Ch 1

bay psalm book + publication

petruci music printing, 1st printing 1501?, this period is following rise of printing

civil war: 1861-1865

lots of 6ths and 3rds

colonization

• violence towards indigenous populations

all within context of the enlightenment

core themes:

• contrast between catholic (polyphonic) and calvinist (monophonic/plain/strict) traditions

• eventual rise of american musical identity

Overview

• early north american music = reflection of religious identity

• o qué suave! reflects musical traditions of catholic spanish at time

• spanish catholic southwest = liturgy (church calendar), conversion, grand/sensory rich musical expression (think spectacle) and is polyphonic

• practice of psalmody (how you sing psalms)

  • old way

  • regular singing

• foundations of american musical culture lies on foundations of native and black (enslaved) americans

Music and meaning:

• music not just entertainment

  • is tool for cultural and religious identity

Spanish Southwest

• monumental buildings, incense, priestly garments

• sensory rich/lavish/spectacle: polyphonic, instrument usage, string instruments, latin words to spanish, oratorio (staging), organs, closer to melismatic than syllabic

• 16th-19th century, mexico expansion to cali and new mexico

O Qué Suave - Unknown

• Sarabande (type of dance in 3 with emphasis on beat 2) baroque tradition

• instrumental interjections, reminiscent of renaissance

• galant: simple harmony and clear melody, emphasis on graceful and light instrumentation (opposite of emphindsam)

• lyrics appeal to galant style (naturalize, appeal, simplify)

• spanish because people are speaking both latin and spanish

• sophisticated, polyphonic style, used to draw people into the faith

Calvinist Music in British North America

• reaction to perceived catholic excess

• psalmody (overall practice)

• no instruments outside of voice, no part singing, no human made texts

  • monophonic

    • meaning vs functionality

    • primacy of word vs melody

Old Hundred - Louis Bourgeois - 1562

• syllabic texture (note for note)

  • 8 syllables, 4 lines, 8 iterations of notes

  • plain melody to draw attention to text

    • reflection of psalm singing in calvinist new england that becomes known as the old way

• 1517 begins protestant reformation causing different areas practicing different traditions

  • not all protestants in america are calvinists

• becomes known as regular singing

Bay Psalm Book (1640): first full length book printed in the English speaking colonies

• includes text not music, people “know the formulas”

  • “multipurpose” melodies, can be based on syllables

• lining out (old way): lining out singers

  • appeals to illiterate (simple) because call and response

  • adds to distortion in contrast to clarity of text? conflict

• 18th century worship wars: restorative urgency to establish clarity leads to regular way (1720)

  • simplicity

    • congregational singing, call and response, imprecise rhythmic alignment + pitch accuracy

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah - anonymous

• kinda look above

Chester - William Billings (Hymn)

• Billings = “1st” American Composer

  • published New England Psalm Singer/American Chorister

  • self taught leading to “rugged” sound, wrote tenors first

    • “rustic, unbalanced, sound of freedom”

• reflects context of the revolutionary war

  • 1720-1760s “reform movement”

    • move from congregation to choir

    • introduction of musical literacy and *schools of music?

• Chester:

  • tenors often have melody, other parts echo, parallel 5ths, gradual layering of voices,

    • polyphonic texture parallels o que suave

    • complexity balanced against liturgical elements

  • alternation of political and religious stanzas

Ich will dir ein Freudenopfer thun (I will freely sacrifice unto thee) - Johann Friedrich Peter

• moravians: appreciation for complex instrumental music + collegium musicum

  • collegium musicum = group of people gathered to make music; formal group exists outside of the church

• early traditions have 2 poles of american music

  • desire for communal participation

  • drive for professional and artistic expression

• song:

  • elaborate choral and orchestral texture, modulating tonality, absence of literal repitition

  • echos of bach/baroque

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