Music History 1 Final

Martin Luther

• German theologian who studied to become a Catholic priest

• believed that religious authoirty was derived by Scripture alone and challenged the authoirty of the Church

• Martin Luther read the New Testament epistles by Paul and found that no amount of human merit could offer salvation, only the grace of God could 

The Catholic Church in the 16th century

• in the 16th century, the Catholic church had abuses of money and political power

• the rise of humanism and the emphasis on independent thought inevitably led to doubts and arguments that would challenge the Catholic church

the rise of humanism and the emphasis on independent thought inevitably led to

doubts and arguments that would challenge the catholic church

indulgences

allowed wealthy sinners to ease their journey to Heaven by paying money to the Catholic church

justification by grace through faith

• Romans 3:22-24

• Ephesians 2:8-9

the reformation

• Luther wrote a list of grievances he had with the Catholic Church called the 95 Thesis in 1517

• such views did not sit well with the established Catholic Church and Luther was declared a heretic.

  • His writings were used as evidence against him when he was excommunicated in 1520

• Luther did not originally intend to divide the Catholic church, but to reform it from within 

Luther the musician

• strong musical background from childhood

• he was a choirboy and he played the lute

Luther’s view on music 

music is:

1. a divine gift

2. effective on emotions

3. a pedagogical tool 

Music: a divine gift

• Luther believed music to be a divine gift to humanity, second only to the Word of God

• Luther believed the human desire to participate in musical activity is not so much the need for self-expression, rather it is a longing for and a reflection of a relationship with the Creator

Luther believed music to be

a divine gift to humanity, second only to the Word of God

Luther believed the human desire to participate in musical activity is not so much the need for self-expression, rather it is

a longing for and a reflection of a relationship with the Creator

music as a pedagogical tool:

• Luther believed music was a gift from God that could teach divine truth both to listeneres and performers

Luther: a musical composition is

a “sermon in sound”

mysic teaches both directlly and indirectly

• moves the listeners to aa receptive state for the Word

• lends the associated text a greater measure of emphasis and potency

• a spoken text might be understood intellectually, but music offers the affection and expression

Chorales

• Luther did not like how the Catholic church was excluding the common person through its insistence on the use of Latin rather than the language of the people

• he created strophic hymns for congregational and devotional singing that is in the vernacular

• Contrafactum = the practice of replacing the original words of a song with new ones

contrafactum

the practice of replacing the original words of a song with new ones 

Calvin

• was a reformer and rejected the authority of the Catholic church

• believed in justification through faith alone

• believed in predestination

• wanted to focus on God alone and therefore stripped the church and liturgy of anything that can serve as a distraction

Luther vs. Calvin

Luther:

• if something is not in the Bible, you can assume it is allowed

  • new text in music

  • instruments allowed

  • polyphony allowed

Calvin:

• if something is not in the Bible, you can assume it is not allowed

  • text in music from the bible

  • no instruments allowed

  • no polyphony allowed

Luther vs. Calvin: Luther

if something is not in the Bible, you can assume it is allowed

• new text in music

• instruments allowed

• polyphony allowed

Luther vs. Calvin: Calvin

if something is not in the Bible, you can assume it is not allowed

• text in music from the bible

• no instruments allowed

• no polyphony allowed

metrical psalm

metric and strophic singing of psalms in the vernacular

Church of England

• King Henry VII wanted an annulment of his marriage so he can marry someone else, but the pope said no

• King Henry VIII separate from Rome and started a new Church of England

• would eventually adopt English as their main language of their liturgy

Thomas Tallis

English composer who served in the chapel under leaders from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I

William Byrd

• served in the chapel in the Church of England (although he personally was a Catholic)

• composed secular vocal and instrumental music as well as sacred music

the counter-reformation

• Pope Paul III brought in a culture of simplicity and abstinence of worldly pleasures to the Catholic church

