The history of Western music

1
Lecture 6

• The history of Western music
• The mechanics of Western music since 1600

2
Beethovens Symphony No 5 in C Minor, Op.
67Tchaikovskys Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op.
74 (Pathétique)

• Consider
• Christopher Smalls idea of the meta-narrative
  of Western culture (i.e., a situation that is
  disturbed and then, somehow, reaches equilibrium)
• is it possible for you experience these pieces
  (in whole or in part) as dramatic narratives?
• if so, can you somehow describe the plot of
  the narratives?
• are the plots the same or different?
• if different, how are they different?
• do the plots have anything at all to do with
  traditional Western concepts of masculinity and
  femininity?
• do you have any thoughts or opinions about
  Smalls theory?

3
ancient Greece
the history of Western music
6th - 1st centuries B.C.

• Pythagorean theory
• surviving notation
• is cryptic
• suggests that the music consisted only of single
  melodic lines
• importance placed on the nature of melodic
  modes
• some were strong and manly, others were soft
  and feminine
• some were highly moral, others were lewd,
  lascivious
• we know the names of the modes, but not their
  actual sound
• Plato (The Republic) Our songs are our laws

4
early Medieval period
the history of Western music
1st 7th centuries A.D.

• more Pythagorean theory
• music as part of the Quadrivium
• along with arithmetic, geometry and astronomy
• three kinds of music
• musica instrumentalis, musica humana, musica
  mundana
• as in ancient Greece, music consisted of simple
  melodies
• all we know about is church music, and we know
  that only from theoretical texts
• no musical notation, and none was needed

5
example of neumatic notation

• Question
• Why was musical notation needed at this point in
  time?
• Answer
• Because by now there was a relatively large
  formal repertoire that needed to be accurately
  preserved.

6
middle Medieval period
the history of Western music
8th 10th centuries A.D.

• melodic modes (scales)
• only the names (ionian, dorian, phrygian,
  mixolydian, lydian, aeolian, locrian) were
  borrowed from the ancient Greeks
• development of a body of repertoire (monophonic)
• plainchant
• Gregorian Chant, and attributed to Gregory the
  Great (d. 604)
• beginnings of a simple music notation (neumes)

• assignment of letter names to pitches
• gradual development of a more accurate notation
  system
• assignment of syllable names to pitches

7
Guido of Arezzo c. 991 c. 1040

• invented system of horizontal lines to indicate
  relative pitch level
• invented the idea of using letters (C and F) at
  the beginnings of staves to indicate absolute
  pitch
• codified the melodic modes according to their
  range (ambitus) and their finals
• codified the rhythmic modes
• divided the range of pitches into six-note
  patterns (hexachords) that sounded relatively
  the same
• invented a system by which syllable names were
  assigned to the pitches of a hexachord

8
Guidos hand
9
Guidos solmization hymn
10
a 13th-century antiphonin Guidonian notation
11
Guido of Arezzo

• invented the idea of using letters (C and F) at
  the beginnings of staves to indicate absolute
  pitch
• codified the melodic modes according to their
  range (ambitus) and their finals
• invented system of horizontal lines to indicate
  relative pitch level
• codified the rhythmic modes

• divided the range of pitches into six-note
  patterns (hexachords) that sounded relatively
  the same
• invented a system by which syllable names were
  assigned to the pitches of a hexachord

12
Guido of Arezzo

• Question
• Where did Guidos inventions lead?

• invented the idea of using letters (C and F) at
  the beginnings of staves to indicate absolute
  pitch
• codified the melodic modes according to their
  range (ambitus) and their finals
• invented system of horizontal lines to indicate
  relative pitch level
• codified the rhythmic modes

• divided the range of pitches into six-note
  patterns (hexachords) that sounded relatively
  the same
• invented a system by which syllable names were
  assigned to the pitches of a hexachord

13
Guido of Arezzo

• Answers
• The clef
• The concept of tonality
• The modern staff
• Modern time signatures
• The idea of the scale
• The do-re-mi system

• invented the idea of using letters (C and F) at
  the beginnings of staves to indicate absolute
  pitch
• codified the melodic modes according to their
  range (ambitus) and their finals
• invented system of horizontal lines to indicate
  relative pitch level
• codified the rhythmic modes

• divided the range of pitches into six-note
  patterns (hexachords) that sounded relatively
  the same
• invented a system by which syllable names were
  assigned to the pitches of a hexachord

14
Guido of Arezzo

• Question
• Where else did they lead?
• Answer
• To the creation of polyphonic music.

