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Period: 1600 BCE to 1750 BCE
Baroque
The Basso Continuo (Figured Bass).
One mood throughout the entire piece.
Important String sections.
Modes were replaced by the Major/Minor key system.
Many different forms are used (e.g. Binary, Fugue)
Many types of music, e.g. The Chorale, Opera, the Dance Suite. Johann Sebastian Bach. -
Period: 1400 BCE to 1600 BCE
Renaissance
Music based on modes.
Richer texture in four or more parts.
Blending rather than contrasting strands in the musical texture.
Harmony with a greater concern with the flow and progression of chords. John Dunstable -
Period: 500 BCE to 1400 BCE
Midieval
The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. Population decline, counterurbanisation, the collapse of centralized authority, invasions, and mass migrations of tribes, which had begun in Late Antiquity, continued in the Early Middle Ages. Hildegard von Bingen -
Period: to
Classical
an emphasis on elegance and balance.
short well-balanced melodies and clear-cut question and answer phrases.
mainly simple diatonic harmony.
mainly homophonic textures (melody plus accompaniment) but with some use of counterpoint (where two or more melodic lines are combined)
use of contrasting moods. Ludwig van Beethoven -
Period: to
Romantic
Individuality of style. the music often was so idiosyncratic that listeners could identify the composer in seconds.
Expressive aims and subjects.
Nationalism and exoticism.
program music.
expressive tone color.
colorful harmony.
expanded range of dynamics, pitch and tempo.
forms.
Richard Wagner -
Period: to
20th and 21st
Complex, individual rhythms are used, and new rhythms and meters are common such as polyrhythms and polymeters. MELODY: Melodies are often fragmented, dissonant and experimental. Gorge Gershwin