  • the Council of Trent marks the start of the counter-reformation

• the Catholic Church was formerly known for its excess

Palestrina

• late Renaissance composer fo the Roman Catholic Church

• wrote primarily sacred music

Thirty Year’s War

• conflict between the Holy Roman Empire and the Protestants

• One of the most brutal wars with more than 8 million casualties

• the ancient notion of a Roman Catholic empire of Europe headed by a pope was abandoned

• This set up the structure of nations and sovereign states in Europe

patronage for musicians

• musicians continued to depend on patronage from the court and church

• the type of music needed by each patron depended greatly on each country

Renaissance vs. Baroque

Baroque:

• purpose of music is to evoke emotions (Descartes)

the central impulse of the Baroque Era is

dramatization

during the Baroque, composers began to place a much greater emphasis on

music’s dramatic power to express emotions

Affect

the doctrine of affections is emotions can be conveyed through art

affects in music

• tempo

• dynamics

• figures

• intervals

affect through intervals

• M3 represents liveliness

• m3 represents mourning

• 5gh represents boldness

• 7th represents supplication

Monteverdi

• breaking the rule of music to serve expression was a tool he would use

• his Cruda Amarilli was criticized for his use of dissonances and breaking the rules

Monteverdi: Cruda Amarilli

was criticized for its use of dissonances and breaking the rules

• includes a third in final chord

prima practica

music had to follow the rules no matter what the text says

seconda pratica

the music serves to heighten the text, therefore allowing rules to be broken if it serves the text

Monteverdi aligned with the ______ pratica

seconda pratica

tonality

the system of major and minor keys oriented around a central pitch

First complete theoretical treatise on tonality is 

Rameau’s Treatise on Harmony

affect through key

in his treatise on harmony, Rameau argues that various keys represent different affects

Bass and treble polarity

• new polarity between bass and treble voices

• basso continuo

basso continup

• composer writes out a melody of the bass line and leaves the performers the task to fill n appropriate chords

• usually played by harpsichord, organ, lute, etc

• nonchord tones are to be notes

ornaments

• means for moving the affections

2 principal ways of ornamenting

1. small ornaments

2. extended embellishments

small ornaments

• accent important points

• trills, turns, appoggiaturas

extended embellishments

• free improvisation of the written line 

• scales, arpeggios

• appropriate for slow melodies

Caccini

• italian composer who worked at Medici court

• one of the founders of opera

17th century changes in society

• due to the thirty years’ war, the central structure of the Catholic Church loses their effectiveness in controlling human life

• this sets up the states-system of smaller centralized states 

culture is

the means through which people artists and audiences express their sense of the world

culture: because of smaller centralized states,

there is more variety of culture in europe

opera

• initially “favola in musica” (fable in music)

• opera is a new genre of music and theatre that is drama

• it is a new invention and influenced by plays, dance, madrigals, and solo songs

the need for opera

an invented art contrived by a group of Florentine nobles known as the Camerata and humanists

opera is seen as

a resolution to the Baroque Crisis, which is the societal upheaval

2 reasons why Camerata invented opera

1. artistic expression

2. improving citizenship and social cohesion in European society

The Florentine Camerata

• group (Caccini, Peri, Galilei) concluded that the solo melody with no polyphony could evoke the most powerful melodies

• the Council of Trent pronounced music “that simply provided empty pleasure to the ear” should be discouraged

• therefore, polyphony is discouraged and emphasis is placed on the single voice

intermedio

• the most direct influence of opera

• it is a musical interlude between acts of a play

• the genre arose from the practical need of music to mark divisions and suggest a passage of time since they didn’t have curtains

an intermedio is a

a musical interlude between acts of a play

the most direct influence of opera is 

intermedio

the genre intermedio arose from

the practical need of music to mark divisions and suggest a passage of time since they didn’t have curtains

Jacopo Peri

• hailed as the first opera composer

• Corsi was one of the leading patrons of the arts and wanted a whole Greek tragedy sung in its entirety