• invented the idea of using letters (C and F) at
  the beginnings of staves to indicate absolute
  pitch
• codified the melodic modes according to their
  range (ambitus) and their finals
• invented system of horizontal lines to indicate
  relative pitch level
• codified the rhythmic modes

• divided the range of pitches into six-note
  patterns (hexachords) that sounded relatively
  the same
• invented a system by which syllable names were
  assigned to the pitches of a hexachord

15
late Medieval period
the history of Western music
11th 14th centuries A.D.

• development of simple polyphonic music
  (organum)
• at Notre Dame in Paris (Léonin, Perotin)

• huge expansion of sacred repertoire
• motets, masses
• notation of secular music (troubadour songs)
• increasing use of binary rhythms in sacred music
• development of polyphony to include three and
  four parts
• increasing use of imitative counterpoint

16
Renaissance
the history of Western music
15th 16th centuries

• increasingly florid melodies
• development of the isorhythmic motet
• development of various fixed forms for secular
  music
• renewed interest in relationship between music,
  mathematics
• increasingly complex polyphony in sacred music
• Council of Trent (1542)
• Palestrinas Missa Papae Marcelli

• a new social role for learned music
  entertainment!

17
Baroque
the history of Western music
1600-1750

• Baroque
• from the Portuguese barroco, meaning
• imperfect pearl.
• ???????????????
• Borrowed from the vocabulary of art and
  architectural history refers to a highly
  ornate style.

18
Baroque
the history of Western music
1600-1750

• new style (much simpler) contrasts with
  antique style
• the beginnings of opera music as a dramatic
  gesture
• rigorous counterpoint virtuoso instrumental
  writing

• theoretical developments
• problems with Pythagorean system !!!

19
Pythagorean system

• relationship between naturally occurring musical
  intervals and simple mathematical proportions
• 21 the octave
• 32 the fifth
• the circle of fifths

20
Pythagorean system

• relationship between naturally occurring musical
  intervals and simple mathematical proportions
• 21 the octave
• 32 the fifth
• the circle of fifths

• C -- G
• G -- D
• D -- A
• A -- E

• E -- B
• B -- F
• F -- C
• C -- G (A?)

• G (A ?) D (E ?)
• E ? -- B ?
• B ? -- F
• F -- C

21
Pythagorean system

• relationship between naturally occurring musical
  intervals and simple mathematical proportions
• 21 the octave
• 32 the fifth
• the circle of fifths

project 32 twelve times and it should equal
21 projected seven times.
So ???????

• But it doesnt.

22
The Pythagorean comma
comma, from the Greek komma, meaning cutting
or gap Theoretically, the 32 fifth projected
twelve times should result in exactly the same
pitch as the 21 octave projected seven
times. The pitch at the end of the circle of
fifths should be an exact replication
(multiplied x 2 seven times) of the starting
pitch.
12

• (1.5)

1.0136
7
2
23
The Pythagorean comma

• So ????
• In order for music to involve all twelve pitches,
  the Pythagorean intervals had to be compromised.
• The comma needed to be somehow spread out over
  the entire range of pitches.
• The musical scale needed to be somehow
  tempered.

24
Stuart Isacoff, Temperament How Music Became a
Battleground for the Great Minds of Western
Civilization (Vintage Books, 2001).

