When working with early music, modern performers face challenges regarding stylistic and historical accuracy, given limited information on past performances, as well as notable differences in instruments available, technique, and performance practice. Furthermore, they must decide between different approaches that may better reflect the historical sound or intention of past performers, or choose to blend such extremes, creating varied interpretations.
Such challenges manifest explicitly when modern performs attempt to recreate medieval music, such as Gregorian chants. While modern scholars have deciphered most of medieval notations, chant melodies were primarily passed down through oral transmission, while the manuscripts simply served as reminders (HWM 37). Therefore, the exact way in which these chants were sung cannot be recovered. Modern iterations of chants usually preserve the tradition of employing all male voices, and exude appropriate solemnity in execution, even throughout intricate, melismatic passages meant for skilled soloists to heighten the glorification of God.
The limited accessibility to period instruments from the medieval era also contribute to the challenges in modern performances. Clues to historical performance practice, however, can often be found in contemporary art, such as pictures that illustrate the use of vielle, or fiddle and tambourines in instrumental accompaniment to medieval dance (WT 49). Passages accompanying Raimbaut’s works in chansonniers also suggest that troubadour songs such as his Kalenda maya are rooted in dance music, such as the estampie (WT 49). This type of information gives modern performers clues such as appropriate tempo and prominence of the singers. In a live performance by T...
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...but laugh[ed] and talk[ed] through the whole performance, without any restraint” (WT 196-197). Historical writings such as this enlighten the historical function of such performances. Modern performers can hence draw conclusions that inform their execution. In this case, for instance, one can assume that past singers must exaggerate their dramatic effect and vocals to fight for the attention of their audience.
Indeed, by considering the social and historical background of early music, modern performers can derive further clues to past performance practice beyond available scores, period instruments, and knowledge of historical techniques and styles. Using such knowledge, modern musicians can rise above challenges such as vague notation and lack of actual recordings to create informed, intent-driven performances of early music that reflect the contemporary context.
In terms of the technical differences between the art music of early times and that of the modern period (i.e., after 1600) we can identify five specific features that make post-1600 styles in music sound more or less "familiar."
Canciones de arargue, or songs of bitterness – was the original name for the creolized form Bachata. Many closely associate Bachata with the other Caribbean styles of the African diaspora such as merengue and son. In Intro to Music Cultures of the World we were tasked with attending a world music concert. I chose to attend a Bachata concert because I already had an interest in Caribbean music. The concert was not as I had expected, but was rather intriguing and thoroughly enjoyable. In this report I hope to analyze Bachata’s roots, report on its concert style, and compare it to another piece in the genre.
“For over one thousand years the official music of the Roman Catholic church had been Gregorian Chant, which consists of melody set to sacred Latin texts and sung without accompaniment” (Kamien 67). The credit for developing Gregorian chant music, also known as plain...
Willoughby, David. "Chapter 11." The World of Music. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 249-53. Print.
Taruskin, R., & Taruskin, R. (2010). Music in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Putman, D. (1990). THE AESTHETIC RELATION OF MUSICAL PERFORMER AND AUDIENCE. British Journal of Aesthetics. 30 (4), 1-2.
...rgence, it was not recorded and recognized. The narrator and the authors from SSUS both express an emphasis on the importance of this music. The narrator felt so compelled by the music that he decided to bring the music to a different audience and environment. The authors in SSUS also voiced the importance of remembering and try to recreate the original African-American slave songs. Although both stories place a huge emphasis on these songs, the musicking experiences are quite different. The narrator provides a raw, detailed emotional response to the music. Meanwhile, the authors in SSUS choose to focus more on the music’s context and technicalities. Aside from their similarities and differences, these stories greatly show how music can help record a time in history, show different examples of musicking, and help show the importance of some of music’s original roots
Therefore, to endure the pains and sufferings the slaves had to use music. As illustrated above, the advent of music had far reaching results as it encouraged and gave them hope to continue working. The early music composers are the evidence of existence of early music which in turn has shaped today’s music like the blues and pop lyrics. In this case, the culture of the past has been rescued from getting lost.
The history of the Concert Band and Wind Ensemble will be reflected through a timeline of events, including an analysis of significant events, groups, composers, and advancements. When society envisions a Wind Ensemble, talented musicians, grand music halls, and difficult arrangements typically come to mind. However, a modern-day Wind Ensemble includes a variety of musicians, each with positive and negative aspects. In society today, music is greatly appreciated and accepted. It is considered an honor and a privilege to expose our ears to the music.
“How Musical is Man?” was published in 1974. This book was written by John Blacking, a musician turned social anthropologist. His goal in writing this ethnography, and several other papers during this same time period, was to compare the experience of music-making that takes place within different cultures and societies throughout the world. In this book, he discusses and describes the musicology of the Venda people in South Africa. Though he does go to Africa to research and learn about the Venda people and their music, he specifically states that his book is “not a scholarly study of human musicality” (ix), but rather it is a summary (written from his point of view), which is both expressive and entertaining, of several different issues and ideas that he has seemingly been contemplating for some time.
"Music is a common experience and a large part of societies. In fact, anthropologists note that all human communities at all times and in all places, have engaged in musical behaviours. Music as a mode of human activity is a cultural phenomenon constituting a fundamental social entity as humans create music and create their relationship to music. As cultural phenomeno...
3) Sacred songs - Hungarian sacred folk hymns of a variety of origins also make up a wide repertoire of songs present in live folk tradition. The valuable and most significant part of church songs in folk tradition is ecumenical - ignoring the different type of denominations (that is Evangelic, Catholic, Reformational). We find songs with a) Gregorian origin (Psalmtones, Te Deum, Hymns - sometimes sung in Latin, even funeral parodies); b) songs evolved from medieval canticles; c) songs of the Reformation era; d) the psalms of Genf and other metric songs; d) 16th, 17th century Hungarian Chorals) songs of Counter-reformation f) sacred gongs set on peasant tunes.
Throughout the semester, various styles of music and the aspects of culture associated with these styles have been analyzed. Musical elements such as dynamics, texture, form, timbre, melody, instruments, etc., have been used to thoroughly explore each kind of music from different areas of the world, with an emphasis in music from Africa, India and Indonesia. These aspects of music go far beyond just music itself. Culture also plays a huge role in music and the accompanying musical elements. Each country and culture has a different style and distinctiveness that add to what makes the music of that certain culture unique. Music in Africa may differ dramatically from music in Indonesia or India not only due to those certain elements but also due to how it is interpreted by people and what it represents for those people. In addition to this, what one may consider music in one culture may not be music to another. These differences have been made apparent in the several demonstrations that we have been exposed to in class.
Among the main changes that have taken place since the reemergence of the Klezmer music as a critical musical genre of the Jews are general trends towards more pronounced rhythms and faster tempos. When it comes to performances in concerts and the absence of numerous experienced dancers, bands playing Klezmer music have come up with faster songs to show their virtuosity without fear of tiring the audiences. This trend has been somewhat reversed through the attempts of researchers oriented towards tradition and committed dance instructors and dancers. However, in some modern professional performances, and certainly in the ancient recordings of the revival of the Klezmer music, this acceleration contributes to a frenetic energy that the audiences accustomed to bluegrass, bebop and rock and roll understand and appreciate (Parshall 76- 78).
When a student learns the historical backdrop and the composer behind the musical piece, it gives a clearer picture of how that particular piece of music was