the beginning of an opera or oratorio composers: Monteverdi, Schütz, Corelli, Couperin, Handel, Vivaldi, J. S. Bach
Classical Era: 1750 - 1800
aesthetic: balance, symmetry and formality, reflecting the rational objectivity of the Enlightenment melody: sometimes tuneful and folk-like; at other times motivically constructed; lyrical themes contrast with dramatic ones phrasing: periodic, multiples of 4, usually separated by rests; balanced antecedent-consequent phrases tonality: major and minor keys, with major more prevalent texture: homophonic, with occasional counterpoint, especially in developmental sections harmony: triadic with 7th chords used for color and tension; primary chords (I – IV-V-I) predominate harmonic rhythm: slow, changing every two to four beats modulations: to closely related keys (e.g., to IV or V in Major; to III in minor).
Classic accompaniment: complex, sometimes contrapuntal, with wide ranges and disjunct intervals dynamics: dramatic, at extremes of the dynamic range; tempi use expressive terminology meter and tempo: freer meters and tempi forms: less clearly defined by sections and tonality instrumentation: larger forces of the orchestra, with a greatly expanded range of timbres that demanded instrumental evolution (valves for brass instruments, more keys for winds, larger and stronger pianos, pedaled harps; new instruments, including the tuba, saxophone, and celeste); inclusion of voice and chorus in later symphonic works scale: on one hand, short, intimate compositions for piano (character piece) or voice and piano (lied, chanson); on the other, expansion of proportions of the symphony, chamber music, concerto, sonata, mass; opera roles demand bigger voices to match more grandiose dramatic concepts genres: cyclic symphony symphonic poem/tone poem symphonic suite concert overture concerto ballet chamber music Lied and chanson song cycles music drama nationalistic opera lyric opera mass and oratorio piano sonata single-movement character pieces and dances for piano composers: Schubert, Robert and Clara Schumann, Verdi, Brahms,
Twentieth-century music: 1900- 2000
wide range of tonal, modal, whole tone, atonal, serial, and approaches to composition wide range of harmonic structures: triadic, quartal, clusters rhythms: polymeters, asymmetrical meters
melodies: disjunct, Sprechstimme (half sung/half spoken) timbres: non-traditional uses of instruments, global instruments, electronic sounds mixed media: music combined with film, art, theater form: traditional and non-traditional structures expression: ranges from subdued works (Impressionism) to excessive exaggeration (Expressionism) nationalism and folk elements return to musical characteristics of earlier periods: Neo-Classicism (including Neo-Baroque elements) and Neo-Romanticism minimalism jazz and other African-American influences composers: Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Debussy, Bartok, Ives, Barber, Copland, Cage, and Glass. Return to Music History Page