• Jacket synopsis
• Few music lovers realize that the arrangement
  of notes on todays pianos was once regarded as a
  crime against God and nature, or that such
  legendary thinkers as Pythagoras, Plato, da
  Vinci, Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, Newton and
  Rousseau played a role in the controversy.
  Indeed, from the time of the ancient Greeks
  through the eras of Renaissance scientists and
  Enlightenment philosophers, the relationship
  between the notes of the musical scale was seen
  as a key to the very nature of the universe.

25
Stuart Isacoff, Temperament How Music Became a
Battleground for the Great Minds of Western
Civilization (Vintage Books, 2001).

• Jacket synopsis
• The contentious adoption of the modern tuning
  system known as equal temperament called into
  question beliefs that had lasted nearly two
  millennia and also made possible the music of
  Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Debussy and all who
  followed.

26
Equal temperament

• A tempering, or adjustment, of all the pitches so
  that the relative distance between them is
  exactly the same.
• In the Pythagorean system, there was a problem
  with the second tone of the scale. Depending on
  its relationship with other tones, its proportion
  (in terms of the first tone) needed to be either
  98 or 109.
• Singers and instrumentalists could make the
  necessary adjustment, but only if the music was
  not very complex.
• But this wouldnt work if
• the music was complex
• the music involved instruments incapable of
  pitch adjustment

27
Equal temperament

• In equal temperament, only the octave retains
  the pure Pythagorean proportion (21).
• All the other intervals are adjusted to
  accommodate the Pythagorean comma.
• the fifth is slightly sharper than the 32 fifth
• the fourth is slightly flatter than the 43
  fourth
• the major third is considerably sharper than the
  54 third
• the minor third is considerably flatter than the
  65 third
• the major second is slightly sharper than the
  98 second
• the minor second is a lot flatter than the 1615
  second

28
Equal temperament

• In equal temperament, all the intervals (except
  the octave) are by Pythagorean standards out of
  tune.
• Question
• How can we stand to listen to music in which
  almost all the intervals are out of tune?
• Answer
• Weve gotten used to it.

29
Equal temperament

• In equal temperament, all the intervals (except
  the octave) are by Pythagorean standards out of
  tune.
• Question
• What happens if we tune an instrument according
  to Pythagorean intervals for one key and then
  attempt to play in another key?
• Answer
• Yikes !!!

30
Baroque
the history of Western music
1600-1750

• new style (much simpler) contrasts with
  antique style
• the beginnings of opera music as a dramatic
  gesture
• rigorous counterpoint virtuoso instrumental
  writing
• theoretical developments
• problems with Pythagorean system !!!

• the galant style (simple textures, lots of
  ornamentation)
• doctrine of the affections music as
  expression
• theoretical writings
• temperament, functional harmony, tonal
  system

31
functional harmony and the tonal system

• in the tonal system (tonality), the pitches
  exist in a hierarchy that makes one of them (the
  tonic pitch) the most important.
• in a major scale (do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do)
  the tonic pitch is do.
• in the tonal system, the hierarchy of pitches
  implies that music eventually needs to resolve on
  the tonic (i.e., on do).
• to feel this, just listen to an ascending major
  scale that ends on ti.
• in the tonal system, the tonic in effect wields
  a magnetic attraction over the other pitches.
• but all the pitches exist in some sort of
  magnetic relationship with one another.

32
functional harmony and the tonal system

• a system in which simple harmonies based on
  the various tones of the scale have functions
  based on the tones magnetic attraction toward
  one another.
• a simple harmony, in this case, is a triad
  (i.e., a group of three pitches) built on
  successive thirds.
• in other words, a pitch, then a third above
  that, then a third above that.

33
functional harmony and the tonal system
In the key of C major, the tonic pitch ( do)
is C.

• The tonic harmony consists of the pitches C, E
  and G (do-mi-so).