• composed Dafne at Corsi’s palace. This is considered the first opera

Peri: Dafne

• the first opera

• commissioned by Corsi

• an entirely sung Greek tragedy

Peri: L’Euridice

• Peri set the pastoral drama L’Euridice to music

• earliest surviving opera in full 

• written for the wedding of Maria de’ Medici to King Henri IV of France

aria

vocal piece for one voice, with or without accompaniment

recitative

singing style to imitate the delivery of speech

recitative was invented by

Peri

why did Peri invent recitative

he wanted a speech-song that was half way between them 

sinfonia

abstract ensemble piece

ritornello

instrumental refrain (small return)

libretto

text used in an extended musical work (opera, operetta, oratorio, cantata, etc)

Claudio Monteverdi

first person to show the full potential of opera

Monteverdi: L’Orfeo

• Monteverdi’s first opera

• commissioned by Francesco Gonzaga, heir to the throne of Mantua

• libretto by Alessandro Striggio

• score features an ensemble including recorders, cornetts, trumpets, trombones, strings, harp, and continuo instruments

heroic opera themes

• the heroic figure was the frequent topic to portray the heroism of either the rulers of the country or region

• the main characters included heroes that were true lovers, faithful servants, wise kings, or comic nurses (played by a man)

• even though the themes are ancient and mythological, the content always reflected social concerns of the day 

heroic theme in L’Orfeo

• opera starts with a toccatta. during this time, the sponsoring prince enters the hall to sit in the Royal Box before the prologue

• the libretto encourages listeners to conform to the Gospel and conform to the Pope

• the king becomes god-like

castrati

• male sopranos who were castrated before puberty to preserve their high vocal range

• women were prohibited from performing on stage in Rome 

Public opera house in Venice

• named Teatro San Cassiano

• before this, operas were given in ballrooms that were invite-only 

• now, opera is supported in part by a paying public 

• L’incoronazione di Poppea by Monteverdi is written for this theater

L’incoronazione di Poppea by Monteverdi is written for this theater

Teatro San Cassiano (public opera house in Venice)

da capo aria

• became the dominant form for arias at the end of the 17th century 

• in ternary form

• there was a demand for longer songs to showcase the star singers who performed them 

• featured in operas, oratorios, and cantatas

the dominant form for arias at the end of the 17th century

da capo aria

da capo aria is in 

ternary form (ABA)

da capo arias became popular because 

there was a demand for longer songs to showcase the star singers who performed them 

da capo arias are featured in 

operas, oratorios, and cantatas

Alessandro Scarlatti

• italian baroque composer known for his vocal works

• developed the opera further by solidifying the da capo aria as a form

oratorio

• invented in the 17th century 

• non-liturgical sacred music that is sung

• started off being performed in congregation gatherings outside of the church

• like operas, oratorios use arias, recitatives, duets, ritornello, etc

oratorio is

non-liturgical sacred music that is sung

Giacomo Carissimi

• one of the first oratorio composers

• established the mid-century oratorio with Historia di Jephte

Carissimi: Historia di Jephte oratorio

baroque: toccata, fantasia, prelude

keyboard or lute pieces in improvisatory style

baroque: ricercar, fantasia, capriccio, fugue

imitative counterpoint

baroque: canzona, sonata

pieces with contrasting sections

baroque: organ verse, chorale prelude

settings of existing melodies

baroque: variations, partita

pieces that vary a given melody

baroque: chaconne, passacaglia

pieces that vary a given bassline

baroque: dances

dances 

baroque instrumental music

• keyboard or lute pieces in improvisatory style

• imitative counterpoint

• pieces with contrasting sections

• settings of existing melodies

• pieces that vary a given melody

• pieces that vary a given bassline

• dances

Girolamo Frescobaldi

italian instrumental composer who brought purely instrumental music into the Catholic Church liturgy with his toccatas and organ masses

Frescobaldi: Fiori Musicali

• liturgical organ music written by Frescobaldi

• contains three organ masses and two secular capriccios

King Louis XIV

• used the arts as a tool to maintain control

• styled himself as “the sun king” which symbolizes that he is the giver of light

King Louis XIV used the arts

as a tool to maintain control