MUSIC. Brief History of Music - from the social-political and cultural perspective. Level III

Brief History of Music - from the social-political and cultural perspective

1. Old Ages (from thousands of years ago to the 5^th century A.D.): it is not known very well when everything began.  The first cultures you have to remember date back to the 30^th century B.C.  I’m talking about the Egyptian and Mesopatamic cultures.  Other important cultures to remember are after this date and are the Iberian (in Spain), Greek, and Roman cultures.  Musically speaking, the Greek culture was the most important because it contributed to the bases of musical notation.  Invented in Greek ways, the

2. Middle Ages (6^th – 14^th centuries): the music here should be studied in three groups of people.  In first place, one must talk about monasteries.  Nuns prayed singing.  Saint Gregorio Magno was a man that gathered together all Christian music chants between the 6^th and 7^th centuries and for this reason the music in this era is known as Gregorian.  An example of this music can be found in the monastery of the Burgos Strikes.  A second group was the peasant population.  The peasants liked to dance and so the music they listened to was mainly dance music.  One example is the codex or book of Llivre Vermell.  The music was disseminated by people that knew how to sing, recite, dance, and jump.   I’m talking about jugglers, however, that weren’t very cultured.  Lastly, the nobles in their castles organized parties where they also sang.  They composed songs, they played instruments and they recited.  I’m talking about troubadors that, contrary to the jugglers, were very cultured people.  In this third group one must talk about a Spanish court were a very wise king lived.  His name was Alfonso the 10^th the Wise and he composed a very important codex.

3. Renaissance (15^th – 16^th centuries): this era is characterized by the development of art throughout Italy.  Surely you´ve heard of Leonardop da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Rafael.  They were very important painters.  Some were also sculptors and architects.  This developmental movement was called Humanism and it thought that man was at the center of the world.  They also looked to the past because they like the Greeks a lot.  On the religious front appeared Luther, a priest that adored music and that did not agree with the Catholic church’s abuses of power.  Thus, he established a religious reformation, establishing Lutheranism.  In music one must talk about the development of Polyphony, that is, the appearance of distinct melodies at the same time.  All these melodies are equally important and they are produced at the same time.  For this reason we talk about Counterpoint.  The most important composers of the Counterpoint Renaissance Polyphony are Palestrina (Italian) and, in Spain, Tomás Luís de Victoria and Morales.

4. Baroque (17^th century – the first half of the 18^th century): this era is characterized by the word “exaggeration.” Art becomes very overdone (with a lot of decoration), kings have an exaggerated amount of power and are almost considered to be like gods.  They live very wealthy lives at the cost of peasants who are dying of hunger.  This will provoke the famous French Revolution in 1789.  The Catholic Church continues to abuse their power and German Lutheranism becomes more powerful.  The most important composers of this period are in the 18^th century Vivaldi, Haendel (both Italian that will work for the monarchy) and Bach (a German that will compose music for the Lutheran Church – also of German origin).

5. Classical (second half of the 18^th century): in this short period, the French Revolution takes place.  The peasants show themselves to be against the monarchs and they begin to establish Constitutions.  The most important composers are Mozart (Austrian) and Haydn (German).

6. Romanticism (19^th century): the revolutions continue in this period.  Many countries want to unify their territories, liberating them from other nations.  On the other hand, during this period feelings become more valued, especially romantic, exalted, and passionate feelings.  The principal figure in this Romantic period is Beethoven (German).  This great artist initiates the movement from the Classical period to the Romantic period.  We stress his new symphonies.  Along with him, one must talk about Schubert, a very good artist when it comes to writing songs.  In opera one must talk about the Italians Rossini and above all Verdi.  On the other hand, the piano is the king of all instruments in Romanticism with two other great musicians: Chopin and Schumann.  There are more artists, but we will look at them later.

7. 20^th Century: this period is characterized by two horrible world wars and a Spanish civil war.  All this produces protest music.  In France one must talk about Impressionism that, like in painting, tried to create suggestive music, aimed at one’s feelings.  In music there is a French artist who is called Debussy.  Strawinsky is a very important artist.  In Spain it is fundamental to talk about Manuel de Falla that combines modern technique with Spanish popular music.