34
functional harmony and the tonal system

• After the tonic, the two most important pitches
  in the hierarchy are
• the fourth tone (fa)
• the fifth tone (sol)

• Similarly, after the tonic harmony, the two most
  important harmonies in the hierarchy are the
  triads built on
• the fourth tone (fa-la-do)
• the fifth tone (sol-ti-re)

35
functional harmony and the tonal system
In rudimentary musical analysis, these harmonies
are identified by Roman numerals. (upper case
major triad)

• The strongest magnetic attractions are between
  the harmonies related by the interval of the
  fifth.
• V is a fifth above I
• I is a fifth above IV

36
functional harmony and the tonal system
In rudimentary musical analysis, these harmonies
are identified by Roman numerals. (upper case
major triad)

• The magnetic attractions are strengthened when
  the harmonies are expanded to include a
  dissonant minor seventh (i.e., a minor seventh
  above the harmonys root pitch.

37
functional harmony and the tonal system
The harmony based on the second scale degree is a
minor triad. (lower case minor)

• The ii harmony has two pitches in common with
  the IV harmony, so these two harmonies are
  closely related.

38
functional harmony and the tonal system
The same close relationship (because of tones
in common) exists between the harmonies built on
I and vi

• and between the harmonies built on V and
  iii.

39
functional harmony and the tonal system
Remember the fifth relationships (and strong
magnetic attraction) between V-I and I-IV ???

• There are also fifth relationships (and thus
  attractions) between iii-vi, vi-ii and ii-V.

40
The tonal system with its functional harmony
is complex, with many intertwining relationships.
functional harmony and the tonal system

• Yet we can easily hear the functional
  relationships between harmonies in simple songs.
• The patterns of harmony in simple songs makes
  sense to us because
• were accustomed to the tonal system
• the system itself is theoretically
  (mathematically) logical

41
Bingo
functional harmony and the tonal system

• I IV I
  V I
• I had a dog and he had me, and Bingo was his
  name-o.
• I IV V I
  vi ii
• B, I, N, G, O B, I, N, G, O B, I, N, G, O
• V I
• And Bingo was his name-o.

42
Santa Catalina
functional harmony and the tonal system

• I vi ii V
• Twenty-six miles across the sea,
• I vi ii V
• Santa Catalina is a-waiting for me,
• I vi ii V
• Santa Catalina, the island of
• I vi ii
  V
• romance, romance, romance, romance.

43
Classical
the history of Western music
1750-1800

• theoretical development of equal temperament
• increased use of chromaticism, modulation
• development of sonata form
• in Exposition two themes are contrasted not
  just by character but also by tonality
• in Development fragments from both themes are
  intermixed, modulated from key to key
• in Recapitulation the two themes are
  presented in the same key

• aesthetics music as abstract form
• idea of the composer as craftsman

44
Romantic
the history of Western music
1800-1900

• practical use of equal temperament
• increased use of chromaticism, modulation
• aesthetics the sonata as dramatic form
• in the sonata form
• the two themes are presented in dramatic
  opposition
• the development section a conflict
• the recapitulation a resolution of the
  conflict
• idea of the composer as artist

45
Review
the history of Western music

• for simple music in isolated communities,
  notation was not necessary
• notation became necessary as repertoire
  stabilized and grew
• accurate notation enabled growth of musical
  complexity
• rise of secularism led to dramatic musical
  gesture and concept of music as expressive of
  emotions
• increasingly complex and expressive music led to
  expansion of the Pythagorean system
• expansion of (and problems with) Pythagorean
  system led to functional tonality and to equal
  temperament
• functional tonality expressiveness led to the
  idea of music as dramatic musical structure

46
Beethovens Symphony No 5 in C Minor, Op.
67Tchaikovskys Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op.
74 (Pathétique)

• Consider
• Christopher Smalls idea of the meta-narrative
  of Western culture (i.e., a situation that is
  disturbed and then, somehow, reaches equilibrium)
• is it possible for you experience these pieces
  (in whole or in part) as dramatic narratives?
• if so, can you somehow describe the plot of
  the narratives?
• are the plots the same or different?
• if different, how are they different?
• do the plots have anything at all to do with
  traditional Western concepts of masculinity and
  femininity?
• do you have any thoughts or opinions about
  Smalls theory?