Introduction to Music

History
Year 12

Lesson Objective:
To know the different periods in the progression
of western classical music and to understand
how musical characteristics developed through
this time.
Initial Questions:
1. When did music begin?
2. Why do we talk about western and nonwestern musics?
3. Is there a clear definition between popular music
and classical music?

Timeline Western Music

Dates

Musical Period

Historical events

Pre-1600

The Renaissance
Period

The Tudor period

Henry VIII etc.

1600-1750

The Baroque Period

Louis XIV in France,

several European
conflicts including the
Franco-Dutch Wars

1750-1810

The Classical Period

The Georgian Era

1810-1900

The Romantic Period

The Victorian Era

1900-2000

The Twentieth
Century

The Edwardian Era

Post WW1/Pre
WW2/Post WW2

1920s

Jazz Music (Mainly in

America)

Prohibition
The Great Depression

The Renaissance Period

Dates: 1400 (arguable) 1600
The renaissance period encompassed all forms of art and
culture, not just music a key feature of many periods.
Music was liberated from the constraints of medievalism and
became a vehicle for personal expression, no longer being
expected to follow pre-determined rules.
The development of printing meant that music could be
distributed on a mass scale and allowed the dissemination of
music across the continent. As a result music started to develop
as a form of entertainment, and something that amateur
musicians could take part in.

Musical Features:
Music based on modes the fore-runner of modern
tonality
Textures of four or more parts
Blending parts in the musical textures
Harmony focusing more on the flow of chordal
progressions.

Genres of renaissance music include:

Sacred: Mass, Motet
Secular: Madrigal, Chanson
Both instrumental and vocal music was popular

Composers:
Palestrina

LassusByrd

Dowland

The Baroque Period:

Dates: 1600-1750
Like the renaissance period the baroque period
encompassed all art forms. Baroque culture was
characterised by being very elaborate, the name
actually meaning misshapen pearl
Baroque music developed out of a rejection of
polyphony, focusing more on ancient Greek
textures of monody (melody and
continuo)

Musical features
Use of the harpsichord
Much elaboration of melodies using
ornamentation
Basso Continuo
Use of Monody and Homophony
Development of western tonality
Introduction of dramatic music forms
More linear melodies emerging
More idiomatic writing for the different
instruments.

Composers
J.S. Bach G. F. Handel A. Vivaldi

Bach came from a very musical family

many of the were also musicians!

The Classical Period

Dates: 1750-1810
Musicians during this time started to try and
emulate the styles of classical antiquity and
particularly that of Ancient Greece. This led to
a focus on simplicity and clear divisions
between parts.
Vienna was the centre
of this movement

Musical Features:
Mainly homophonic cleaner texture
Greater variety of key, dynamics and rhythms
used.
Shorter melodies with clear-cut phrases
Importance of instrumental music the
orchestra increased in size
Introduction of the piano and clarinet
Popularity of comic opera
Development of large-scale structures such
as sonata form.

Composers
Joseph Haydn W.A. Mozart Beethoven

Beethoven forms a link between the classical

and Romantic periods he was writing music in
both.

The Romantic Period

Dates: 1810-1900
This period saw a massive expansion in the orchestra
and pieces composed. Composers started to move
away from established rules and routines
The period does not necessarily
focus on Romantic love though
it can do. It focuses rather on
any strong emotion. Nationalist
pride was also important

Musical Features:
Emphasis on lyrical melodies
Greater tonal and rhythmic ambiguity
Denser textures and an expansion of the
orchestra
Closer links with other arts
More technical virtuosity the performer as
genius (Liszt/Paganini)
Use of recurring themes to give more shape
to the pieces
More variety in types of pieces.

Composers
Liszt

Chopin

Berlioz

Schubert

The Twentieth Century

Dates: 1900-2000
The 20th Century is a slightly ambiguous term as there
are many different types of music which come under
the heading of 20th Century. (Though this is the case
with all different periods of music, it is more defined
with the 20th Century)
During this period of musical history, composers
started to divorce with the prior structures and
features of romanticism and became increasingly
experimental.

Some key forms of 20th Century

music

Minimalism
Serialism
Neoclassicism
Aleatoric music (Music by chance)
20th Century classical music

There are also very many other different

types of music in this period these are
just some of the key features!

Key Composers
Reich

Cage

Schoenberg Adams