I know... I know.. I haven't written in a bit.. but sometimes life happens and I just didn't have the time and/or energy to post. I've been trying to keep my ears open to any events coming up in the area but not much has surfaced. I
thought I heard something on the radio about Mystic Arts Council but when I went online, I found their website to be not very helpful.
Well I suppose for now I could go back to the ever-so exciting fundamentals I have neglected to discuss in quite some time.
Y'know, that really is very boring and from what some readers have told me also very much over their heads, so I'll stick with history and if you have any fundamental or theory related questions please comment or email me and I will do my best to provide you with an answer.
We use the word
style in reference to everything from clothing to cooking, cars to paintings. In music,
style refers to a characteristic way of treating the various musical elements: melody, rhythm, tone color, dynamics, harmony, texture, and form. The particular way these elements are combined can result in a distinctive or unique sound, and we can speak of the musical style of one composer, a group of composers, a country, or a period in history. Compositions created in the same part of the world or at about the same time are often similar in style, but individuals using the same musical vocabulary can create a personal manner or expression.
Musical styles change from one historical era to the next, but these changes are continuous, so that any boundary between one stylistic period and another is only approximate. Although there are some sudden turning points, even the most revolutionary new styles are usually foreshadowed in earlier compositions; and few changes or style sweep away the past entirely.
Western art music can be divided into the following stylistic periods:
Middle Age (450-1450)
Gothic (1150-1450)
Renaissance (1450-1600)
Baroque (1600-1750)
Classical (1750-1820)
Romantic (1820-1900)
Twentieth century to 1945
1945 to the present
Music is not created in a vacuum. To fully understand the style of a composition, one has to be aware of its function in society. Is a piece meant to provide entertainment in an aristocrat's castle, a concert hall, or a middle-class home? Is it designed to accompany singing, dancing, religious rites, or drama? Musical style is shaped by political, economic, social, and intellectual developments as well. And often, similar features of style can be found in different arts of the same period.
Music is probably as old as the human race; and we know - from art and other evidence - that it existed in ancient Egypt, Israel, Greece, and Rome, but hardly any notated music has survived from these civilizations. The first stylistic period to be considered is the Middle Ages, from which notated music has come down to use - allowing compositions created more than 1,000 years ago to come alive today.
